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 SPAIN IN 1830.
 
 By the same Authoj-, 
 In 2 vols., Post 8vo., Price 16s. 
 
 SOLITARY WALKS THROUGH MANY LANDS, 
 
 —with TALES and LEGENDS. 
 
 The descriptions are diversified and graphic, — the tales introduced, in- 
 teresting and clever, — and the author's narrative style, sprightly and un- 
 affected. — New Monthly Magazine. 
 
 It is all pleasing, and always interesting, — the author has at once the 
 eye of a keen observer, and the pen of a ready writer. — Atheiueum.
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 HENRY D. INGLIS, 
 
 AUTHOR OF " SOI>ITARY WALKS THROUGH MANY LANDS;" "a JOURNEY 
 THROUGH NORWAY," &C. &C. 
 
 IN TWO VOLS. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 VVHITTAKER, TREACHER, AND CO.. AVE-MARIA LANE. 
 1831.
 
 PlINTED BY S. MANNING AND CO. 
 Lon<ioii.lioiisc-\ ;ii(l, St. Paul's. 
 
 
 6/- 
 
 iS*:*^-^ 
 
 ^- /^/7
 
 V. I 
 
 THE RIGHT HONOURABLE 
 
 HENRY DAVID, 
 EARL OF BUCHAN. 
 
 My dear Lord, 
 
 Since I parted from your Lordship, eight 
 years ago, on the bridge of Namur, changes 
 have happened both to you and to myself. 
 You have become a Lord, — I have become 
 an author. When a man acquires a handle 
 to his name, all the world knows it; but 
 when a man begins to handle his pen, it is a 
 chance whether any one knows it but himself. 
 It is very likely, therefore, that your Lordship 
 may be as ignorant upon this point, as 1 fear 

 
 VI DEDICATION. 
 
 the rest of the world are ; but it will doubt- 
 less surprise your Lordship to be told, that 
 upon you I lay all my sins of authorship. 
 
 It was in those daily and delightful strolls 
 on the banks of the Meuse, that you inspired 
 me with the desire of hunting the wild boar 
 in the forest of Ardennes ; and when I went 
 to bury myself there, — at the time that your 
 Lordship sought the busier scenes of Paris, — 
 I carried with me that little green writing- 
 desk and its golden key, the gift of the la- 
 mented Mrs. Erskine. Figure to yourself, 
 my Lord, my isolated dwelling, with six feet 
 of snow around my doors,— no companion 
 but my great shaggy dog, and my blazing 
 faggots, and the little green writing-desk 
 upon a table by my side, — and your Lord- 
 ship will admit, that I could not do other- 
 wise than use the golden key and blot my 
 paper. 
 
 The dedication of my first book was there- 
 fore most certainly due to your Lordship; 
 but besides its own unworthiness, another
 
 DEDICATION. VU 
 
 reason, applicable to all that I have subse- 
 quently written, hindered me from laying at 
 your feet this tribute of affection and respect. 
 I was then younger than I am now, and 
 probably more foolish ; and asking the notice 
 of the Public under a fictitious name, your 
 Lordship would have said, " who is this 
 Derwent Conway, who impertinently ad- 
 dresses me. My dear Lord, and subscribes 
 himself my Cousin?" But Spain is a coun- 
 try so associated with romance, that a ficti- 
 tious name to a book of travels in that coun- 
 try, might almost warrant the conclusion, 
 that the book was altogether a fiction : and 
 so now throwing off this veil which was un- 
 meaningly assumed, I take this earliest op- 
 portunity of making your Lordship's ac- 
 quaintance in the character of an author. 
 
 Sweet shades of Ammondell ! I remember 
 them well, — that Gothic bridge, that planta- 
 tion that skirts the river ; where, when a 
 boy, " just let loose from school," 1 used 
 to be met and welcomed by that fine, grey-
 
 Vlll DEDICATION. 
 
 headed man, your Lordship's sire, — the ele- 
 gant, the learned, the witty, the eloquent, 
 the consistent politician, the upright man, 
 the unrequited ; — Ay ! the unrequited ; hea- 
 ven rest His soul ! who remembered not his 
 friends in the day of His prosperity. 
 
 It is difficult to tear oneself from the 
 "deep solitudes" and quiet glades of Am- 
 mondell ; and I know that your Lordship 
 enjoys there the elegancies of life — the 
 delights of rural retirement — and the sweets 
 of literary leisure ; but your honourable 
 father had battled with the world, and in 
 the cause of independence and freedom, 
 before he retired to the tranquil shades of 
 the Amnion, and said — 
 
 Give me a nook in some secluded spot 
 That business shuns, and din approaches not ; 
 Some quiet retreat, where I may never know 
 Which monarch reigns, — what ministers bestow. 
 
 Your Lordship inherits the genius, with 
 the titles of your family ; and it were a
 
 DEDICATION. IX 
 
 J^v' noble spectacle to see the Aristocracy of 
 C^ the land stand forth, the champion of 
 
 Political Liberty, and lending the weight 
 of its influence to the claims of those who 
 have only right and reason on their side. 
 Forgive, my dear Lord, this boldness ; which 
 must only be attributed to the respect and 
 great regard with which I have the honor 
 to subscribe myself. 
 
 Your Lordship's aftectionate Cousin, 
 
 HENRY DAVID INGLIS. 
 
 Barcellona^ Jan. 2nd, 1831.
 
 CONTENTS OF VOL. I. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 BISCAY. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Departure from Bayonne, the Bidassoa, and entrance into 
 Spain ; Precautions against Robbery ; Black Mail, and 
 Anecdote ; Charming and novel Scenery ; Mail Ti'avelling 
 in Spain : Vittoria ; Spanish Bread ; Priests ; the Spanish 
 Cloak; Women; Arrival of the Infante Don Francis; a 
 National Trait ; Spanish Money and Expense of Travel- 
 ling ; Journey through Biscay to Bilbao ; Chocolate ; the 
 Plain of Vittoria; Passage of the Biscayan Mountains; 
 Durango; a Village Misfortune; Biscayan Recreation; 
 the Muleteer's Song; Bilbao; Traits of Spanish Charac- 
 ter ; Markets ; Biscayan Political and Religious Opinions ; 
 State of the Inhabitants, and Mode of Life; Riches of the 
 Corporation of Bilbao ; Prices of Provisions ; the Campo 
 Santo ; the Iglesia de Bigonia and its Superstitions ; Trait 
 of Spanish Pride and Generosity ; the Convents and their 
 Inmates ; the Hospital ; cmious Customs, and extraor- 
 dinary scene in a Coffee House ; Improvement of Land 
 in Biscay, Climate, Disease, &c. ; peculiar Rights and 
 Privileges of Biscay ... i
 
 VI CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 JOURNEY FROM BISCAY TO MADRID. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Waggon Travelling ; Scenery ; Bills of Fare, and Expenses ; 
 Second Visit to Vittoria; Departure for Madrid; the Ebro; 
 Privileges of the Military ; Old Castile ; Husbandry ; 
 Burgos ; Beggars ; Posadas ; Traits of Misery in a Cas- 
 tilian Village ; New Castile ; Quixotic Adventure ; the 
 Somo-Sierra, and Approach to the Capital; Sketches of 
 the Environs, and Arrival in Madrid ; Information for 
 Travellers. - - - - - - 44 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 MADRID. 
 
 Streets and Street Population ; Female Dress : the Mantilla ; 
 the Fan; Aspect of the Streets of Madrid at different 
 hours ; the Siesta ; Shops ; Good and Bad Smells ; State 
 of the Lower Orders ; Analysis of the Population ; Street 
 Sketches; Sunday in Madrid; the Calle de Alcala; Con- 
 vents ; the Street of the Inquisition ; Private Apartments 
 in Madrid; the Pi-ado and its Attractions; Ludicrous 
 Incongruities ; Spanish Women, and their Claims ; the 
 Fan and its Uses ; Portraits ; Inconvenient Exaction of 
 Loyalty ; the Philosophy of Good Walking ; the Retiro ; 
 CastiHan Skies ; the Cafe Catalina and its Visitors ; other 
 Coffee Rooms, and Political Reflections ; the Botanical 
 Garden, strange Regulation on entering ; the Theatres ; 
 Spanish Play Bills ; Teatro del Principe ; the Cazuela and 
 Intrigue ; Spanish Comedy ; the Bolero ; the Italian Com- 
 pany ; Cultivation of Music in Madrid ; the Guitar ; 
 Vocal Music ; Spanish Music - - - - 65
 
 CONTENTS. Vll 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 MADRID. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The King, Queen, and Royal Family ; Personal Appearance 
 of Fei'dinand; a Royal Jeu d'esprit ; the King's Confidence 
 in the People, and Examples ; Character of the King ; a 
 Carlist's Opinion of the King ; Favourites, — Calomarde, 
 — Alegon, — Salsedo, — the Duque d'Higar; Rising In- 
 fluence of the Queen ; Habits of the Royal Family ; Court 
 Diversions ; Rivalry of Don Carlos ; the Queen's Ac- 
 couchement, and Views of Parties ; Detection of a Carlist 
 Plot ; the Salic Law ; Court Society ; Persons of Distinc- 
 tion, and Ministerial Tertulias; Habits and Manner of 
 Life of the Middle Classes ; a Spanish House, and its 
 Singular Defences ; Abstemiousness of the Spaniards ; 
 Evening and Morning Visits ; Balls and Spanish Dancing; 
 Character of Spanish Hospitality ; Spanish Generosity and 
 its Origin ; Examples of Ostentation ; Morals ; Gallantry 
 and Intrigue; the Morals of the Lower Orders ; Religious 
 Opinions in the Capital, and Decline of the Priestly In- 
 fluence ; Jesuitical Education ; the Influence of the Friars ; 
 Causes of the Decline of Priestly Influence, and the Con- 
 tinuance of that of the Friars ; Convent Secrets ; Curious 
 Expos^ at Cadiz ; Devotion in Madrid - - 112 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 MADRID. 
 
 The Profession of a Nun ; Reflections ; Description of the 
 Interior of a Convent; the Monastic Life; Description of 
 a Bull-Fight ; Sketches of Spanish Character ; a Horse 
 Race - ' - - - - - 168
 
 Vlll CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Memoir of Murillo - - - - - -203 
 
 CHAPTER Vn. 
 
 MADRID. 
 
 The Picture Gallery; the Works of Murillo; the Annuncia- 
 tion ; the Virgin Instructed by her Mother ; Landscapes ; 
 Velasquez and his Works ; Meeting of Bacchanalians ; the 
 Forges of Vulcan ; Espanoletto and his Works ; Villan- 
 cencio; Juanes; AlonzoCano; Cerezo; Morales; Juanes' 
 Last Supper ; the Modern Spanish School ; Aparicio ; 
 the Famine in Madrid; Italian Gallery; Flemish School; 
 the Sala Reservada ; Statuary ; Cabinet of Natural His- 
 tory; Sala Reservada ; the Patrician's Dream; the Dese7i- 
 gano de la Vida ; Private Collections ; the Duke of Liria's 
 Gallery ; Churches and Convents ; Church of San Isodro ; 
 San Salvador ; Santa Maria ; San Gines ; Santiago ; San 
 Antonio de Florida ; Convent of Las Salesas ; de la En- 
 carnation ; the Franciscans ; Santa Isabella ; Hidden Pic- 
 tures ; San Pasqual ; Santa Teresa ; the Palace. - 233 
 
 CHAPTER Vni. 
 
 Literature ; Difficulties to be encountered by Authors ; the 
 Book Fair ; Digression respecting the Claims of Spain to 
 Gil Bias; Public and Private Literary Societies; Libraries; 
 Obstacles to Improvement, from the State of Society ; Fe- 
 male Education ; Education for the Liberal Professions ; 
 Course of Study for the Bar; Course of Medical Studies; 
 Charitable Institutions ; Consumption of Madrid ; Prices of 
 Provisions. -.--._ 265
 
 CONTENTS. IX 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 State of Parties, and Political Pi'ospects. - . . 293 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE ESCURIAL— ST. ILDEFONSO— SEGOVIA. 
 
 Journey from Madrid ; First View of the Escurial ; Pliilip II. ; 
 Situation of the Escurial ; the Church ; Lucas Jordan ; the 
 Relics ; the Santa Forma ; the Sacristy and its Pictures ; 
 a Reverie ; the Hall of Recreation ; the Library ; the 
 Tomb of the Kings ; the Manuscript Library ; Ignorance 
 and Idleness of the Monks, and Anecdotes ; Manner of 
 Life among the Monks ; the Palace ; Particulars of the 
 Extent and Cost of the Escurial; Pedestrian Journey 
 across the Sierra Guaderrama to Ildefonso ; the Palace, 
 Waters, and Garden of La Granja ; Road to Segovia ; its 
 Remains, and Present Condition ; Expensiveness of Royal 
 Honours ; Return to Madrid - - _ . 328 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 TOLEDO. 
 Journey from Madrid; Proofs of the backwardness of Spain; 
 Appearance of the Covmtry ; Spanish Mule-driving ; a 
 Venta ; First View of Toledo ; Toledo Recreations and 
 Society ; Remains of Former Grandeur, and Proofs of 
 Present Decay ; Picturesque Views ; the Tagus ; Intricacy 
 of Toledo; Bigotry and Priestcraft; Reasons for the Pre- 
 valence of Religious Bigotry in Toledo ; Proofs of Bigo- 
 try ; Aspect of the Population ; the Cathedral and its 
 Riches ; Scene in the Cathedral ; the Alcazar ; Historical 
 Retrospect ; Praiseworthy Institutions of the Archbishop 
 Lorenzana; the University; Toledo Sword Manufactory; 
 the Franciscan Convent ; Return to Madrid - - 305
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 BISCAY. 
 
 Departiive from Bayonne, the Bidassoa, and entrance into Spain ; 
 Precautions against Robbery ; Black Mail, and Anecdote ; 
 Charming and novel Scenery ; Mail travelling in Spain ; Vitto- 
 ria; Spanish Bread; Priests; the Spanish Cloak; Women; Ar- 
 rival of the Infante Don Francis; a National trait; Spanish 
 Money and expense of Travelling ; Journey through Biscay to 
 Bilbao ; Chocolate ; the Plain of Vittoria ; Passage of the Bis- 
 cayan Mountains; Diu-ango; a Village Misfortune; Biscayan 
 Recreation; the Muleteer's Song; Bilbao; Traits of Spanish 
 Character ; Markets ; Biscayan Political and Religious Opinions ; 
 State of the Inhabitants and mode of Life; Riches of the 
 Coi-poration of Bilbao ; Prices of Provisions ; the Campo 
 Santo; the Iglesia de Bigonia and its Superstitions; Trait of 
 Spanish Pride and Generosity; the Convents and their Inmates ; 
 the Hospital ; curious Customs, and extraordinary scene in a 
 Coffee House; Improvement of .Land in Biscay, Climate, Dis- 
 eases, &c. ; peculiar Rights and Privileges of Biscay. 
 
 I left England in the early part of the spring of 
 1830, with the intention of visiting Spain ; and 
 taking a circuitous route through the Southern 
 parts of France, to Bayonne, I left that city on 
 the 14th of May, by the Madrid Courier, for 
 Vittoria, and in a few hours we crossed the 
 Bidassoa and entered Spain, 
 vol.. I. B
 
 2 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 It is impossible to enter any foreign country 
 for the first time, without experiencing some 
 mental excitement ; and it seems to me, that 
 among all the countries of Europe, Spain is the 
 most calculated to awaken interest and expecta- 
 tion : for even if it were possible to forget all that 
 links the history of Spain with Carthagenian 
 enterprise, and Roman ambition, and Moorish 
 grandeur, the present condition of the country, 
 and the desire of gratifying curiosity, respecting 
 the manners, character, and condition of the 
 Spanish people, would still be sufficient to 
 justify a strong feeling of excitement. 
 
 When I had crossed the Bidassoa, I knew 
 that I was in Spain ; and every object imme- 
 diately acquired a new interest. Three several 
 demands for my passport, within the short space 
 of ten minutes, had not the effect of putting me 
 out of humour ; I was prepared for inconveni- 
 ences greater than this, in journeying through a 
 country so little visited as Spain, and had wisely 
 laid in a stock of philosophy to meet them all. 
 
 The frontier town of Spain, Irun, lies within 
 half a league of the Bidassoa : it is an insigni- 
 ficant village, no way calculated to create a 
 favourable impression ; but it is improper to 
 form any judgment of a country, from the places 
 that lie along its frontier. At Irun, the mail
 
 SPAIN IN 1831). O 
 
 stops a short time ; and before proceeding on 
 its journey, formidable precautions are taken 
 against the possibility of robbery. I saw three 
 carabines, and four cases of pistols, deposited 
 about the coach ; and three additional guards, 
 each armed with a long sabre, took their seats 
 behind and in the cabriolet. These preparations 
 naturally create doubts in the mind of the tra- 
 veller, as to his personal safety : nor are these 
 altogether without foundation : there is undoubt- 
 edly some exaggeration on the subject of robbery 
 of the public conveyances in Spain ; but it is 
 certain, that the mails are occasionally stopped, 
 especially in the southern parts. It is beneath 
 the dignity of the government, to enter into a 
 treaty with banditti, for the safety of the mails ; 
 and as resistance must be made in case of an 
 attack, the traveller by the mail is necessarily 
 placed in a dangerous position ; but in the dili- 
 gence, he runs comparatively little risque. I 
 can state, upon certain information received in 
 Madrid, that every one of the principal Spanish 
 diligences, with the exception of that from Bar- 
 cellona to Perpignan, pays Black Mail to the 
 banditti for their protection. This arrangement 
 was at first attended with some difficulty ; and 
 from a gentleman who was present at the 
 interview between the person employed to 
 
 B 2
 
 4 SPAIN IN 1S3I1 
 
 negotiate on behalf of the diligences, and the 
 representative of the banditti, 1 learned a few 
 particulars. The diligences in question were 
 those between Madrid and Seville ; and the sum 
 offered for their protection was not objected to ; 
 but another difficulty was started : "I have 
 nothing to say against the terms you offer," said 
 the negotiator for the banditti, " and I will at 
 once ensure you against being molested by 
 robbers of consequence ; but as for the small 
 fry (Lctdrones de ninguna considtracion), I cannot 
 be responsible ; tve respect the engagements 
 entered into by each other ; but there is no- 
 thing like honour among the petty thieves." 
 The proprietors of the diligences, however, were 
 satisfied with the assurance of protection against 
 the great lobbers, and the treaty was concluded ; 
 but not Ion J afterwards, one of the coaches was 
 stopped and rifled by the petty thieves : this 
 led to an arrangement which has ever since 
 proved effectual ; one of the chiefs accompanies 
 the coach on its journey, and overawes by his 
 name anJ reputation, the robbers of inferior 
 de,9Tee. 
 
 Nothing can exceed the beauty of the country 
 between the frontier, and Tolosa ; the road lies 
 through the most enchanting valleys, green and 
 fertile, beyond any that I had seen in the French
 
 SPAIN IN 183D. O 
 
 Pyrenees ; and there is one feature in the 
 scenery, peculiar to this part of the Biscayan 
 provinces : the sides of the mountains are not 
 covered with forest trees, as in the Pyrenees, nor 
 with fir, as in the Alps, but with fruit trees : the 
 effect of this was striking, and beautiful ; chiefly 
 owing to the variety of colour in the different 
 fruits with which every tree was bowed to the 
 ground. As far as the eye could reach up the 
 mountain side, it rested upon a variegated carpet 
 of the many rich and nameless tints that lie 
 upon the finest and mellowest fruits. The abun- 
 dance of fruit was sufficiently shewn in the little 
 value that seemed to be attached to it ; in place 
 of flowers being thrown into the coach by chil- 
 dren, as is customary in many parts of France, 
 the early fruits of the season were tossed in at 
 the windows ; and the smallest coin was gladly 
 received as a sufficient compensation 
 
 It will probably create some surprise when I 
 say, that in no part of Europe is it possible to 
 travel with so much comfort, or with so great 
 rapidity, as by the Spanish Courier. The coach 
 is more commodious and roomy than an Eng- 
 lish private carriage ; it is well cushioned and 
 seated ; the windows are furnished with Vene- 
 tian blinds, by which the air may be admitted 
 and the sun excluded ; and with silk curtains.
 
 6 SPAIN IN 183D. 
 
 by which the sun may be excluded even when 
 the glass windows are closed ; and two passen- 
 gers only are admitted inside : another is ad- 
 mitted into the cabriolet along with the guards. 
 The coach is drawn by four mules, which are 
 kept at a gallop the whole way, up hill and down 
 hill ; and the road from Bayonne to Madrid, 
 is generally as smooth as the very best roads 
 in England. I ascertained that the rate of tra- 
 vellinof exceeded twelve miles an hour. No 
 time is lost in useless stoppages ; the mules are 
 changed with as great expedition as in England ; 
 the traveller must be contented with few meals ; 
 and against the assaults of thirst, the guards are 
 provided with a well filled wine-skin, to which 
 they never apply, without first offering it to the 
 passengers, who are expected to accept the 
 civility. 
 
 AtTolosa, an inconsiderable town, we stopped 
 to sup : it was then nearly dark, so that I was 
 unable to see much of it; and, indeed, no 
 more time was allowed than sufficed for the 
 meal. This was the first meal I had taken in 
 Spain, and the first inn I had entered : of the 
 latter, I was scarcely entitled to form an opi- 
 nion from seeing only one room ; but the exag- 
 gerated accounts I had heard of the badness 
 and filthiness of the Spanish posadas, were
 
 SPAIN IN 183D. 7 
 
 well calculated to put me in good humour with 
 the inn at Tolosa. After the variety and excel- 
 lence of the French adsirie, the supper table 
 seemed a little meagre, but every thing was 
 eatable ; the table was cleanly and neatly set 
 out, and the servants were active and attentive. 
 In most of the Spanish posadas in the north of 
 Spain, where Malaga is prized, a glass of it is 
 presented to the traveller after every meal. 
 
 When morning dawned, I found myself still 
 travelling through a mountainous country, but 
 less fertile than that which lies nearer the 
 frontier. In ascending the mountains that 
 bound the plain in which Vittoria is situated, 
 the usual rapidity of our travelling was inter- 
 rupted ; here, the mules were changed for 
 oxen, which are used throughout Spain, for 
 every kind of laborious work : we are accus- 
 tomed to associate with oxen, remarkable slow- 
 ness of movement ; and presuming upon this, 
 and upon the steepness of the ascent, I left the 
 carriage, in the intention of walking to the 
 summit; but contrary to my expectation, I found 
 myself unable to keep pace with the oxen, and 
 had great difficulty in regaining my place. 
 
 In approaching Vittoria, the country became 
 less interesting ; at the highest part of the 
 ascent, the oxen were again changed for mules.
 
 8 SPAIN IN 183D. 
 
 and we descended into the plain at a rapid 
 pace, and soon after entered Vittoria, after pass- 
 ing a number of prisoners, chained together, 
 workiner on the roads ; and several Ions' trains 
 of mules. 
 
 I had been warned of the strictness of the 
 custom-house at Vittoria, especially in the 
 search for books ; but this, like much of the 
 information I had received before entering Spain, 
 proved an exaggeration. I never passed a cus- 
 tom house with so slight a scrutiny; not one 
 book was opened, and the whole examination 
 did not occupy five minutes. 
 
 I had been recommended to go to the " Pa- 
 rador,'' which has the reputation of being the 
 best hotel in Spain ; I found, however, that the 
 whole house was engaged for the reception of 
 the Infante Den Francis, and his suite, who 
 were expected the same morning from Bilbao ; 
 but accommodaticn was provided fcr me in the 
 house adjoining, where I was immediately pre- 
 sented with the usual Spanish refresco, a cup of 
 chocolate, and the most excellent bread in Eu- 
 rope. In this, I found that report had for once 
 spoken the truth : I have no where tasted bread 
 that will compare with that of Spain ; and this 
 remark applies to the whole country, and not 
 only to the cities and towns, but even to the
 
 SPAIN IN 183U 9 
 
 villages : in the little village of St. Lorenzo, in 
 the midst of the Sierra Guadarrama, I found 
 bread equal to any that can be purchased in 
 Madrid or Seville. 
 
 Vittoria being the first Spanish town that I 
 had seen by daylight, I quickly finished my 
 refresco, that I might walk into the streets. 
 The first thing that attracted my attention, as 
 being characteristic of Spain, was, the great 
 number of priests, and members of different 
 religious orders ; and, at the same time, it was 
 impossible to avoid remarking the difference in 
 the appearance of the Spanish clergy, and the 
 clergy of most of the other Catholic countries, 
 especially of France. I saw no poor looking, 
 half starved priests, in thread-bare garments, 
 and looks of humility; all were well clothed, 
 and seemingly well fed ; they were not ashamed 
 to hold up their heads, and appeared, as the 
 French say, a leur a'lse. 
 
 The next thing that struck me as being re- 
 markable, was the Spanish cloak. It was about 
 noon, on a summer day, and the sun was out ; and 
 yet, every second or third person was muffled 
 up in his ample cloak ; these persons were, 
 however, chiefly of the inferior ranks ; and I 
 could not help suspecting, that the cloak covered 
 many an infirmity, and perhaj)s with some,
 
 10 SPAIN IN 183U 
 
 stood in stead of an under garment : even the 
 school-boys had their cloaks thrown over their 
 shoulders ; and there appeared something very 
 ludicrous in the spectacle of boys at play, en- 
 cumbered with these useless appendages. I 
 remarked that brown was the universal colour of 
 the cloak among the lower ranks ; blue, or 
 black, among the upper classes. 
 
 In the appearance of the women, I noticed 
 nothing very remarkable. The Spanish national 
 dress is scarcely seen so far north — the lower 
 orders wore their hair plaited, and descending 
 behind, to the waist ; and but few of the ladies 
 were to be seen with the Spanish mantilla. I 
 am not entitled to say a single word respecting 
 the personal appearance of the Spanish women, 
 from a cursory glance at the streets of Vittoria; 
 upon this subject my expectations were highly 
 excited, — but I reserve my judgment upon so in- 
 teresting a matter, until I have seen the Capital. 
 
 In returning to the hotel, that I might see 
 the arrival of the Infant from my window, I 
 stopped for a moment in the bread market, — the 
 display was tempting and beautiful ; loaves of 
 all shapes and dimensions, and as white as un- 
 kneaded flour, were piled along the street,— but 
 I was obliged to hasten towards my apartment 
 by a flourish of trumpets, announcing the ap-
 
 SPAIN IN 183n 11 
 
 proacli of the Infante, — and in a few minutes 
 more his advanced guard entered the street. I 
 can scarcely expect to be credited, when I say 
 that the Infant, Don Francis, the brother of the 
 King of Spain, arrived in a diligence, — yet such 
 is the fact. He, his consort, and his family, 
 occupied one diligence, and his suite occupied 
 another, — the first drawn by seven mules, — 
 the second, by six. The royal party was re- 
 ceived with respect by a considerable concourse 
 of people, and with the military honours usually 
 paid to persons in so exalted a station. 
 
 In the afternoon, I made a second tour of 
 the town ; — I walked into three or four of the 
 churches, but found no fair devotees before any 
 of the altars ; only two or three poor old women 
 were at their devotions. I was particularly amused 
 with a spectacle that presented itself in the 
 Plaza — a square, by the by, little inferior to the 
 Place Vendome in Paris : between two and three 
 hundred girls, from eight to thirteen or fourteen 
 years of age, were assembled in the middle of 
 the area, dancing with each other, to the music 
 of a fife and a drum, played by a musician whom 
 they had hired to contribute his aid to their 
 favourite pastime : the dances were slow, and 
 conducted with the utmost gravity ; every one 
 seemed to consider herself engaged in an im-
 
 12 SPAIN IN 183n 
 
 portant affair, and among the two or three hun- 
 dred countenances, there was scarcely a smile 
 to be seen. 
 
 The neighbourhood of the hotel continued to 
 be the point of attraction to the inhabitants of 
 Vittoria all the evening ; an Infante is a rarity 
 in the provincial towns of Spain, and the citizens 
 testified their sense of the honour of a visit, by 
 assembling in the street opposite to the hotel, 
 and by hanging cloths and mattings of various 
 colours from the windows : a mark of respect, 
 which in Spain is always considered due to 
 royal, or religious processions. Deputations of 
 the principal inhabitants also arrived,— among 
 others, one of Capuchin friars; and to my great 
 annoyance, a band of indifferent music con- 
 tinued to entertain the Infante till after mid- 
 night. 
 
 There was nothing to detain me long in 
 Vittoria, and I hired a cabriolet and two mules, 
 to carry me to Bilbao, the capital of Biscay ; the 
 distance is eleven leagues of the country, or 
 something more than fifty English miles, and 
 for this I paid 200 reals ; and as I may probably 
 have frequent occasion to mention the expense 
 of travelling, and the value of different articles, 
 the following few explanations will be found of 
 use. Generally speaking, every thing in Spain
 
 SPAIN ,IN 1S3U. 13 
 
 is calculated by reals, from the price of a ticket 
 to the bull-light, up to the State expenditure. 
 The value of a real is nearly 2}/L, — so that four 
 reals are equal to a French franc, or 10^. English ; 
 ail accounts in reals may therefore be easily 
 understood by dividing by four. But in small 
 values, the calculation is made in quartos, eight 
 and a ha^f of which are equal to a real, or 2ld. 
 In stating prices, I shall always make use of 
 these two denominations of money, so that the 
 reader may at once be able to substitute English 
 value. 
 
 From Eayonne, into Biscay, the nearest road 
 is not by Vittoria, but along the sea shore by 
 St. Sebastian; but the muleteers considering 
 the coast road unsafe, from the chances of rob- 
 bery, I was obliged to take the more circuitous 
 line by Vittoria, which I left about five in the 
 morning, after the usual refresco. Chocolate in 
 Spain, is very different from chocolate in Eng- 
 land : it is served in a very small cup, about the 
 size of the old India china coffee cup ; it is 
 about the consistence of thick cream, and is 
 highly spiced with cinnamon : the traveller in 
 Spain who dislikes chocolate, will often find 
 himself exposed to great inconvenience. 
 
 Leaving Vittoria, I entered upon the extensive 
 plain in which it is situated, and proceeded
 
 14 SPAIN IN 183D. 
 
 along a good road, and at a pleasant pace, 
 towards the mountains. The plain of Vittoria 
 is entirely a corn country, and, at this early 
 season, harvest had already begun : the soil is 
 naturally bad and scanty; but the proverbial 
 industry of the Biscayans forces from it an un- 
 willing crop. From Vittoria to the entrance of 
 the mountains, is about three leagues ; I passed 
 through two or three small villages, and at 
 another, somewhat larger, just on the limits of 
 the plain, we stopped to water the mules : it 
 was Sunday morning ; there was a fine display 
 of vegetables and fruit in the market-place, and 
 several hundred villagers and peasants were 
 assembled, waiting the summons to go to mass. 
 I walked round the market-place, and observed 
 with pleasure, not unmixed with surprise, that 
 every individual was clean and well dressed. I 
 was not accosted by a single beggar. 
 
 Immediately upon leaving this village, I en- 
 tered the mountains — a delightful change from 
 a wide treeless plain. About a league from the 
 entrance, at the end of a winding valley, and just 
 before beginning a steep ascent, I noticed a 
 house where guards were to be hired ; the 
 muleteer asked me whether I chose to have any, 
 but being at that time rather an unbeliever in 
 the frequency of robbery, and liking the ex-
 
 SPAIN IN 1831X 15 
 
 pression of the muleteer's countenance, I replied 
 in the negative, and we passed on. 
 
 The passage of the Biscayan mountains by 
 this road, affords some very magnificent pro- 
 spects ; the lower parts of the mountains are 
 covered with oak and Spanish chestnut, and the 
 summits rise to the height of at least 5000 feet, 
 in the form of numerous fantastic pinnacles of 
 a reddish colour ; the road is constructed upon 
 the most scientific principle, reaching the sum- 
 mit by a zigzag, and very easy ascent, and is as 
 broad and as smooth as the best roads in any 
 other country. The descent towards the north- 
 west is much greater than the ascent from Vit- 
 toria, proving the great elevation of the province 
 of Alava above that of Biscay Proper ; the pro- 
 vinces both of Alava, and of Gidpuscoa, are 
 called Biscayan provinces, but Biscay Proper is 
 confined to the country lying to the north of 
 the mountains, and bounded by the sea. 
 
 We stopped at Durango, the first town after 
 descending the mountains, to dine, and rest the 
 mules during the hottest part of the day. I 
 was equally pleased and surprised witli the 
 excellence of the posa da at Durango; the most 
 scrupulous cleanliness was visible in every 
 thing ; the dinner was unobjectionable ; and I 
 remarked a refinement to which the best French
 
 ■16 SPAIN IN 183D. 
 
 inns are strangers — the knives and forks were 
 changed with every plate. I learned from the 
 Soiorita who waited at table, that a sad misfor- 
 tune had that day befallen the village ; the 
 bishop to whose diocese it belonged, had jour- 
 neyed from Navarre to pay his respects to the 
 Infante at Bilbao ; on his return he had stopped 
 at Durango, as it was improper to travel on 
 Sunday, and after condescending to preach a 
 sermon in the village church, he had reproved 
 the levity of the people, and forbade that there 
 should be any dancing in the village that even- 
 ing ; but the girl added, that she v/culd go to 
 another village, half a league distant, to which 
 the injunction did not extend : this trifling trait, 
 added to another which I shall just now record, 
 first led me to suspect, that the influence of the 
 priesthood was on the decline, in Biscay at 
 least. The landlord, having discovered that I 
 was English, asked me how many priests we 
 might have in England in a town such as Du- 
 rango ? I replied, that we might have one or 
 two; *' O Dm,'" said he, " we have here more 
 than forty ! " 
 
 After dinner, we continued our journey to- 
 wards Bilbao. Leaving the town, I remarked on 
 passing the church, that the market was held 
 under the portico, and in the environs I noticed
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 17 
 
 a few specimens of Biscayan enjoyment ; 
 groups of men were lying, and sitting under 
 the trees, playing at cards ; and women were 
 seen here and there, seated on the grass, sing- 
 ing, and playing the tamborine. The road to 
 Bilbao continued excellent, and lay through a 
 fine fertile valley, bearing luxuriant crops of 
 Indian corn, diversified by meadows, and wood, 
 which also covered the sides of the neighbour- 
 ing hills. I saw no carriage on the road but 
 my own ; carts, and long trains of mules, occa- 
 sionally passed, and the only travellers I saw, 
 were two gentlemen mounted on mules, accom- 
 panied by four guards on foot, each provided 
 with a carabine. 
 
 All the way from Vittoria, the muleteer who 
 drove the carriage, sung a remarkably beautiful, 
 but somewhat monotonous air. I was greatly 
 pleased with the muleteer's song, and was 
 anxious that I should not forget it ; but I after- 
 wards found that I need not have been appre- 
 hensive of this : every where throughout Castile 
 I heard the same air, and in Madrid, nothing- 
 else was sung by the lower orders. I was 
 anxious to purchase it, and applied at one of 
 the music-shops, but they told me they dared 
 not sell it; it was forbidden by the government. 
 
 VOL. I . c
 
 18 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 The air was old Arragonese, but it was revived 
 to new words, in a little comedy that somehow 
 slipped through the censorship a few months 
 before, and related how a certain friar knew 
 too well the road into a certain convent. 
 
 As the road approaches Bilbao, the moun- 
 tains that inclose the valley increase in height, 
 make a curve, and run directly into the Bay of 
 Biscay; and Bilbao is situated in their bosom : 
 it is this that gives to Bilbao its peculiar cha- 
 racter. Mountains generally diminish in height 
 as they approach the sea ; but here, this rule is 
 reversed, and Bilbao possesses the singularity 
 of being a sea-port, and of yet being all but 
 surrounded by lofty mountains. Owing to this, 
 nothing can be more striking and novel than 
 the view of the city where it is first seen from 
 the bridge that crosses the small river about a 
 mile before entering it. I was obliged to leave 
 the carriage at the entrance to the town, and 
 walk to the posada; for it is the rule that no 
 wheeled carriages of any kind are allowed to 
 drive through the streets of Bilbao. This regu- 
 lation has arisen from a praiseworthy desire to 
 preserve the purity of the water, which is con- 
 veyed in a stone tunnel under the streets ; all 
 goods are therefore carried through the town 
 either in panniers, on mules, or in sledges,
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 19 
 
 which are provided with a contrivance by 
 which they constantly moisten their path with 
 water. 
 
 Walking through the streets, to the posada de 
 St. Nicola, the only good inn in Bilbao, and 
 one of the very best in the Peninsula, I was 
 attracted by two curious exhibitions, one of 
 them very forcibly reminding me that I was in 
 Spain : two well-dressed peasants danced be- 
 fore me the whole length of a long street while 
 another walked behind, playing a sort of trum- 
 pet; and in the open space before the principal 
 fountain, some boys were amusing themselves 
 with the representation of a bull-fight ; one boy 
 was mounted on another's back, the undermost 
 representing the horse of the picador, the other 
 was armed with a long pole, while a third on 
 foot, his head covered with a basket in which 
 he had fixed two horns, imitated the motions 
 and bellowing of the bull ; several others with 
 handkerchiefs, represented the torredores, throw- 
 ing them in the bull's face. The bull-fights at 
 Bilbao had newly concluded ; the Infante had 
 been treated with eight exhibitions, in which 
 thirty-two bulls were killed. This is the high- 
 est mark of respect that Spanish authorities can 
 shew to a visitor, and the greater the number 
 
 ( 2
 
 20 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 of bulls that are sacrificed, the greater of course 
 is the compliment. 
 
 I remained in Bilbao a fortnight, which I 
 found amply sufficient to see all that merited 
 attention, and to inform myself respecting some 
 of the peculiarities of the province of Biscay. 
 I have already spoken of the situation of Bilbao, 
 as striking and beautiful, but the town itself is 
 not remarkable for its beauty or cleanliness ; 
 the smells are most offensive; and lying as it 
 does in so deep a basin among the mountains, 
 which even shut it out from the sea, I can 
 scarcely think Bilbao a healthy city. But by 
 the side of the river, there is a fine promenade 
 all the way to the port, ^yhich lies about two 
 miles from the city, and here the inhabitants 
 may catch some of the sea breeze which gene- 
 rally comes up with the tide ; a part of this 
 promenade is allotted to the fruit and vegetable 
 market, which I strolled through, the morning 
 after my arrival ; there was a most abundant 
 display of every sort of which the season ad- 
 mitted, including an extraordinary quantity of 
 tomata, — this is known in the south of .France 
 by the name of pomme d'amour, and is an impor- 
 tant ingredient in Spanish cookery. The bread 
 market is held along with the fruit market, and
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 21 
 
 I found the bread of Bilbao quite equal to that 
 of the other parts of Spain. 
 
 When I looked from my window in the hotel, 
 I found that I was well situated for observing 
 the inhabitants of all classes : opposite, stood 
 the church of St. Nicholas ; at one side was a 
 public fountain, and on the other a brass basin — 
 reminding me of Membrino's helmet — indicated 
 a barber's shop. At all hours therefore I might 
 see some going to mass, and others filling their 
 pitchers at the fountain. The Biscayan de- 
 serves the character of strength, that has been 
 given to him; and the contrast between the Bis- 
 cayan, and the Andalusian peasant, who inhabit 
 the two extremes of Spain, is remarkable : the 
 latter, dark, tall, upright, slim, with something 
 of elegance in his appearance ; and the look of 
 pride generally visible in his air and counte- 
 nance, seeming to have some reference to his 
 personal attractions : the Biscayan, broad, ath- 
 letic, lounging, with something of peculiar 
 roughness in his look and manner; and his 
 expression of blunt independence, having no 
 reference to himself individually, but arising 
 from the knowledge that he is a Biscayan, and 
 as such, the hereditary possessor of peculiar 
 and exclusive rights. Such seemed to me the 
 Biscayan peasant, whether he filled his pitcher
 
 22 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 at the fountain, or entered St. Nicholas to 
 mass. As for the women, I do not feel myself 
 obliged to use the same reserve in speaking of 
 them as of the women of Vittoria : because the 
 inhabitants of Biscay being a distinct race, my 
 opinion of them does not compromise the cha- 
 racter and claims of Spanish women generally. 
 I saw little beauty in Bilbao, and less elegance ; 
 and in the manner of the women I remarked 
 the same bluntness as that which characterizes 
 the men. 
 
 But along with Biscayan bluntness, there is 
 much good heartedness and honesty, and a great 
 deal of intelligence ; and even the pride of a 
 Biscayan, has given rise to much of the industry 
 and enterprise which in the province of Biscay 
 are so conspicuous in the cultivation of the soil, 
 in the construction of useful works, and in 
 the establishment of praiseworthy institutions. 
 Many of the inhabitants of Biscay in the upper 
 classes have made voyages into other countries, 
 and have returned with diminished prejudices, 
 and increased liberality of sentiment ; and the 
 consequence of this has been, that among the 
 educated, and better classes of society, there is 
 little narrowness in political sentiment, and little 
 bigotry in religion. I heard several of the most 
 respectable inhabitants of Bilbao express openly
 
 SPAIN IN IS30. 23 
 
 much dissatisfaction at the political debasement 
 of Spain, and breathe ardent wishes for the dif- 
 fusion of intellectual and religious light; but 
 they added, what my own knowledge has since 
 fully confirmed, that I should not find in any 
 other part of Spain, the same enlightened views 
 as I had found in Biscay. Among the lower 
 orders in Bilbao, and in Biscay generally, there 
 is still much bigotry both in politics and reli- 
 gion, but more especially in the latter ; during 
 the existence of the constitution, the prejudices 
 of the lower ranks made it necessary to affix in 
 large letters over the doors of all the churches, 
 and attested by the existing authorities, these 
 important words, — " The Roman Catholic is 
 the only true religion." 
 
 In Biscay there are not many poor, nor 
 many rich. Formerly, Bilbao contained many 
 wealthy citizens ; but the export trade in wool 
 was then flourishing. At that time the clear- 
 ances were more than double their present num- 
 ber; but ever since the preference of Saxon wool 
 has begun to be shewn in the foreign markets, 
 the trade of Bilbao has declined, and now, not 
 more than between thirty and forty British ves- 
 sels visit Bilbao in the course of a year. Some 
 few houses in Bilbao have still considerable 
 returns from the fish trade, and one or two, from
 
 24 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 the iron export trade ; but this has also fallen 
 off, since the demand for Swedish iron has in- 
 creased. Biscayan iron would still command a 
 preference in the foreign markets, from its supe- 
 rior qualities for finer purposes, if it could enter 
 them at the same price as Swedish iron ; but this 
 is impossible, both on account of the expense 
 of fuel for furnaces, and the want of inland 
 navigation. Timber is not scarce in the pro- 
 vince of Biscay ; but there is an old Biscayan 
 law which tends to keep up its price, enacting 
 that for every tree cut down, six must be planted 
 in its stead ; this is often felt to be an inconveni- 
 ence, and produces scarcity in the midst of plenty. 
 I was informed that two or three houses in Bilbao 
 realize from 2 to 3000/. a-year ; but I believe I 
 may assert that no one spends 300/. It is diffi- 
 cult to spend money in Bilbao : in no part of 
 Spain, least of all in Biscay, is it the custom to 
 live extravagantly or luxuriously. The table of 
 a Biscayan is remarkable for its simplicity and 
 sameness : of whatever rank he may be, he 
 takes his cup of chocolate and bread, followed 
 by a glass of sugar and water, about eight o'clock ; 
 he dines about one, and six days out of seven, 
 his dinner consists of broth, and dipudiero, which 
 is boiled beef, with a small bit of pork, sur- 
 rounded either by cabbage, or Spanish peas.
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 25 
 
 (garbanzos), and varied occasionally with a sau- 
 sage ; a cup of chocolate again in the afternoon, 
 and for supper, boiled lettuce prepared with 
 vinegar, oil and pepper, finish the repasts of the 
 day. The menage at home, therefore, costs but 
 a trifling sum ; and neither does the Biscayan 
 spend any thing upon entertaining his friends ; 
 not that he is unsocial; he is social according to 
 the custom of his country. During the winter, 
 a circle of six, eight, or ten families form them- 
 selves into a society, and agree to visit each 
 other ; each chooses a week, and during each 
 week the circle assembles every evening at the 
 same house; they take chocolate before going 
 out, and sup when they return ; the entertain- 
 ment is entirely intellectual ; music, cards, and 
 dancing fill up the evening. Upon one occasion 
 only, does the circle eat together : all the money 
 lost and won at cards, is made a purse, and is 
 confided to one of the party; and during the 
 summer it is converted into a dinner in the 
 country, of which all the members of the circle 
 partake. 
 
 There are no public amusements in Bilbao, 
 excepting occasional bull fights. Two attempts 
 to establish a theatre have failed ; a handsome 
 stone theatre erected some years ago, was burnt 
 down not long after it was erected ; and there
 
 26 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 was strong reason to believe, that the conflagra- 
 tion was wilful, and that the friars were at the 
 bottom of it : another theatre constructed of 
 wood, was subsequently opened ; but after a 
 very short time it was pulled down by order of 
 the public authorities ; and this was also gene- 
 rally believed to have been owing to the inter- 
 ference of the friars. 
 
 The town of Bilbao is extremely rich. On 
 the occasion of the king's visit a (ew years ago, 
 the corporation expended no less than two 
 million of reals (20,000/.) in feasts, decorations, 
 bull-fights, &c., and to cover these expenses, it 
 was not necessary to lay on any additional im- 
 positions. These funds arise from dues upon the 
 entry of all the necessaries of life, whether by 
 land or by sea : beef is entirely a town monopoly ; 
 the meat is farmed to butchers at certain prices, 
 and retailed by them, and by this monopoly the 
 Corporation realizes 1500 reals per day. The 
 duties upon wine, soap, and oil, are also con- 
 siderable, and the dues of port entry upon all 
 articles of subsistence are 2id. per cent. But 
 notwithstanding these dues, living is not ex- 
 pensive. The following are the prices of some 
 articles: beef is 10 quartos, or about 3^.; 
 mutton, 3ir/., but it is generally of an indifferent 
 quality ; a lamb costs from 20^/. to 2*. ; veal is
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 27 
 
 about 4^/. per lb., all of 17 oz. Bread varies in 
 price, according to the quality : the best is l^d. 
 per lb., but the coarsest kinds, and the bread of 
 Indian corn, is not sold by weight. Many kinds 
 of game are both plentiful and cheap : wood- 
 cocks are frequently to be had at lOd. or Is. 
 per pair. Groceries are also reasonable, and it 
 is a curious fact, that loaf sugar, coming from 
 England, is cheaper than raw sugar, direct from 
 the Havannah : good wine costs a little less than 
 3^/. per bottle. The Spanish country wines 
 taste unpleasantly to a stranger, for they have 
 almost all contracted, less or more, a peculiar 
 flavour from the skins in which they are carried. 
 There are two reasons why the Spanish wines 
 are carried in skins: in the wine countries there 
 is little wood to make casks ; but the principal 
 reason is, that the cross-roads are not suited for 
 carriages, and that mules can more conveniently 
 carry skins than casks. Throughout Biscay, 
 the wages of labour are from 10^/. to ly. ; and 
 workmen, such as carpenters, masons. Sec. re- 
 ceive from 20d. to 2s. per day. 
 
 Among the first days of my residence in 
 Bilbao, I visited the new cemetery, the model 
 of which is worthy of being adopted in other 
 places. This Campo Scoito has been inclosed in 
 consequence of a quarrel between the Franciscan
 
 28 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 Convent and the Chapter of Bilbao, respecting 
 the dues of burial, in a place to which both 
 claimed right ; and the Corporation completed 
 the new cemetery, at an expense of not less 
 than 30,000/. The gateway is beautiful and 
 chaste, with this appropriate inscription over it: 
 
 " Cada Paso, que vais dando 
 Por la senda de la vida 
 Mas y mas os va acercando 
 Mortales, a la partida, 
 Que en vano estais evitando." 
 
 The design of the Campo Santo is this : a square 
 area of about six acres is surrounded by a covered 
 arcade, supported by doric columns ; the back of 
 the arcade is an immense wall of brickwork, in 
 which there are four rows of spaces for coffins, 
 the opening one yard square, and six feet and a 
 half long; into this, the coffin is deposited; the 
 spaces which are not occupied are slightly closed 
 up; and a ring in the centre, shews that they are 
 vacant. When a coffin is deposited, the opening 
 is built up with brick and lime, and a stone or 
 marble slab, fitted into it, records the name of 
 the buried. The cemetery is fitted to receive 
 3000 dead — a great number for so small a space ; 
 and the area beyond the arcade, is tastefully 
 laid out as a garden and shrubbery. Besides 
 the inscription I have noted down, there are
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 29 
 
 several others that struck me as being beautiful 
 and well chosen. The following particularly, 
 over the inner-gate, is striking: — 
 
 " Deten sus pasos inciertos 
 O Caminente ! repara, 
 En que esta Puerta separa 
 A Los vivos de los muertos." 
 
 Which may be freely translated : — " Stop, 
 thoughtless wanderer ! and reflect, — this gate 
 separates the dead from the living." 
 
 In returning from the cemetery to the town, 
 I made a long circuit, visiting in my way the 
 Iglesia de Bigofia, a church which takes its name 
 from a miraculous image of our Lady of Bigoiia, 
 deposited in it, and looked upon with extra- 
 ordinary veneration by the lower orders in 
 Bilbao. It happened to be a feast day, and a 
 great number of persons were collected in the 
 church, because upon all such days, the curtain 
 that screens the miraculous image is withdrawn 
 for a few moments — an opportunity not to be 
 disregarded by any good Biscayan who desires 
 to ensure the kind offices of the sainted Lady of 
 Bigoiia. Before the service began, the officiating 
 priest shewed me the sacristy, and a head of 
 John the Baptist in wood; a very clever per- 
 formance, by a native artist ; and I afterwards
 
 30 SPAIN IN 18.30. 
 
 waited in the church long enough to see the 
 curtain withdrawn, and the prostrations of three 
 or four hundred devotees. There is a small 
 foundation left to this church, for a curious pur- 
 pose. The curate must go to the gate of the 
 church at the commencement of every thunder 
 storm, — say a certain prayer, — and sprinkle the 
 sky with holy water. It appears, however, that 
 the virtue of the water, as well as the water itself, 
 has been sometimes dissipated before reaching 
 the clouds ; for the church tower has been twice 
 struck by lightning. 
 
 In the course of my walk, I learned a curious 
 fact, illustrating strongly the mixture of pride 
 and generosity which is often found in the 
 Spanish character. The Corporation being de- 
 sirous of conducting an aqueduct and a road to 
 Bilbao from a mountain about a league distant, 
 applied to the proprietor (a grandee of Spain) 
 to purchase the land through which these were 
 to be carried. He refused to sell it; but said, 
 that if the Corporation would petition him for a 
 grant of the land, he would make them a pre- 
 sent of it : they however wanted no favour, and 
 would not condescend to this ; but supposing 
 that the proprietor would be prevailed upon to 
 sell, they commenced, and at length nearly 
 finished the work. The grandee, offended at
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 31 
 
 this insolence, applied to the king for an order 
 to demolish the work, and obtained it ; but just 
 in time to prevent this, the Corporation peti- 
 tioned the grandee, and the order was not only- 
 rescinded, but the grant of the land was com- 
 pleted. The water conveyed in this aqueduct 
 forms a reservoir at the entrance of the town 
 for a useful and rather a novel purpose : by 
 opening a sluice, seven of the lov^'est streets in 
 the town are inundated ; this is done every week 
 during the summer heats, and is doubtless very 
 useful in carrying away impurities. I walked 
 through one of the lowest of the streets an hour 
 before, and an hour after the purification ; and 
 the difference in smell, freshness, and coolness, 
 was most striking. 
 
 Walking either in the streets, or in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Bilbao, the convents and monas- 
 teries are very conspicuous : they are almost all 
 immense piles of building, of little architectural 
 beauty, and are at once distinguished by the 
 strong gratings that cover their windows. In 
 the town there are four monasteries — the Fran- 
 ciscans, the Capuchins, the Augustins, and tlie 
 Carmelites : the two former of these subsist on 
 charity, which is liberally bestowed, and they 
 in their turn give charity to others. Every 
 day, a great number of poor are fed after the
 
 32 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 Franciscan friars have dined, and as they are a 
 hundred and ten in number, the refuse of their 
 dinner must be considerable. I visited the 
 Franciscan convent accompanied by an English 
 lady, and although I found the utmost polite- 
 ness from the Superior, he was deaf to all my 
 entreaties to permit the lady to enter the sa- 
 cristy, to see a picture said to be by Raphael. 
 This convent was partly destroyed by the 
 French, and it was under its gateway that 
 several of those military executions took place, 
 which so disgraced the conduct of the French 
 during their occupation of the province of Bis- 
 cay. In the Carmelite convent, there are only 
 five friars, who want for nothing that money 
 can purchase ; they are extremely rich, and 
 possess a charming property not far from Bil- 
 bao, called ''el Desierto ;" but which might 
 with greater propriety be called "el Faradaiso.'" 
 Besides these monasteries within the town, 
 there are two at a short distance from it — the 
 Burcena convent of Mercenarios, and the Friars 
 of San Mames, both of the Franciscan order. 
 
 The female convents are also numerous ; these 
 are, La Conception, a Franciscan order, in 
 which there are 14 nuns; Santa Clara, also 
 Franciscan, in which there are 10 nuns; El 
 Convento de la Encarnacion, where there are 27
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 33 
 
 nuns ; el Convento de la Cruz, containing 12 
 nuns ; Santa Monica, an Augustinian order, 
 with 12 nuns; La Esperanza, containing 12, 
 and La Merced, containing 10. There are 
 altogether about 350 friars and nuns in Bilbao, 
 and about 120 priests. In the province of Bis- 
 cay, females profess at a very early age ; their 
 noviciate generally commences about fifteen, 
 and at the expiration of a year they take the veil. 
 A nun must carry into the convent about 30,000 
 reals (300/.) ; and to La Merced and Santa Mo- 
 nica, considerably more. I ascertained, from a 
 source of the most authentic kind, that three- 
 fourths of the nuns who take the veil at this 
 early age, die of a decline within four years. The 
 climate, which in Biscay is so prolific in con- 
 sumption, added to the \o\v and damp situation 
 of some of the convents, may perhaps be ad- 
 mitted to have some influence upon this pre- 
 mature decay ; but 1 should incline to attribute 
 a greater influence to causes more immediately 
 referable to the unhappy and unnatural condi- 
 tion of those who are shut out from the common 
 privileges, hopes, and enjoyments of their kind. 
 I visited the convent of Santa Monica in 
 company with an old gentleman, an inhabitant 
 of Bilbao, who had known several of the in- 
 mates from childhood. We were only per- 
 
 VOL. 1. D
 
 34 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 mitted to converse through a double grating, 
 which separated the small antechamber where 
 we stood, from the convent burying-ground, 
 where three of the nuns were ; two of them 
 seemed to be above thirty, the other was under 
 twenty ; my companion, a very jocose old man, 
 jested, and amused them; and they in their turn 
 prated, and laughed immoderately, and appeared 
 to be in excellent spirits ; but the sight of an old 
 acquaintance, and the novelty of a visit from an 
 English lady, had probably produced a tempo- 
 rary excitement : while, in the midst of their 
 mirth, they were suddenly sent for by the ab- 
 bess, who probably thought it wise to turn their 
 thoughts into another channel. It is a pity, I 
 think, that those who have separated themselves 
 from the world, should afterwards be permitted 
 to hold any communication with it; feelings 
 may be stifled, and hopes buried, and time and 
 habit may lead to forgetfulness, and even un- 
 consciousness, of a busier, and it may be, a 
 brighter scene ; but recollections are easily 
 awakened, and it is cruel to revive that which 
 must again be buried. 
 
 Walking one evening to see the new hospital, 
 which lies on the outskirts of the toMai, I was 
 surprised at the great number of mules which 
 were entering and leaving Bilbao ; the former
 
 SPAIN IN 1S;5(). 35 
 
 laden with wine, soap and oil ; the latter with 
 dried cod, which forms the staple of the Bilbao 
 trade, and is an article of diet very extensively 
 used throughout the greater part of Spain. 
 There is a curious regulation respecting the 
 trade of Bilbao with the interior, — no muleteer 
 from Castile can carry away a load from any 
 part of Biscay, unless he has brought a load 
 with him ; and this load must consist of some- 
 thing that may be eaten, drank, or burnt : this 
 regulation ensures at all times to the Biscayan 
 market an abundant supply, at a reasonable 
 rate, of all the articles that come from the 
 interior; nor is the regulation thought a hard 
 one by the muleteer ; because, although owing 
 to the abundant supply, he is frequently a loser 
 by it, he knows that it would be insecure to 
 carry money so far to the market : it is in fact 
 a remnant of the original commerce of all na- 
 tions — barter. 
 
 I found the hospital well worthy of a visit ; 
 it is not yet completed, but is calculated to ac- 
 commodate 2o0 patients. When I visited it, 
 there were only 50 patients, whose diseases 
 were consumption and old age. One part of 
 the establishment I greatly approve of; a ward 
 of the building is appropriated for the reception 
 of strangers, or persons of a superior rank in 
 
 D 2
 
 36 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 life, who may be desirous of good advice at a 
 moderate expense, and without occasioning 
 trouble to friends or relations : these pay half a 
 dollar per day, and have all the best hospital 
 attendance united with the comforts of a pri- 
 vate house. I can scarcely conceive a more 
 welcome piece of intelligence to an unfortunate 
 stranger, seized with a severe malady in a 
 foreign place, than the existence of an institu- 
 tion like this. 
 
 In walking through the wards, I noticed books 
 in the hands of several of the patients ; these 
 were chiefly forms of prayer ; but seeing one 
 sick man laughing heartily over his studies, I 
 had the curiosity to approach his bed near 
 enough to ascertain that he was engaged with 
 a comedy of Lopez ck Vega. 
 
 Passing along the streets, I frequently met 
 the boys belonging to a charity school, the only 
 one in Bilbao ; they were, with few exceptions, 
 very raggedly dressed, and most of them pro- 
 vided with little bells, with which they produced 
 not an inharmonious music : the cause of their 
 ragged dress is easily explained by the want of 
 funds, which arise solely from the trifling im- 
 position of four reals per ton upon every foreign 
 vessel entering the port. The only explanation 
 I was able to get of the ringing of bells is, that
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 37 
 
 this custom is pleasing to the virgin. There is 
 another sort of music peculiar to Biscay, of the 
 most discordant kind, and which I cannot re- 
 collect even now, without unpleasant sensations. 
 This music is produced by the wheels of the 
 carts drawn by oxen : these are solid, without 
 spokes, and a strong wooden screw is made to 
 press upon the axle of the wheel ; the con- 
 sequence of this, is a sound so horribly grating, 
 that the faintest conception of it cannot be con- 
 veyed by words. The peasant supposes, that 
 without this noise, the oxen would not go 
 willingly; and if they be once accustomed to 
 it, this may perhaps be true. No carriage being 
 allowed to pass along the streets of Bilbao, 
 they are of course free from this intolerable 
 nuisance : in the town of Orcluna, also, it is not 
 permitted ; but on all the roads of the Basque 
 provinces, and especially in the streets of Vit- 
 toria, this noise is so unintermitting, that no- 
 thing could tempt me to reside in that town. 
 
 Every evening while I remained in Bilbao, I 
 spent half an hour in the Swiss Coffee-house — 
 the only one in the town ; and one evening, I 
 was much amused by a very curious scene I wit- 
 nessed there. Four gentlemen were seated at a 
 card-table when I entered the coffee-house, and 
 at first I paid no particular attention to them ; 

 
 38 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 but accidentally resting my eye upon them while 
 sipping my coffee, I was surprised to see one of 
 the players shut one eye, and at the same time 
 thrust his tongue out of his mouth ; from him, 
 my eyes wandered to another, who at the same 
 moment squinted with both eyes, and thrust 
 forward his under-lip : I now saw that it was a 
 constant succession of face-making, while all 
 the while the game went on. It is impossible 
 to describe the strange, ludicrous, and hideous 
 faces of the players ; I was at first dumb with 
 astonishment, and then convulsed with laughter, 
 and all the while dying with curiosity to know 
 the reason of so grotesque an exhibition. It 
 was a Biscayan game, called mus; — answering 
 to each card there is a particular contortion of 
 the face, which interprets its value ; and the 
 point of the game consists in the dexterity with 
 which partners are able to convey to each other 
 by grimaces, the state of each other's hand. 
 This is a favourite game in Biscay, but it is said 
 to require a lifetime to become expert in it : I 
 should think it requires also the natural gift of 
 grimace. 
 
 There are many charming walks around 
 Bilbao, up the river, and down the river, and 
 among the neighbouring mountains ; and in 
 whatever direction one turns, proofs are at
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 39 
 
 hand, of the enterprising spirit, and great in- 
 dustry of the inhabitants in the improvement of 
 land. Within the last ten years, much waste 
 land has been brought under cultivation : of this 
 waste land, there are two kinds ; one, which 
 is the property of the jurisdiction, and which is 
 parcelled out to individuals, the price being 
 fixed by arbitration : the other, which is the 
 property of individuals who possess entailed 
 estates, and cannot dispose of waste land. Some 
 enterprising person oifers to cultivate a portion 
 of this land, under the agreement that the pro- 
 duce for a certain period, ten, or twelve years 
 perhaps, is to be the property of the cultivator, 
 and that at the expiration of that term, the cul- 
 tivator is to rent the land of the proprietor. By 
 these two modes, a great part of the cultivable 
 land of Biscay has been brought under cultiva- 
 tion ; and the vine is now extensively grown 
 upon all the surrounding slopes. 
 
 The following few particulars respecting the 
 climate, diseases, &c. of Biscay, I obtained from 
 a report drawn up by a few of the principal 
 medical men of the province, at the request of 
 the Royal College of Physicians in London. 
 The medium heat of the thermometer in sum- 
 mer is from 19 to 21 of Reaumur, and in winter 
 from 5 to 7. In summer, the thermometer
 
 40 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 scarcely ever rises above 26, and in winter, 
 rarely falls below : changes in the tempera- 
 ture are sudden and extraordinary ; the mercury 
 having been known to rise and fall from 3" to 
 4" within a few minutes. The most prevalent 
 winds are S. and N. W. ; the S. the most con- 
 stant in autumn, the N. W. in spring. The 
 finest months are August, September, October, 
 and sometimes November ; the spring months 
 are the most unsettled, rains being then almost 
 as frequent as in winter. The summer months 
 are the most salubrious ; autumn less so ; and 
 winter and spring may be said to be unhealthy. 
 The diseases most common in Biscay are cuta- 
 neous diseases ; and catarrhs, especially pul- 
 monary, which often terminate in pulmon. 
 phthisis. Inflammations of the pleura, lungs, 
 and bowels, — and rheumatism, are the most 
 numerous after the class of pulmonary diseases; 
 and of all these, the atmospheric changes may 
 be considered the predisposing cause. The 
 province of Biscay abounds in medicinal plants ; 
 but excepting a few simples used by the inha- 
 bitants, these do not enter into the Spanish 
 pharmacopeia. Amongst these medicinal plants, 
 are laurus nobilis, arbutus unedo, rabnus car- 
 tarticus, erica cantabrica, smilax aspera, hu- 
 mulus lupulus, tormentila erecta, poligala amara,
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 4 1 
 
 digitalis purpurea, daphne laureola, gentiana 
 luthea, anethenus nobilis. The number of 
 deaths in Bilbao, calculated from the parochial 
 register by an average of five years, amounts to 
 one in forty-six yearly. 
 
 The Basque provinces enjoy many separate 
 privileges, of which they are extremely jealous ; 
 but Biscay Proper enjoys more privileges than 
 either of the other Basque provinces. I shall 
 mention a few of the most remarkable. Biscay 
 acknowledges no king; the king of Spain is 
 not king, but lord of Biscay. This is but a 
 nominal privilege : but the next is more impor- 
 tant. The conscription does not extend to Bis- 
 cay ; in case of invasion only, Biscay is bound 
 to furnish troops, but as soon as the demand 
 upon their services is past, they are entitled to 
 disband themselves. The next is a highly 
 honourable privilege, whatever may be thought 
 of its solid advantage : a Biscayan cannot be 
 hanged, but must be strangled, like a Spanish 
 noble ; nor can stripes be inflicted as a punish- 
 ment. The only difl'erence between hanging 
 and strangling consists in this, that the punish- 
 ment of strangulation is inflicted while the cri- 
 minal is seated. The next Biscayan privilege 
 is a privilege annexed to his religion ; it is, that 
 no foreigner is entitled to establish himself in
 
 42 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 any trade, unless he profess the Roman Catholic 
 religion. The code of laws by which Biscay 
 is governed, is different not only from those of 
 Spain, but also from those of the other Basque 
 provinces : this is no doubt a right, but whether 
 it be a right conveying any advantage is more 
 questionable. I understood that justice in Bis- 
 cay was badly administered, and that a code of 
 separate laws in no respect increased the chances 
 of the poor in a contest with the rich. Ques- 
 tions arising in Biscay, although decided by the 
 laws of Biscay, are not decided within the pro- 
 vince, but are subject to numerous appeals. 
 They originate with the Court of the Corregidor; 
 from which the first appeal is to the Chancery 
 of Valladolid ; from this to the Council of Cas- 
 tile ; then to the tribunal de mil ducados, so called 
 because that sum must be deposited before the 
 appeal can be received ; and lastly to the king, 
 under the name of " appelar de notoria injusticia" 
 It is evident, that with the power of thus pro- 
 longing the term of litigation, and the necessity 
 of a large deposit, the richest litigator must 
 enter upon his lawsuit with very reasonable 
 hopes of success. 
 
 Biscay is not obliged to pay any government 
 impositions : the king has no certain revenue 
 from Biscay, but when money is wanted, he
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 43 
 
 must ask it, and a part of what is demanded is 
 generally given ; but if any demand be made 
 inconsistent with the laws or privileges of Bis- 
 cay, a thing that has sometimes happened, 
 Biscay returns this contradictory answer; " Se 
 obedese, y nose cunipk." 
 
 The head of the province, is the Corregidor, 
 who is named by the king of Spain ; but an appeal 
 from the corregidor to the deputies, seems to 
 render the precedence of the corregidor merely 
 nominal. The deputies are elected thus : the 
 general election for the nomination of deputies, 
 syndics, and regidores, takes place every three 
 years. Each village within the province sends 
 one or two electors, according to its size ; the 
 names of the villages are written upon separate 
 pieces of paper, and all are put into a wheel, 
 and the first four that turn up, have the right of 
 election, or of naming the public functionaries 
 of the province. 
 
 The privileges, the civil laws, and the mari- 
 time laws of Biscay, are contained in three 
 separate volumes ; the latter of these form the 
 basis of the maritime laws of Spanish South 
 America.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 JOURNEY FROM BISCAY TO MADRID. 
 
 Waggon travelling; Scenery; Bills of Fare, and Expenses; second 
 Visit to Vittoria ; Departure for Madrid ; the Ebro ; Privileges 
 of the Military; Old Castile; Husbandry; Burgos; Beggars; 
 Posadas ; Traits of Misery in a Castilian Village ; New Castile ; 
 Quixotic Adventure; the Somo-sierra and Approach to the 
 Capital ; Sketches of the Environs, and Arrival in Madrid ; 
 Information for Travellers. 
 
 Upon those roads in Spain where there are no 
 diligences, the traveller may generally find an 
 ordinario, or galera ; two kinds of waggons, the 
 former without, the latter commonly, but not 
 alv/ays, with springs, in either of which he may 
 be accommodated with a place, — a seat I can 
 scarcely call it, — at a price, moderate in compa- 
 rison with the enormous expense of hiring a 
 private conveyance. In one of these ordinarios, 
 I left Bilbao for Vittoria, by a road different 
 from that by which I had already travelled. 
 Nothing can be more luxurious than travelling 
 by a waggon on springs during hot weather :
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 45 
 
 neither diligence nor private carriage can be 
 compared with it : it is open before and behind, 
 so that there is a fine current of air; it is covered 
 above, so that the sun is excluded, and the tra- 
 veller may lie all his length upon clean straw. 
 As for the rate of travelling, it is not indeed 
 very rapid ; but fifty miles a day is a sufficient 
 distance for one who is desirous of seeing the 
 country he passes through : waggons with 
 springs, however, are much more rarely to be 
 met with, than those without them ; and the 
 jolting, of course, neutralizes in part the other 
 advantages I have named. 
 
 Leaving Bilbao, the road winds through a 
 narrow valley among hills covered to the sum- 
 mit with oak, and rising to the height of 
 between 2000 and 3000 feet ; the valley, vary- 
 ing in breadth from one to two miles, is every 
 where cultivated ; the crops, even at this early 
 period, were already partly reaped; and in many 
 places the country people were busy in the 
 fields. Every where around, there was much 
 picturesque beauty and many rural pictures : 
 a little rivulet flowed in capricious turnings 
 through the valley ; and as Biscayan industry 
 always carries a road straight forward, what- 
 ever obstacles are encountered, the stream was 
 spanned every few hundred yards by a stone
 
 46 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 bridge, built in the form of an aqueduct, and 
 generally grown over with ivy : fine old Spanish 
 chestnut trees were scattered over the meadows 
 that bordered the stream, and here and there 
 groups of cattle stood, or lay under them. This 
 kind of scenery continued the same for about 
 six leagues, when we stopped at a small town to 
 dine, and refresh the mules. At this village we 
 were destined to fare ill. We were ushered into 
 a room where a priest, and two other persons, 
 had finished what seemed by its wrecks to have 
 been an excellent repast : and the table was 
 immediately cleared to make way for our enter- 
 tainment : silver spoons and forks, handsome 
 wine decanters, of crystal gilt, and clean nap- 
 kins, seemed to announce something respect- 
 able ; but the dinner, when it appeared, consisted 
 of a little cold fish, and the bones — literally the 
 bones, of the chickens which the priest and his 
 friends had picked ! I made my way into the 
 kitchen, and discovering a fine fat hen roasting, 
 and almost ready for the table, I began to 
 repent my too hasty condemnation of the enter- 
 tainment ; but upon telling the master that the 
 fowl was sufficiently roasted, I was informed 
 that it was not for me, but for the muleteer, 
 who in Spain always fares better than those 
 whom he conducts. I was forced, therefore, to
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 47 
 
 return to the cold fish and chicken bones, for 
 which the landlord had the effrontery to charge 
 twelve reals. I paid him, however, only one 
 half of his demand, and got into the waggon, 
 followed only by a few Biscayan growls. 
 
 After leaving this town, we began to ascend 
 the mountains which separate Biscay Proper 
 from the province of Alava. In passing these 
 mountains, a curious illusion is produced by the 
 extreme whiteness of the stone which composes 
 the peaks of some of the Biscayan range. It is 
 scarcely possible to persuade oneself that these 
 are not snow peaks ; nothing indeed but a pre- 
 vious knowledge of the elevation of this range, 
 and of the consequent impossibility of snow 
 lying upon it, could dismiss the illusion. A 
 little before dusk we alighted at the parador at 
 Vittoria, where, as the Infante was no longer 
 an inmate, I found comfortable accommoda- 
 tion. At this hotel, and at all the posadas 
 between Bayonne and Madrid, in connexion 
 with the establishment of the royal diligences, 
 there is a tariff of prices, which I shall here 
 transcribe, for the information of those who may 
 wish to know something of the expenses of tra- 
 velling in this part of Spain. 
 
 Desayuno, which means a slight morning's 
 repast, and which may consist either of a cup
 
 48 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 of chocolate, tea, or coffee, with bread ; or of 
 two eggs, with bread and wine, is charged two 
 reals, or five pence. 
 
 Almuerzo (Dejeune a la fourchette), eight reals. 
 
 Comida (Dinner), twelve rxals, or 2s. 6d. This 
 being the most important meal, the tariff speci- 
 fies the articles of v/hich it must consist, though, 
 for some of these, equivalents are allowed. The 
 following is the bill of fare : — Soup ; an olla, or 
 puchero, which is composed of fowl, bacon, beef, 
 sausage, Spanish peas, and pot-herbs; a fritter, 
 or ham and eggs ; two dishes of dressed meat ; 
 a pudding ; pepper in the pod, dressed with a 
 sauce ; small white beans (haricots) ; a roast ; 
 a salad ; a dessert of three dishes ; a glass of 
 brandy ; and bread and wine at discretion. 
 Melon is not included in the dessert of three 
 dishes ; this fruit is not eaten in the north of 
 Spain at the dessert, but is introduced after 
 soup. The dinner, it must be admitted, is suf- 
 ficiently abundant; but, considering the low 
 price of provisions, it is not cheap. The only 
 one of these dishes which a stranger can eat, is 
 the most truly Spanish among them, — the 
 pudiero, — because it is the only one in which 
 there is neither oil nor garlic. The tariff also 
 provides for the traveller's comfort in bed ; this 
 is charged at four reals {\0d.)^ and the follow-
 
 SPAIN IN 1S;30. 49 
 
 ing articles are ordered to be provided : a straw 
 mattress ; another of wool ; two clean sheets ; 
 two pillows, and clean pillow-cases; a quilt; 
 and, in winter, a blanket. All that the tariff 
 enjoins, is rigidly complied with ; and, where- 
 ever there is a tariff, the traveller may always 
 depend upon a sufficient meal, a clean bed, and 
 a just charge. 
 
 Vittoria may at present be considered a 
 decayed town. Ever since the war of independ- 
 ence, it has been a falling place ; and this may 
 be easily accounted for, from the insecurity of 
 possessions in a town lying so near the French 
 frontier. At the time when Napoleon threat- 
 ened to annex to France all that part of Spain 
 which lies to the north of the Ebro, many left 
 Vittoria; and several persons exchanged their 
 estates in that neighbourhood, for possessions 
 farther in the interior. At present, there are 
 numerous houses untenanted, and not a few in 
 a state of ruin ; and the manufactures of which 
 Vittoria formerly could boast, now scarcely 
 exist, — no one being disposed to sink capital in 
 establishing that which the first commotion 
 upon the frontier might be the means of de- 
 stroying. 
 
 I experienced some difficulties at Vittoria 
 
 VOL. I. E
 
 50 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 with my passport. I had intended to have 
 entered Spain by Perpignan,but having changed 
 my intention, I was in possession of only a 
 French provisional passport, backed by the 
 Spanish Consul at Bayonne. I was at first 
 told, that I could not be allowed to proceed ; 
 but, upon producing a letter of recommendation, 
 from Lord Aberdeen to Mr. Addington, the 
 British Minister at Madrid, the difficulties were 
 overcome, and 1 was permitted to proceed. 
 
 I was detained two days in Vittoria, waiting 
 a vacant place in the Madrid diligence, which 
 I stepped into at three o'clock on the morning 
 of the third day ; and, after a few hours' drive 
 through a well -cultivated corn country, we 
 reached Miranda, and, crossing the Ebro, 
 entered old Castile. The Ebro is here a very 
 insignificant stream, little resembling the majes- 
 tic river which I afterwards crossed in Cata- 
 lunia ; but the interest with which a river is 
 regarded, is of a borrowed kind; even where 
 the traveller is able to step over it, it is invested 
 with a dignity commensurate with its future 
 destinies. But the Ebro, even if it were pos- 
 sible to deprive it of that charm which is 
 common to every great river when beheld near 
 its source, has claims peculiarly its own ; it is 
 full of historic recollections — it gave its name
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 51 
 
 to the whole of ancient Spain — and memory, 
 set sail upon its waters, floats towards the 
 empires of Carthage and of Rome. And the 
 Ebro possesses still another source of interest 
 to all who visit Spain ; for it is upon its banks 
 that we are first reminded of the exploits of the 
 valorous Knight of La Mancha, and of the 
 undying genius of Cervantes, — one of whose 
 happiest inventions is the fancy of his hero, 
 that his boat, floating down the Ebro, has 
 crossed the equinoctial ; and the proof of this, 
 which he demands of Sancho. 
 
 I had been told that on entering old Castile 
 we should be subjected to a rigorous custom- 
 house search ; but in Spain, such matters 
 always depend upon circumstances. A Colonel 
 in the Spanish service chanced to occupy a seat 
 in the diligence ; and no custom-house officer in 
 Spain, dare to put a person holding a military 
 commission to a moment's inconvenience. The 
 consequence was, that in place of being detained 
 three hours upon the bridge, until every pack- 
 age should be lowered and opened, the Colonel 
 merely thrust his arm out of the window; and 
 the custom-house officers, seeing around his 
 wrist the proofs of his military rank, doffed 
 their caps, and stood back ; and the diligence 
 
 E 2
 
 52 SPAIN IN 1S30. 
 
 passed on. Superior military rank in the Spa- 
 nish service is not indicated by more gorgeous 
 trappings : the Colonel discards the epaulets, 
 and is known by two narrow stripes round the 
 wrist, while the General merely invests his loins 
 with a crimson girdle. 
 
 Upon first entering Castile, the country 
 affords some promise of interest. We traverse 
 a narrow defile, guarded by precipitous and 
 majestic rocks, and are pleased by the pic- 
 turesque views which are caught at intervals 
 on both sides ; but this defile does not extend 
 more than a league in length, and we then 
 enter upon an open and flat corn country, 
 which stretches all the way to Burgos. The 
 soil in this tract of land appeared to be very 
 unequal. I saw whole fields covered with 
 thistles, among which flocks of sheep were 
 picking a scanty meal ; and, although I was 
 unable to judge of the productiveness of other 
 parts by the growing crops, the harvest being 
 in many places already gathered, I observed 
 vast heaps of grain every half league or less ; 
 part of it thrashed and winnowed, and part 
 going through these operations. All through 
 both the Castiles, the grain is not housed ; 
 large flat spots, one or two hundred yards 
 across, are selected for its reception — here it is
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 53 
 
 thrashed and winnowed ; the former operation 
 being performed by passing over it a sledge 
 with a curved bottom, drawn by one mule, 
 which is guided by a woman who stands upon 
 the sledge, and who facilitates the operation by 
 her weight. This custom of keeping the grain 
 in the open air, adds much to the labour of the 
 husbandman : if rain come, there is no remedy 
 but to cover the grain heaps with cloths,— a very 
 ineffectual protection against the torrents that 
 sometimes descend from Spanish skies ; and 
 when the rain ceases, it is necessary again to 
 spread the grain, and expose it to the influence 
 of the sun. 
 
 We reached Burgos early in the afternoon, 
 and the short interval allowed us there, sufficed 
 for a glance at the cathedral. In its exterior, 
 the cathedral of Burgos will yield to no other 
 in Spain : in the number, and elegance of the 
 pinnacles which surmount it, it surpasses them 
 all ; but the interior, although remarkable for the 
 beauty of the workmanship -with which in some 
 parts it is decorated, and although entitled 
 to rank among the most magnificent temples 
 dedicated to religion, is yet inferior to the 
 cathedrals both of Toledo and of Seville, in 
 grandeur, as well as in richness ; and as I 
 purposed seeing both of these cathedrals, I
 
 54 SPAIN IN 1880. 
 
 regreted less, the impossibility of examining 
 minutely, the cathedral of Burgos. The little 
 that I saw of Burgos pleased me ; and had I not 
 subsequently visited Toledo, I should have set 
 down Burgos as the best specimen I had seen of 
 an old Castilian city : but in this, Toledo stands 
 unrivalled. 
 
 Between Burgos and Lerma, I passed through 
 vast tracts of uncultivated, and much of it, 
 uncultivable land, mostly covered with a thick 
 underwood of aromatic and medicinal plants ; 
 in some parts, the perfume from these was so 
 strong, that I could scarcely believe myself to 
 be elsewhere than in an apothecary's shop. I 
 found all this part of Old Castile very scantily 
 peopled ; and the quantity of cultivated land 
 seemed to be quite equal to the probable 
 demand upon its produce. At night- fall we 
 reached Lerma, where a comfortable posada 
 received us. We were beset at the door by a 
 crowd of ragged beggars, who however, urged 
 their claims scarcely more obtrusively than the 
 poor Franciscan monk of Sterne, who crossed 
 his hands upon his breast, and retired. The 
 Spanish beggar is unlike the beggar of every 
 other country, in this — that he is easily repulsed ; 
 he seldom urges his claim twice ; but indeed, 
 his raggedness, and apparent destitution, often
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 00 
 
 render a second appeal unnecessary. I observed 
 that every one of these beggars wore three or 
 four necklaces, and several rings— baubles, no 
 doubt blessed at the shrine of some saint. In 
 the posada at Lerma, I found iron bedsteads, 
 a most acceptable discovery in a hot climate ; 
 and the supper table was both neatly laid out, 
 and well provided. The miseries of an Anda- 
 lusian Venta were yet in reserve. Between 
 Vittoria and Madrid, the traveller has little 
 cause of complaint ; I always found a clean bed, 
 and something upon the table, of which it was 
 possible to make a tolerable meal. There is 
 only one part of the arrangement defective : in 
 place of supping when the diligence arrives, 
 there is generally an interval of two hours, 
 which might be spent in sleep, if the arrange- 
 ments were better. In all the posadas upon 
 this road, the traveller pays for dinner and 
 supper whether he partakes of them or not : 
 this is what the Spaniards call indemnificacion, 
 which is charged at two- thirds of the price of 
 the meal. This indemnification I think perfectly 
 fair ; were it otherwise, the traveller could find 
 nothing upon his arrival ; for upon a road where 
 there are no travellers, the innkeeper dare not 
 trust to the appetites, or will, of those who 
 arrive by the diligence ; because if his meal
 
 56 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 should be rejected, he could find no other 
 market for it. 
 
 The country to the south of Lerma is a 
 desert ; indeed it is nothing better than a desert 
 that stretches between the Ebro and the Diioro. 
 I passed this latter river at Aranda ; a small, 
 wretched place, full of misery and rags ; and 
 afterwards traversed extensive woods of chestnut 
 and ilex, which stretch three or four leagues to 
 the foot of a low sierra, which is the natural 
 boundary between Old and New Castile. Soon 
 after entering this sierra, I passed through the 
 most miserable village that I have seen in any 
 part of Spain : it is quite impossible for one 
 who has never seen the very lowest of the 
 Spanish poor, to form the smallest conception of 
 the general appearance of the inhabitants of 
 this village. I saw between two and three 
 hundred persons ; and among these, there was 
 not one, whose rags half covered his nakedness. 
 Men and women were like bundles of ill-assorted 
 shreds and patches of a hundred hues and sizes ; 
 and as for the children, I saw several entirely 
 naked, and many that might as well have been 
 without their tattered coverings. I threw a few 
 biscuits among the children ; and the eager- 
 ness with which they fought for, and devoured 
 them, reminded mc rather of young wolves than
 
 SPAIN IN 18;50. 57 
 
 of human beings. The badness of tlie pavement, 
 and the steepness of the street, made it neces- 
 sary for the diligence to go slowly ; and I 
 profited by the delay to look into one or two 
 of the miserable abodes of these unfortunate 
 beings. I found a perfect unison between the 
 dweller and his dwellins^ : I could not see one 
 article of furniture ; no table, no chair : a few 
 large stones supplied the place of the latter ; 
 for the former there was no occasion ; and 
 something resembling a mattress upon the mud 
 floor, was the bed of the family. Leaving this 
 village, I noticed two stone pillars, and a 
 wooden pole across, indicating that the proprie- 
 tor possesses the power of life and death within 
 his own domain. I forget the name of the 
 grandee at whose door lies all this misery ; but 
 if the power of life and death be his, and if he 
 cannot make the former more tolerable, it 
 would be humanity to inflict the latter. 
 
 A short distance beyond this village, we 
 passed into New Castile, and stopped for the 
 night at a small hamlet at the entrance of the 
 Soino Sierra. Here, I cannot refrain from re- 
 lating a somewhat ludicrous incident that took 
 place during the night. The chamber in which 
 I slept, was div ided from another smaller cham-
 
 58 SPAIN IN 1880. 
 
 ber merely by a curtain ; and this inner room 
 was occupied by a young Spaniard. We retired 
 to our respective beds about the same hour, and 
 1 was speedily fast asleep. Some time during 
 the night, I was awoke by loud, and most 
 uncommon noises; and when I was sufficiently 
 awake to be master of my senses, I discovered 
 that the noises proceeded from the adjacent 
 chamber ; but the nature of the noise was such, 
 as set at defiance all conjecture as to its cause. 
 I heard the stamping of feet, the clanking of 
 spurs, and the strokes of some heavy instru- 
 ment ; but the combatants, whoever they were, 
 fought in silence, for not a word was uttered. 1 
 need scarcely say that sounds so unaccountable 
 in my immediate vicinity, excited my utmost 
 curiosity ; and stealing out of bed, I groped my 
 way to the door leading into the passage, that I 
 might obtain a light ; this, I soon procured, and 
 returning to the scene of action, I found the 
 noises as loud and as strange as ever. I cau- 
 tiously drew aside the curtain, and a spectacle 
 was revealed almost worthy of Don Quixote. 
 There stood the Spaniard in his shirt, booted 
 and spurred, his cloak thrown over one arm, and 
 the other, dealing blows right and left with a 
 naked sword. I was about to make a hasty
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 59 
 
 retreat, conceiving the unfortunate gentleman to 
 be in a state of derangement, when he called 
 out to me to give him a light, and at the same 
 time ceased battle. The explanation is this — 
 not being able to get off his boots, my com- 
 panion had lain down booted and spurred ; and 
 as was his usual custom, he had deposited a 
 sword near his bed ; he was awoke by the 
 tread of several rats over his face ; at least so he 
 asserted; and in a state between sleeping and 
 waking, he had jumped from bed, grasped his 
 sword, seized his cloak as a buckler, and com- 
 menced warfare. But for my own part, 1 believe 
 the action of the Spaniard to have begun in 
 sleep, and to have been the result of a dream. 
 We were afterwards intimately acquainted, and 
 saw each other almost every day while I 
 remained in Madrid ; and we often laughed 
 together at the recollection of the Quixotic 
 adventure in the posada. 
 
 We left the village where we had slept, some 
 hours before day-break. I never beheld a more 
 refulgent moon than shone that ni^ht. I was 
 never before able to distinguish colours by 
 moonlight ; but this night, the scene presented 
 almost the distinctness and variety of a sun- 
 lit landscape, with the soft and dewy mellow-
 
 60 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 ness of a tenderer light. The scenery of the 
 Somo-Sierra is rocky, wild and dreary; robbers 
 are occasionally seen here ; and the diligence 
 had taken two additional guards from the last 
 village. Before day-break we had passed the 
 Sierra, and we then entered upon the wide arid 
 desert, in the centre of which stands the capital 
 of Spain. As we approached Madrid, we passed 
 long trains of mules, laden with cut straw for 
 the use of the mules in the metropolis ; and we 
 also passed some trains laden with bales of 
 goods, every mule having a carabine slung by 
 its side. 
 
 From the Somo-Sierra to the gates of Madrid, 
 a distance of nearly thirty miles, there is not a 
 tree to be seen : not a garden ; not one country 
 house ; scarcely an isolated farm-house or cot- 
 tage, and only three or four very inconsiderable 
 villages. Great part of the land is uncultivated, 
 and that part of it which is laboured, and which 
 produces grain, is mostly covered with weeds 
 and stones. In the midst of this desert stands 
 Madrid, which is not visible until you approach 
 within less than two leagues of the gate. Its 
 appearance from this side is not striking : the 
 city seems small ; and although we may count 
 upwards of 50 spires and towers, none of these
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. Gl 
 
 are so elevated or imposing, as to awaken cu- 
 riosity like that which is felt when we first 
 discover the towers of some of the temples dedi- 
 cated to religion, in others of the Spanish cities. 
 If the traveller turned his back upon Madrid 
 when within half a mile of the gates, he might 
 still believe himself to be a hundred miles 
 from any habitation : the road stretches away, 
 speckled only by a few mules ; there are no 
 carriages ; no horsemen ; scarcely even a pedes- 
 trian : there is, in fact, not one sign of vicinity 
 to a great city. 
 
 I entered Madrid about mid- day, and after a 
 very slight examination of luggage at the cus- 
 tom-house, I took up my residence at the Cruz 
 de Malta. There are only two hotels in Madrid 
 that are habitable — the Cruz de Alalia, and the 
 FontaJia de Oro,— hut both of these are as far as 
 possible from being comfortable. I was charged 
 at the Cruz de Malta, the extraordinary sum of 
 60 reals, \2s. 6d., for one room, for one day ; a 
 charge that immediately suggested to me the 
 propriety of establishing myself in private lodg- 
 ings as speedily as possible. 
 
 Before concluding this chapter, let me say 
 a single word respecting the mode and con- 
 veniences, and expenses of travelling from
 
 62 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 Bayonne to Madrid. There are only a few 
 roads in Spain that are passable for carriages, 
 and these of course connect the great towns. 
 These roads are, from Madrid to Bayonne, — 
 from Madrid to Seville, — from Madrid to Za- 
 ragossa and Barcellona, —from Madrid to Va- 
 lentia, — from Madrid to Salamanca, — and from 
 Madrid to Portugal. There are also a few others 
 from one provincial town to another ; such as 
 from Valencia to Barcellona, — from Barcellona 
 to the frontier, — from Burgos to Valladolid, and 
 perhaps two or three others. There are not 
 more than twelve roads in Spain passable for a 
 four-wheeled carriage ; and upon all of these, 
 there are now diligences established ; of which, 
 the accommodation and conveniences are nearly 
 equal. I confine my remarks at present to 
 diligence travelling; I shall by and by, have 
 many opportunities of enlarging upon the very 
 different modes of travelling in Andalusia, 
 Murcia, and Granada. I have no hesitation in 
 affirming, that the Spanish diligences are the 
 best in the world ; they are extremely commo- 
 dious, well cushioned, and well hung, and are 
 admirably contrived for the exclusion of both 
 heat and cold. Like the French diligences, they 
 have a coupe, in all respects as good as a post-
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 63 
 
 chaise, and generally they have no rotonde : they 
 are drawn by seven, eight, or nine mules, ac- 
 cording to the nature of the road, and travel at 
 the rate of seven miles an hour. The conductors 
 are remarkably civil ; and in punctuality as to 
 the hours of departure and arrival, and in every 
 arrangement that can conduce to the comfort of 
 the passengers, there is no room for improve- 
 ment. When a passenger secures his seat, he 
 receives a paper from the bureau, specifying the 
 precise place he is to occupy ; and when he 
 delivers his baggage, he is presented with a 
 receipt for the articles delivered, and for which 
 the proprietors are responsible. The price of 
 places in the Spanish diligences varies greatly. 
 In some roads the fare is as low as in France or 
 England ; on others, it is more expensive than 
 travelling post. From Bayonne to Madrid, the 
 fare, including conductor and postilions, is some- 
 thing less than 5/. ; but from Madrid to Seville, 
 about one-fourth greater distance, the expense 
 is nearly double ; and it may be right to men- 
 tion that each passenger is allowed 25 lb. weight 
 of baggage ; for every pound beyond this, he 
 pays one real, 2^d. These details may appear 
 to some to be insignificant ; but independently 
 of the obligation that lies upon a traveller, to
 
 CA SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 withhold no useful information, I cannot but 
 think that such details may occasionally throw 
 some light upon the state of a country. For my 
 own part, I may say most truly, that the regu- 
 larity and order, I might almost say, the per- 
 fection, visible in every department of the 
 establishment of public conveyances throughout 
 Spain, struck me with astonishment, and may 
 perhaps afford some data by which we may 
 judge of the improvement of which Spain might 
 be susceptible under more favourable circum- 
 stances.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 MADRID. 
 
 Streets and Street Population ; Female Dress : the Mantilla, the 
 Fan ; aspect of the Streets of Madrid at different hours ; the 
 Siesta ; Shops ; good and bad Smells ; State of the lower Orders • 
 Analysis of the Population ; Street Sketches ; Sunday in Ma- 
 drid ; the Calle de Alcala ; Convents ; the Street of the Inquisi- 
 tion; private Apartments in Madidd; the Prado and its Attrac- 
 tions; ludicrous Incongruities; Spanish Women, and their 
 Claims ; the Fan and its uses ; Portraits ; inconvenient Exaction 
 of Loyalty ; the Philosophy of good walking ; the Retiro ; Cas- 
 tilian Skies; the Cafe Catalina and its Visitors; other Coffee 
 Rooms, and Political Reflections ; the Botanical Garden, strange 
 Regulation on entering ; the Theatres ; Spanish Play Bills • 
 Teatro del Principe ; the Cazuela and Intrigue ; Spanish Comedy ; 
 the Bolero ; the Italian Company ; cultivation of Music in 
 Madrid ; the Guitar ; Vocal Music ; Spanish Music. 
 
 The traveller who arrives in Madrid from the 
 north, has greatly the advantage over him who 
 reaches the capital from any other point : every 
 thing is newer to him. If one enter Spain at 
 Cadiz, and travel through Seville and Cordova 
 
 VOL. I. J.
 
 66 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 to Madrid, the edge of curiosity is blunted ; 
 much of the novelty of Spanish life is already 
 exhausted ; and Madrid possesses comparatively 
 little to interest : but travelling to the capital, 
 through Castile, one arrives in Madrid almost as 
 unlearned in the modes of Spanish life, as if the 
 journey had been performed by sea ; nor is the 
 interest with which the traveller afterwards 
 sees Cardova and Seville greatly diminished, 
 by having previously seen Madrid. For, al- 
 though the aspect of a Spanish town, and the 
 modes of Spanish life are then familiar to him, — 
 Cordova, and Seville, and the other cities of 
 the south, possess an exclusive interest, in the 
 remains of the Moorish empire, — in the pecu- 
 liarity of the natural productions around them 
 — in the climate, which exercises an important 
 influence upon the habits of the people, — and in 
 the taint of Moorish usages, visible in all those 
 provinces which continued the longest time 
 under the dominion of the Moors. With curi- 
 osity therefore on the tiptoe, to see the capital 
 of Spain, and the Spaniards in their capital, I 
 hastened into the streets. 
 
 The stranger who walks for the first time 
 through the streets of Madrid, is struck with
 
 SPAIN IN 18,30. G7 
 
 the sombreness of the prospect that is presented 
 to him : this, he speedily discovers, arises from 
 the costume of the women. It is the varied 
 and many-coloured attire of the female sex, 
 that gives to the streets of other great cities 
 their air of gaiety and liveliness. No pink, and 
 green, and yellow, and blue silk bonnets, nod 
 along the streets of Madrid ; for the women 
 wear no bonnets, — no ribbons of more than all 
 the hues of the rainbow, chequer the pave- 
 ment ; for the women of Madrid do not under- 
 stand the use of ribbons. Only conceive the 
 sombreness of a population without a bonnet or 
 a ribbon, and all, or nearly all, in black ! yet 
 such is the population of Madrid. Every 
 woman in Spain wears a mantilla, which varies 
 in quality and expense, with the station of the 
 wearer : and, for the benefit of those who, 
 though they may have heard of a mantilla, have 
 an imperfect idea of what it is, I shall describe 
 it. A mantilla, is a scarf thrown over the head 
 and shoulders ; behind, and at the sides, it 
 descends nearly to the waist ; and falling in 
 front over a very high comb, is gathered, and 
 fastened, generally by something ornamental, 
 
 F 2
 
 68 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 just above the forehead, at the lower part of 
 the hair. Of old, there was a veil attached to 
 the fore-part of the mantilla, which was used 
 or thrown back, according to the fancy of the 
 wearer; but veils are now rarely seen in Spain, 
 excepting at mass. Of the rank and means of 
 a Spanish woman, something may be gathered 
 from the mantilla, though this cannot be consi- 
 dered any certain criterion, since Spanish 
 women will make extraordinary sacrifices for 
 the sake of dress. Yet there are three distinct 
 grades of the mantilla: the lady in the upper 
 ranks of life, and most of those in the middle 
 ranks, wear the lace mantilla ; some of blond — 
 some of English net, worked in Spain ; and 
 these vary in price, from 41. or 51. to 20/. The 
 Bourgeoises generally wear the mantilla, part 
 lace and part silk ; the lace in front, and the 
 silk behind, with lace trimmings ; and the 
 lower orders wear a mantilla wholly of silk, or 
 of silk, trimmed with velvet. Spain is the only 
 country in Europe in which a national dress 
 extends to the upper ranks ; but even in Spain 
 this distinction begins to give way. In the 
 streets, no one yet ventures to appear without 
 the mantilla; but French hats are frequently
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 69 
 
 seen in carriages and in the theatre ; and the 
 black silk gown, once as indispensible as the 
 mantilla, sometimes gives place to silks of other 
 colours ; and even a French or English printed 
 muslin, may occasionally be seen on the Prado. 
 But although the sombre dress of the women, 
 and the consequent absence of bright colours, 
 seemed at first to give a gloomy cast to the ex- 
 terior of the population of Madrid, a little closer 
 observance of it disclosed a variety and pic- 
 turesqueness not to be found in any other of 
 the European countries. The dress of the 
 women, although sombre, bears in the eye of a 
 stranger a character of both novelty and grace. 
 The round turned-up hat and crimson sash of the 
 peasant ; the short green jacket and bare legs 
 and sandals of the innumerable water-carriers, 
 who call aqua fresca ; the sprinkling of the mi- 
 litary costume ; and above all, the grotesque 
 dresses of the multitudes of friars of different 
 orders, gave to the scene a character of origi- 
 nality exclusively its own. No feature in the 
 scene before me appeared more novel than the 
 universality of the fan; a Spanish woman would 
 be quite as likely to go out of doors without her 
 shoes, as without her fan. I saw not one female
 
 70 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 in the streets without this indispensible append- 
 age. The portly dame, and her stately daughter; 
 the latter six paces in advance, as is the uni- 
 versal custom throughout Spain, walked fanning 
 themselves ; the child of six years old, held 
 mamma with one hand, and fanned herself with 
 the other ; the woman sitting at her stall selling 
 figs, sat fanning herself; and the servant coming 
 from market, carried her basket with one arm, 
 and fanned herself with the other. To me, who 
 had never before seen a fan but in the hands of 
 a lady, this seemed ridiculous enough. 
 
 The streets of Madrid present a totally dif- 
 ferent aspect, at different hours of the day : 
 before one o'clock, all is nearly as I have de- 
 scribed it; bustling and busy, and thronged 
 with people of all ranks, of whom the largest 
 proportion are always females ; for the women 
 of Madrid spend much of their time in the 
 streets, going and coming from mass, shopping 
 (a never failing resource,) and going and coming 
 from the Prado. But from one o'clock till four, 
 tlie aspect of every thing is changed: the shops 
 are either shut, or a curtain is drawn before the 
 door ; the shutters of every window are closed ; 
 scarcely a respectable person is seen in the
 
 SPAIN IN 18;50. 71 
 
 street ; the stall-keepers spread cloths over 
 their wares, and go to sleep ; groups of the 
 poor and idle are seen stretched in the shade ; 
 and the water-carriers, throwing their jackets 
 over their faces, make pillows of their water 
 casks. But the siesta over, all is again life and 
 bustle; the curtains are withdrawn, the balconies 
 are filled with ladies, the sleejDcrs shake off their 
 drowsiness, and the water-carriers resume their 
 vocation, and deafen us with the cry of aqua 
 fresca. These water-carriers are a curious race, 
 and are as necessary to the Spanish peasant as 
 the vender of beer is to the English labourer : 
 with a basket and glass in the right-hand, and 
 a water jar on the left shoulder, they make in- 
 cessant appeals to the appetite for cold water, 
 and during the summer, drive a lucrative trade ; 
 and so habituated is the Spaniard to the use of 
 cold water, that I have observed little diminu- 
 tion in the demand for it, when the morning 
 temperature of the air was such as would have 
 made even an Englishman shrink from so com- 
 fortless a beverage. 
 
 Frequently, while in Madrid, 1 walked out 
 early in the morning, that I might hear the de- 
 lightful music that accompanies the morning
 
 72 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 service in the Convento de las Salesas ; and then 
 the streets wore a different appearance, — flocks 
 of goats were bevouacked here and there to 
 supply milk to those who cannot afford to buy 
 cows' milk. Porters, water-carriers, stall- 
 keepers, and market people, were making a 
 breakfast of grapes and bread ; and here and 
 there a friar might be seen, with his sack slung 
 over his back, begging supplies for his convent. 
 One morning, I had the curiosity to follow a 
 young friar of the Franciscan order the whole 
 length of the Calk de Montera ; he asked up- 
 wards of forty persons for alms, and entered 
 every shop, and only two persons listened to his 
 petition, — one of these was an old lame beggar, 
 sitting at a door, who put half a quarto into his 
 hand ; the other was an old gentleman with a 
 cocked hat, and certain other insignia of holding 
 some government employment. 
 
 In my first perambulation of the streets of 
 Madrid, I remarked, with astonishment, the 
 extraordinary number of shops appropriated to 
 the sale of combs. Throughout Spain, but 
 especially in Madrid, the comb is an indispens- 
 ible and important part of every woman's 
 dress, and a never failing accompaniment of
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 73 
 
 the mantilla. A fashionable Spanish comb is 
 not less than a foot long, and eight or nine 
 inches broad ; and no woman considers from 
 nine to fifteen dollars (from 2/. to 3/.) too much 
 to give for this appendage ; accordingly, every 
 tenth shop, at least, is a comb shop. Another 
 very numerous class of shops appeared to belong 
 to booksellers ; and a third — shops filled with 
 remnants and shreds of cloth of all kinds and 
 colours, which partly accounts for the patched 
 appearance of the garments of the lowest orders, 
 who doubtless find in these repositories the 
 means of repairing their worn-out clothes. I 
 had one day the curiosity to walk leisurely 
 through two of the principal commercial streets, 
 and to take a note of the different shops they 
 contained. In the Calic de Carretas, I found 
 sixteen booksellers, ten venders of combs, three 
 jewellers, two hardware shops, two gold and 
 silver embroiderers, two chocolate shops, two 
 fan shops, six drapers and silk mercers, one 
 woollen draper, one hatter, one perfumer, one 
 fruiterer, one print shoj), one wine shop, and 
 one stocking shop. In the Calk de Montcra, 
 I found eight drapers and silk-mercers, eight 
 jewellers, five hardware shops, four watch-
 
 74 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 makers, three china and crystal shops, three 
 grocers, five embroiderers, three booksellers, 
 three perfumers, three pawnbrokers, three choco- 
 late shops, two fan shops, four comb shops, four 
 provision shops, two money changers, two ven- 
 ders of ornaments for churches, two glove shops, 
 two shoemakers, two gunsmiths, three venders 
 of cocks and hens, and two of singing birds. 
 
 Walking through the streets of Madrid, you 
 are one moment arrested by a pleasant smell, 
 and the next stunned by a bad one ; among 
 the former, is the fragrant perfume from the 
 cinnamon to be mixed with the chocolate : at 
 the door of every chocolate shop, a person is to 
 be seen beating cinnamon in a large mortar. 
 Another pleasant smell arises from the heaps of 
 melons that lie on the streets. This custom, 
 by-the-by, of heaping fruit on the street, re- 
 quires that one unaccustomed to the streets of 
 Madrid should look well to his feet, — melons, 
 oranges, apples, and many other kinds of fruit, 
 lie every where in the way of the passenger, 
 who is in constant dangerof being toppled over. 
 Among the bad smells that assail one, the most 
 common, and to me the most offensive, is the 
 smell of oil in preparation for cooking. The
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 75 
 
 Spanish oil is unpleasant both to the taste and 
 smell ; but I have heard well-informed persons 
 say that the fault does not lie in the oil, but in 
 the manner of expressing it ; this may proba- 
 bly be true, — the oil of Catalunia is as unpleas- 
 ant as that of Andalusia, and yet the olives of 
 Catalunia grow in a latitude little different from 
 the most southerly parts of France, from which 
 the most excellent oil is produced. As I have 
 mentioned offensive smells, let me not omit 
 one offensive sight, — I allude to the constant 
 practice of combing and cleaning the hair in the 
 street : in most of the less frequented streets, 
 persons are seen at every second or third door 
 intent upon this employment; and sometimes 
 the occupation includes a scrutiny, at the nature 
 of which the reader must be contented to guess ; 
 and even in the most frequented streets, if two 
 women be seated at fruit-stalls near each other, 
 one is generally engaged in combing, assorting, 
 and occasionally scrutinizing the hair of the 
 other. Sights like these neutralize, in some 
 degree, the enjoyment which a stranger might 
 otherwise find in the delicious flavour of Mus- 
 catel grapes. 
 
 I was prepared to find much more wretched-
 
 76 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 ness and poverty among the lower orders in 
 Madrid, than is apparent — I might perhaps say, 
 than exists there. There is much misery in 
 Madrid, but it lies among a different class, of 
 whom I shall have occasion to speak after- 
 wards : at present, I speak merely of the lowest 
 class of the inhabitants, among whom, in every 
 great city, there is always a certain proportion 
 of miserably poor. I purposely walked several 
 times into the lowest quarters of the city, but I 
 never encountered any such pictures of poverty 
 and wretchedness as are to be found abundantly 
 in Paris, London, Dublin, Manchester, and 
 other great towns of France and England. 
 When the king arrived in Madrid from La 
 Granja, there were at least 10,000 persons 
 present at his entree ; and upon the occasion of the 
 queen's accouchement, there were three times 
 that number in the court of the palace ; and yet 
 I did not see a single person in rags — scarcely 
 even a beggar. It is possible, however, that 
 a cloak may conceal much wretchedness ; and 
 of this I had one day an example. Sauntering 
 one morning in the retired part of the Prado, in 
 front of the botanical garden, I sat down upon 
 the low wall that supports the iron railing : a
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 77 
 
 man, with a decent cloak wrapped around him, 
 sat a few paces distant, seemingly in a reverie ; 
 he happened to have taken his seat upon some 
 prohibited place, and one of the guards, un- 
 perceived by him, walked forward, and tapped 
 him on the shoulder with his musket : whether 
 the sudden start which this intrusion occa- 
 sioned had unfastened the cloak, or whether he 
 had accidentally let go his hold of it, is of 
 no consequence ; but the cloak dropped half off 
 his body, and I discovered that it was his only 
 garment, excepting his neckcloth : the man was 
 no beggar ; he hastily replaced the cloak, and 
 walked away. He was probably one of that 
 class who, in Madrid, sacrifice all to the ex- 
 terior ; or, possibly, one of those very few Cas- 
 tilians, who yet inherit old Castilian pride, and 
 who would die rather than ask an alms. 
 
 But it is not difficult to assign plausible 
 reasons for the fact, that the utterly destitute 
 form but a very trifling proportion of the in- 
 habitants of Madrid. Madrid lives by the 
 court ; it is said that the employees, including all 
 grades, and the military, form one fourth part of 
 the whole inhabitants. The professional per- 
 sons, especially those connected with the law.
 
 78 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 form a large body ; the friars and priests, a still 
 larger. In Madrid, too, are assembled the 
 greater number of the nobles and rich pro- 
 prietors ; so that more than one half of the 
 inhabitants live upon their salaries and rents. 
 We have then to consider the great number 
 of tradespeople, artificers, and shopkeepers re- 
 quired to supply the wants of the former classes ; 
 add to these, the common labourers, servants, 
 market people, itinerant venders, porters, water 
 carriers, fruiterers, and the seminaries, hos- 
 pitals, and prisons ; and if, as is said to be the 
 case, the employees, the military, the profes- 
 sional men, and all their families, together with 
 priests and friars, amount to 80,000 persons, we 
 may easily account for the other 80,000, without 
 the necessity of filling up a blank with the 
 utterly destitute. Indeed, the lowest orders in 
 Madrid, are the water-carriers and fruiterers ; 
 and these are not a fixed population ; many 
 belong to the neighbouring villages, and to the 
 fruit countries bordering on the Tagus ; and in 
 the winter months, these leave the capital. There 
 is always a resource for the most destitute in 
 Madrid, in the trade of a water-carrier : he 
 weaves a little basket of rushes ; pays a couple 
 
 I
 
 SPAIN IN 18.30. 79 
 
 of reals for a couple of glasses, and he is at once 
 equipped as a vender of aqua fresca. Madrid 
 has no manufacture, so that labour is not at- 
 tracted to the capital, to be afterwards subject 
 to the vicissitudes of trade ; nor is there any 
 spirit of enterprise, whose caprices demand a 
 constant supply of superabundant labour. These 
 may, or may not, be deemed sufficient reasons 
 for the fact I have wished to account for, — the 
 reader may probably be able to add others. The 
 fact, however, is certain, that in no city of 
 Europe ranking with Madrid, is there so little 
 apparent wretchedness. 
 
 There is less appearance of business in the 
 streets of Madrid, than in any city I have ever 
 seen: the population seem to have turned out 
 to enjoy themselves. Two things contribute 
 mainly to give that air of ease and pleasure to 
 the pursuits of the inhabitants of Madrid ; the 
 great proportion of women of whom the street- 
 population is composed, — and the extreme 
 slowness of movement. The women of Madrid 
 have nothing to detain them at home ; the 
 ladies have no home occupations as in London ; 
 nor have the majority of the bourgeoises any shop 
 duties to perform as in Paris, — the street is,
 
 
 80 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 therefore, their only resource from ennui. And 
 there is something in extreme slowness of 
 motion, that is entirely opposed to business and 
 duties, — a quick step, and a necessary one, are 
 closely allied ; but the street population of 
 Madrid, with few exceptions, merely saunter; 
 and wherever you reach an open space, especially 
 the Puerta del Sol, — a small square in the centre 
 of the city, — hundreds of gentlemen are seen 
 standing, with no other occupation than shaking 
 the dust from their segars. The great numbers of 
 military too, strolling arm in arm, and, above all, 
 the innumerable priests and monks, with whom 
 we at once connect idleness and ease, give to the 
 street population of Madrid an appearance of 
 pleasure seeking, which is peculiar to itself, 
 and is perhaps little removed from truth. 
 
 On Sunday, Madrid presents the same aspect 
 as on other days, with this difterence, that the 
 shops and the streets are more crowded ; and 
 that the lower classes, and the bourgeoises, are 
 better attired. On Sunday evening, the houses 
 are deserted ; the whole population of Madrid 
 pours down the Calle de Alcala, to the Prado. 
 Every Sunday afternoon, from four o'clock until 
 six or seven, this street, nearly a mile in length,
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 81 
 
 and, at least, twice as broad as Portland Place, 
 is crowded from end to end, and from wall to 
 wall, so that a carriage finds some difficulty in 
 making its way. Among this crowd, I have 
 often looked in vain, to find an ill-dressed per- 
 son ; but this exterior is no real index to the 
 condition of those who throng the Prado. I 
 have reason to know, that hundreds, who by 
 their dress might pass for courtiers, have dined 
 upon bread and a bunch of grapes, and go from 
 the Paseo to hide themselves in a garret ; and 
 females have been pointed out to me, whose 
 mantilla, comb, and fan could not have cost 
 less than 10/., who were starving upon a pen- 
 sion of 2,500 reals (25/.). 
 
 As I have mentioned the Calle de Alcala, let 
 me speak of this street as it deserves to be 
 spoken of. I know of no finer entry to any city ; 
 I might perhaps say, no one so fine, as that to 
 Madrid by the Calle de Alcala. Standing at the 
 foot of this street, you have on the right and left 
 the long, wide Prado, with its quadruple row of 
 trees stretching in fine perspective to the gates 
 that terminate it; behind is the magnificent gate 
 of Alcala, a fine model of architectural beauty; 
 and before lies the Calle de Alcala, reaching into 
 
 VOL. I. G
 
 82 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 the heart of the city, — long, of superb width, 
 and flanked by a splendid range of unequal 
 buildings, — among others the hotels of many of 
 the ambassadors ; the two fine convents of Las 
 Calatravas, and Las Ballecas, and the Custom- 
 house. But theCalle de Alcala is the only really 
 fine street in Madrid ; many of the other streets 
 are good, and very many respectable, of toler- 
 able width, and the houses lofty and well built; 
 but there is no magnificent street, excepting the 
 Calle de Alcala. Like all the other cities in Spain, 
 the streets, abstracted from the population, have 
 a sombre aspect, owing to the number of con- 
 vents, whose long reach of wall, grated windows, 
 and lack of doors, throw a chill over the mind of 
 the passer by. There are no fewer than sixty- 
 two convents for men and women in Madrid; 
 and it frequently happens that one side of a 
 whole street is occupied by a convent : in the 
 Calle de Atocha there are no fewer than eight 
 convents ; and some of the streets on the out- 
 skirts, contain scarcely any houses, but those 
 dedicated to religion. 
 
 Walking one day in company with a priest, 
 — a very intelligent and learned man, of whose 
 society I was always glad, — I chanced to observe 
 the inscription upon the corner of one of the 
 
 ll 
 
 .1
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 83 
 
 streets, and read Calle de la luquisicion ; my 
 curiosity was immediately awakened ; I had 
 intended before leaving Madrid, to have sought 
 out the spot memorable from the atrocities with 
 which it is connected ; and this accidental ren- 
 contre saved me the trouble of a search. I im- 
 mediately expressed my anxiety to see the 
 building, and to enter it if possible ; and 
 requested my companion to have the goodness 
 to be my Cicerone ; but I found that the terrors 
 of the Inquisition had outlived its power ; my 
 companion assured me there was nothing to see ; 
 the building he believed was shut up, and no 
 one could enter ; indeed he doubted if he per- 
 fectly knew where the building was situated. I 
 saw the difficulty of the priest ; there might' be 
 danger in guiding a heretic to the precincts of 
 the holy office ; and so, requesting him to wait 
 for me, I went in search of the building. I had 
 no difficulty in finding it, but there was little to 
 reward my search ; it was the building in 
 which prisoners were confined, but not that in 
 which they were judged and tortured. This 
 was in an immediately adjoining street, formerly 
 called the street of the Grand Inquisitor, whose 
 house, including all the offices of the court, fills 
 
 c; 2
 
 84 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 almost one side of the street. It seems at first 
 sight surprising, that the Inquisition, like the 
 Bastile, was not torn down during the time of 
 the Constitution ; but the prime movers, and 
 even the instruments in that revolution, were 
 of the upper ranks ; and it is a certain fact, 
 that many among the Pueblo Bajo look even now 
 without any horror, some with veneration, upon 
 the building once dedicated to the maintenance 
 of the Roman Catholic faith. The building- 
 used as the prison of the Inquisition, was con- 
 structed above immense vaults, originally formed 
 by the Moors ; and afterwards converted into 
 dungeons. I requested permission to visit them, 
 but I was told that the air in the dungeons was 
 such as to render a visit to them unsafe. 
 
 From the prisons I went to the other branch 
 of the Inquisition in the adjoining street. A 
 part of the house of the Grand Inquisitor is in a 
 dilapidated state, but other parts are inhabited 
 by private individuals. The porter, notwith- 
 standing a liberal bribe, made much difficulty 
 in allowing me to enter, but I at last prevailed 
 with him, and he conducted me to the room 
 formerly used as the hall of justice, or rather of 
 judgment; and although I saw nothing but a
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 85 
 
 long gloomy room without one article of fur- 
 niture, it required but little exercise of imagina- 
 tion to see, in fancy, the Inquisitors and their 
 satellites, the trembling accused, and the instru- 
 ments of torture. It appears incredible, that 
 any others than those to whom its existence 
 would bring power or wealth, should desire the 
 re-establishment of the Inquisition; and yet, I 
 feel myself justified in believing, that many 
 would look upon its restoration with com- 
 placency; and that the great majority of the 
 lower orders would behold this with perfect 
 indifference. If so, they deserve to be cursed 
 with it. 
 
 The dirtiness and want of comfort in the Cniz 
 de Malta, would have driven me into private 
 lodgings, even if the charges in the hotel had 
 been supportable ; I hastened therefore to de- 
 liver my letters, that I might be aided in my 
 search by those to whom I carried recommenda- 
 tions ; and by the kind assistance of Sr. Mozo, 
 one of the Consejeros del Rey, I was soon es- 
 tablished in comfortable apartments in the Calk 
 de la Madalena. It may be interesting to some, 
 to know the nature and price of private accom- 
 modation in Madrid. My apartments were on
 
 86 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 the second floor, (in Madrid every floor is a 
 separate house, excepting among the very 
 highest ranks) and consisted of one very large 
 room, 40 feet long, by 22 broad, with tw^o very 
 large windows facing the street ; a small bed- 
 room, separated from this large room by a glass 
 door; and another small room, beyond the bed- 
 room, to be employed as an eating room. These 
 rooms were brick-floored, as every room is, in 
 the northern and central parts of Spain ; and 
 the walls white-washed. The apartments were 
 furnished with basket-chairs and sofas, a bed, 
 and two or three tables ; and for this accommo- 
 dation, including service and cooking, I paid 
 20 reals per day, or 1/. 9^. 2d. per week. This 
 was certainly not remarkably cheap ; but the 
 situation was good, and the rooms were clean 
 and airy. 
 
 Being thus established in lodgings, my first 
 duty was to find the hotel of the British minis- 
 ter, and to present to him my letter of intro- 
 duction from Lord Aberdeen ; and I gladly 
 avail myself of this opportunity to express my 
 obligations to Henry Unwin Addington, Esq. ; 
 not only for his uniform kindness and attention 
 while we remained in Madrid, and for the often 
 
 '
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 87 
 
 repeated hospitalities of his house ; but for his 
 readiness to assist me in whatever way the 
 representative of the British Government could 
 make his interest available in forwarding my 
 objects. For some lesser favours, I am also 
 Mr. Addington's debtor ; among others, the 
 privilege of perusing the English newspapers, 
 no small privilege in a country where the only 
 journal is the Gaceta de Madrid. Walking one 
 day towards my lodgings, with a file oi Courier's 
 in my hand, I noticed that I was followed, and 
 narrowly scrutinized by some persons in au- 
 thority ; but they, no doubt, became informed 
 where I procured this forbidden fruit, and I 
 never suffered any farther interruption. 
 
 The day after my arrival in Madrid was Sun- 
 day, and having finished my puchero, and 
 drank a reasonable quantity of Val de Penas, 
 I prepared to join the tide that was slowly 
 rolling towards the Prado. 
 
 Every Spaniard is proud of the Prado at 
 Madrid ; and but for the Prado, the inhabitants 
 of Madrid would look upon life as a thing of 
 very little value ; every body goes every night 
 to the Prado ; every body — man, woman, and 
 child— looks forward to the evening promenade
 
 88 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 with pleasure and impatience ; every body asks 
 every body the same question, shall you be on 
 the Paseo to night ? how did you like the Paseo 
 last night ? every night, at the same hour, the 
 dragoons take their place along the Prado, to 
 regulate the order and line of carriages : and 
 the only difference between Sunday night and 
 any other night on the Prado is, that on Sun- 
 day it is frequented by those who can afford 
 to dress only once a week, as well as by those 
 who can dress every day. It was impossible 
 that I could permit the first Sunday to pass 
 away without seeing the Prado; accordingly, 
 accompanied by a colonel in the Spanish ser- 
 vice, whose name, for certain reasons, I refrain 
 from mentioning, I took the road to the Prado. 
 
 The Prado, divested of its living attraction, 
 is certainly not entitled to the extravagant 
 praises bestowed upon it by the Spaniards : 
 it is a fine spacious paseo, at least two miles 
 long, and from 200 to 300 yards broad, adorned 
 with rows of trees, and with several fountains ; 
 the frequented part, however, is not more than 
 half a mile in length, and has scarcely any 
 shade. But the Prado, although in itself not 
 possessing the natural attractions of that of
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 89 
 
 Vienna, or perhaps of some others, is an admir- 
 able resort for a stranger who is desirous of 
 seeing the population of Madrid. When I 
 reached it, it seemed already crowded, though 
 a dense stream of population was still pouring 
 into it from the Calk de Alcala. On the part 
 appropriated to carriages, there was already a 
 double row of vehicles, bespeaking, by their 
 slow motion, the stateliness of character said to 
 belong to the Spanish aristocracy. The turn-out 
 of carriages presented a strange melange of ele- 
 gance and shabbiness ; some few were as hand- 
 some as can be seen in Hyde Park ; some — truly 
 Spanish, — were entirely covered over with gild- 
 ing and painting ; many were like worn-out post 
 chaises ; and several like the old family pieces 
 that are yet sometimes to be seen at the church 
 door on Sunday, in some remote parishes in 
 England. I observed the most ludicrous in- 
 congruity between the carriages and the ser- 
 vants ; many a respectable, and even handsome 
 carriage might be seen with a servant behind, 
 like some street vagabond who, seeing a vacant 
 place, had mounted for the sake of a drive. I 
 actually saw a tolerably neat carriage driven 
 by a coachman without stockings ; and another
 
 90 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 with a rheumatic lacquey behind, whose head 
 was enveloped in flannel. But let me turn to 
 the pedestrians. 
 
 The Paseo was crowded from end to end, and 
 from side to side ; so crowded, indeed, that by 
 mixing with the tide, it was impossible to see 
 more than one's next neighbour ; and that I 
 might better observe the elements of the crowd, 
 I contrived, with some difficulty, to extricate 
 myself from the stream, and get into the car- 
 riage drive. Before visiting Spain, I had heard 
 much of the beauty of Spanish women, — their 
 graceful figures, — their bewitching eyes, — their 
 fascinating expression, — in short, their personal 
 attractions. Whether owing to the representations 
 of travellers, or the unreal descriptions of poets, 
 or the romance with which, in the minds of 
 many, every thing in Spain is invested, — it is 
 certain, that a belief in the witchery of Spanish 
 women obtains very general credence in Eng- 
 land. With curiosity, therefore, considerably 
 excited, I took up a station to decide upon the 
 claims of the ladies of Spain. In my expecta- 
 tions of beauty I was miserably disappointed ; 
 beauty of features I saw none. Neither at that 
 time, nor at any subsequent visit to the Prado,
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 91 
 
 did I ever see one strikingly lovely countenance ; 
 
 and the class so well known in England, because 
 
 so numerous, denominated " pretty girls," has no 
 
 existence in Spain. The women were, without 
 
 exception, dark, — but the darkness of the clear 
 
 brunette, is darkness of a very different kind 
 
 from that of the Castilian. I saw no fine skin, 
 
 no glossy hair : dark expressive eyes I certainly 
 
 did see, but they were generally too ill supported 
 
 to produce much effect. But let me do justice 
 
 to the grace of the Spanish women. No other 
 
 woman knows how to walk, — the elegant, light, 
 
 and yet firm step of the small and well attired 
 
 foot and ancle, — the graceful bearing of the 
 
 head and neck, — the elegant disposition of the 
 
 arms, never to be seen hanging downward, but 
 
 one hand holding the folds of the mantilla, just 
 
 below the waist ; the other inclining upward, 
 
 wielding, with an effect the most miraculous, 
 
 that mysterious instrument, the fan, — these are 
 
 the charms of the Spanish women. As for 
 
 the fan, its powers are no where seen displayed 
 
 to such advantage as on the Prado. I believe 
 
 I shall never be able to look at a fan in the 
 
 hands of any other tlian a Spanish woman, — 
 
 certainly no other woman understands the
 
 92 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 management of it. In her hands it is never one 
 moment at rest, — she throws it open, fans her- 
 self, furls it to the right, — opens it again, again 
 fans herself, and furls it to the left, and all with 
 three fingers of one hand. This is absolutely 
 marvellous to one who has been accustomed to 
 see a fan opened with both hands, and furled 
 only on one side. But that I may at once 
 exhaust the subject of fans, let me add, that in 
 the hands of its true mistress, the fan becomes 
 a substitute for language, and an interpreter of 
 etiquette. If a lady perceives that she is an 
 object of attention to some inquisitive and 
 admiring caballero, she has immediate recourse 
 to her fan, that she may convey to him one most 
 important piece of information. If she be 
 married, she fans herself slowly ; if still seiio- 
 rita, rapidly. The caballero, therefore, at once 
 ascertains his chances and his risks. This fact 
 I obtained from a Spanish lady of rank in 
 Madrid, the wife of a gentleman in a high offi- 
 cial situation. The motion of the fan too, 
 marks distinctly, and with the utmost nicety, 
 the degree of intimacy that subsists between one 
 lady and another. The shake of the fan is the 
 universal acknowledgment of acquaintance; and
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 93 
 
 according as the fan is open or shut, the inti- 
 macy is great or small. These are trifling things, 
 yet they are worth telling. But let me return 
 to the Prado, where, having decided upon the 
 claims of the Castilian ladies, I had leisure to 
 observe its other novelties. Here I saw little 
 of the sombreness I had remarked on the streets, 
 for many of the ladies wore white mantillas ; 
 and in the evening, coloured rather than black 
 gowns are the mode. The very great number, 
 too, of officers of the guards, with their high 
 cocked hats, and coats entirely covered with 
 silver lace, gave additional animation to the 
 scene., Other pictures of a different kind the 
 eye occasionally caught, — here and there a 
 portly priest, with his ample gown and great 
 slouched hat, mingling in the throng, and evi- 
 dently enjoying the scene and its gaiety, — - 
 aloof from the crowd, and in the most retired 
 walks, with hurried step and downcast head, a 
 friar, in his grey, brown or white cassock, — 
 now and then a tall Andalusian peasant, with 
 his tapering hat, his velvet and silver embroi- 
 dered jacket and crimson sash, his unbuttoned 
 gaiters and white stockings, — the Asturian 
 nurse, with her short brown jerkin, petticoat of
 
 94 
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 blue and yellow, trimmed with gold, and bare 
 head. It is always a mark of a woman's con- 
 sequence in Madrid to hire an Asturian nurse ; 
 they are supposed to be models of health and 
 strength, and certainly if breadth of figure be 
 the criterion of these, the ladies of Madrid 
 make a prudent choice : I never saw such 
 women as the women of the Asturias. In 
 France, where the women are generally mmce, 
 one of them might be exhibited as a curiosity. 
 
 There is one very unpleasant thing connected 
 with a promenade on the Prado, whether in a 
 carriage or on foot; this is the necessity of pay- 
 ing honour to every branch of the royal family, 
 however frequently they may pass along. Every 
 carriage must stop, and those within must take 
 off their hats, or if the carriage be open stand up 
 also ; and every person on foot is expected to 
 suspend his walk, face-about, and bow, with 
 his head uncovered. When the king passes, no 
 one perhaps feels this to be a grievance ; because, 
 however little respect the king may in reality 
 be entitled to from his subjects, it is felt to 
 be nothing more than an act of common good 
 breeding to take off one's hat to a king ; but I 
 have fifty times seen all this homage paid to a
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 95 
 
 royal carriage with a nurse and an infant — not 
 an infanta — in it ; and one evening I was abso- 
 lutely driven from the Prado by the unceasing 
 trouble of being obliged to acknowledge the 
 royal presence every few minutes, the spouse 
 of the Infante Don Francis having found amuse- 
 ment in cantering backward and forward during 
 an hour at least. From the expected homage, no 
 one is exempt : even the foreign ambassadors 
 must draw up, rise, and uncover themselves, if 
 but a sprig of royalty in the remotest degree, 
 and of the tenderest age, happens to drive past. 
 Both the British and the American Minister 
 told me, that for that reason they never went to 
 the Prado. 
 
 The promenade continues long after dark ; 
 and on fine moonlight nights in the month of 
 September, 1 have seen it continued without 
 any diminution in the crowd until after ten 
 o'clock ; generally, however, when dusk begins 
 to usher in darkness, and when the great object 
 of going to the Prado is accomplished, — seeing 
 and being seen — the crowd thins, and there is 
 soon no remnant of it visible, excepting pairs, 
 or single individuals, here and there, who have 
 their reasons for remaining. In Madrid, — indeed
 
 96 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 throughout all Spain, nobody walks for pleasure; 
 at all events no woman : and this fact is I think 
 sufficient to account for the superiority of the 
 Spanish women in the art of walking, without 
 making it necessary for us to suppose any defi- 
 ciency in elegance of limb or symmetry of form 
 among the women of other countries. An En- 
 glishwoman walks for health : she puts on her 
 bonnet, and a pair of strong shoes, and a shawl, 
 and walks into the country ; and the nature of 
 the climate creates a necessity for walking fast ; 
 there is no one to look at her, and she thinks of 
 nothing so little as her manner of walking : but 
 a Spanish woman never walks for health or 
 exercise ; she never goes out but to go to the 
 Paseo, and never without having paid the most 
 scrupulous attention to her toilette. On the 
 Paseo, she studies every step, because the 
 object of going there is to be seen and admired, 
 and the nature of the climate, obliges her to 
 walk slow. 
 
 My evening walk in Madrid was more fre- 
 quently to the Retiro than to the Prado ; this is 
 a vast and ill-laid out garden and shrubbery, 
 three or four miles in circumference, situated 
 upon an elevation behind the Prado, the en-
 
 SPAIN IN 18.30. 97 
 
 trance to which is by the court of the old palace, 
 which was destroyed during the war. The 
 Retiro possesses no particular attraction, ex- 
 cepting its fresh air, and freedom from dust. 
 There are some elevations in this garden, from 
 which an extensive prospect is enjoyed ; but it 
 embraces little that is interesting, excepting the 
 city, and the skies — an object of no small interest 
 to one accustomed to the dense atmosphere and 
 cloudy heavens of a northern latitude. During 
 the several months that I remained in Madrid, 
 I scarcely ever saw a cloud ; and I frequently 
 walked to the Retiro for the sole purpose of 
 looking at the glorious sky, and the gorgeous 
 sun-set: such skies are glorious, even when 
 they canopy a desert. From the Retiro, the eye 
 ranges over nothing but a desert, bounded on 
 one side by the Sierra Guadarama, on the other 
 by the Toledo mountains; and Madrid, standing- 
 alone in the midst of this treeless and lifeless 
 plain, seemed, when the setting sun flamed 
 upon its domes and spires, to have been placed 
 there by enchantment. 
 
 Returning from the Prado, or the Retiro, 1 
 frequently stepped into the Cafe de Santa Cala- 
 lina, the most brilliant place of the kind in 
 
 VOL. I. H
 
 98 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 Madrid, and generally resorted to after the 
 promenade, by many of the most distinguished 
 persons. I greatly prefer this cafe to any in 
 Paris ; to any, indeed, that I have seen else- 
 where. You pass through a magnificent and 
 brilliantly illuminated room, where those who 
 love the light are assembled, into an open 
 court, — open to the skies above, but surrounded 
 by the backs of lofty buildings ; a covered 
 arcade runs round the court, dimly lighted by 
 suspended lamps, to meet the taste of those 
 who desire a certain quantity of light and no 
 more. But this light scarcely reaches the 
 centre of the court, which is illuminated only 
 by the stars; and here, as well as under the 
 arcade, tables and chairs are placed for those 
 who are indifferent about light. All sorts of 
 refreshments suited to a warm climate, are to 
 be found in this cafe ; and rows of sweet smell- 
 ing flowers in pots, add to the luxury of the 
 place. It may easily be believed, that the Caf^ 
 Catalina is celebrated on other accounts than for 
 the excellence of the refreshments which it fur- 
 nishes. In the illuminated room, all is mirth 
 and gaiety : the ladies, escaped from the mono- 
 tony, and proprieties, and etiquette of the
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 99 
 
 Prado, give way to their natural liveliness and 
 wit; and accept, with smiling looks of conscious 
 merit, and with quick flutterings of the fan, the 
 proffered courtesies and gallantry of the cabal - 
 leros who escort them. In the court, the scene 
 is different : within the arcade, quieter parties 
 are seated, enjoying a sort of half-seclusion; 
 while, throughout the centre, are scattered, pairs 
 in conversation ; and the light of a lamp, as it 
 occasionally flashes upon their privacy, — reveal- 
 ing a sparkling eye, and the flutter of a fan, — 
 interprets its nature. The use of the tokdo or 
 the bravo, to avenge private wrongs among the 
 upper ranks, is now comparatively unknown in 
 Spain ; else I should often have run some risk, 
 by strolling leisurely through the centre of the 
 Caf(6 Catalina, that I might get some insight 
 into the state of Castilian morals. 
 
 There is a great paucity of caf(6s in Madrid; 
 excepting the Cafe de Santa Catalina, and an- 
 other, the name of which I forget, in the neigh- 
 bourhood of the Prado, there is only the Fon- 
 tana de Oro in the Calk de San Geronimo. But it 
 is not likely that there should be many coffee- 
 houses in a country where there are no news- 
 
 n 2
 
 100 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 papers. Both in France and in England, the 
 majority of persons who frequent coffee-houses, 
 go to read the newspapers ; but in Spain, no 
 one enters a coffee-room except to sip iced 
 water. During the forenoon, indeed, the doors 
 of the caf<6s, excepting the Fontana de Oro, are 
 generally shut, and nobody is within. An 
 Englishman, or a Frenchman, who is accus- 
 tomed to connect with a coffee-room, — half-a- 
 dozen public journals, — organs of intelligence 
 and public opinion, upon subjects connected 
 with his political rights, and with the state of 
 his country, — is instantly reminded on entering 
 a Spanish coffee-room, of the degraded political 
 condition of the country he is in : and the dif- 
 ference between the enjoyment and the want of 
 political rights, is forcibly thrust upon him. He 
 takes up the Gaceta de Madrid, and finds there 
 a royal ordinance, breathing vengeance against 
 those who desire to be restored to their homes 
 and their country ; and whose prayers are for its 
 happiness. He turns over the leaf, and he finds 
 another ordinance, declaring that the universi- 
 ties shall be closed, and education suspended, 
 during his Majesty's pleasure ; and he then 
 looks for the comment upon these facts : but
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 101 
 
 he looks ill vain. He sees that his Majesty 
 and the royal family enjoy good health ; that 
 the king has appointed a bishop to one cathe- 
 dral ; and that the bishop has named a canon 
 to another ; and that the procession of St. Rosalia 
 will issue from the convent of St. Thomas, pre- 
 cisely at four o'clock next day ; but he sees not 
 a syllable about the ordinances that deal out 
 injustice, or strangle improvement; and he says 
 within himself, this is the most wonderful 
 country under the sun; for here, intellect wields 
 no power. 
 
 Before dismissing the Paseos of Madrid, I 
 must notice the Botanical Garden ; not much 
 used as a Paseo, but certainly the most charming 
 of them all. While I remained in Madrid, 
 waiting until the heats had so far subsided as 
 to allow me to journey into Andalusia, I gene- 
 rally walked there during an hour or two after 
 breakfast, having access to it at all times, 
 through the interest of a friend. The garden 
 is very extensive; the trees are full-grown; and 
 there is a charming variety of rare and beau- 
 tiful plants. The garden, although not by any 
 means neglected, is not in such ])erfect order, 
 or under such excellent manauemcnt as it was
 
 102 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 during the time of the constitution : it was 
 then under the direction of *S*'^" La Gasca, 
 Professor of Botany, and a Member of the 
 Cortes; now a resident in England, where I be- 
 lieve his learning is appreciated as it deserves. 
 There is a curious and very unmeaning regu- 
 lation, connected with the entree of this garden. 
 Every lady, on entering, must throw aside her 
 mantilla, and walk with the head uncovered ; 
 she is not even allowed to drop it upon her 
 neck ; it must be carried upon the arm. This 
 regulation is almost an order of exclusion to 
 a Spanish woman, who considers the proper 
 arrangement of the mantilla no trifling or easy 
 matter, and not to be accomplished without 
 the aid of a mirror ; it is rarely, therefore, that 
 a Spanish woman subjects herself to a regu- 
 lation by which she runs the risk of after- 
 wards appearing on the Paseo with her mantilla 
 awry. 
 
 The only occasion upon which a Spaniard 
 absents himself from the Paseo, is when he goes 
 to the theatre. The inhabitants of Madrid are 
 a theatre-going population; but their propensi- 
 ties that way are sadly cramped for want of 
 room ; if, however, the theatre now erecting
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 103 
 
 in the neighbourhood of the palace be ever 
 finished — a point certainly doubtful, since the 
 palace itself makes no progress towards com- 
 pletion — half Madrid will find accommodation 
 in it, and have the honour of being seated in 
 the largest theatre in Europe. I should pro- 
 bably not have visited the theatre so soon, if 
 the road from my lodgings to the Calle de Alcala 
 had not led me daily past the theatre, where I 
 generally stopped a moment to read " the bills 
 of the play." These, as in the olden times in 
 England, set forth the merits of the play, — 
 narrate a few of the principal events, — tell how, 
 in one act, there is a most witty dialogue, — 
 and how, in another, there is a scene which 
 must delight every body; and conclude with 
 some eulogy upon the genius of the writer. 
 The first visit I made to the theatre was to wit- 
 ness the representation of a comedy by Solisy to 
 be acted in the Teatro del Principe. I walked in 
 and took my seat without any one asking for 
 my ticket, which is not demanded until the 
 play is nearly concluded ; so that a lover of the 
 theatre, who might be scarce of money, might 
 gratify his appetite for nothing. 
 
 The Teatro del Principe is miserably small for
 
 104 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 a metropolitan theatre : it will contain no more 
 than 1500 persons ; but it is light and pretty, 
 painted in white and gold, and round the ceiling 
 are the busts of the principal Spanish poets, dra- 
 matists and novelists, their names being inscribed 
 under each. The six in front are no doubt 
 intended to occupy the most honourable places : 
 they are Calderon, Lopez de Vega, Cervantes, 
 Garcilaso, Ercillo, and Tirso. Calderon and 
 Lopez are placed in the front, w^here I think 
 Cervantes ought to have been. The house was 
 well filled ; the ladies generally wore mantil- 
 las, but some were in full dress; and a few had 
 ventured upon French hats. There is one pe- 
 culiarity in the Spanish theatres, which seems 
 at first sight, inconsistent with the state of 
 society and manners. Excepting the private 
 boxes, there is scarcely any place to which a 
 lady and a gentleman can go in company. In 
 Madrid the only places of this description will 
 not contain thirty persons ; but, on the other 
 hand, an ample provision is made for ladies. 
 The greater part of the space occupied by the 
 first tier of boxes in the English theatres, is 
 thrown into one space, called the cazuela; and 
 here, ladies, and only ladies, have the right of
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 105 
 
 entree. The most respectable women go to the 
 cazuela, and sit there unattended; nor is this 
 arrangement unfavourable to intrigue. The 
 entree to the cazuela secures the entree of the 
 whole house ; and between the acts the cazuela 
 is almost deserted, some having gone to visit 
 persons in the boxes, but the greater number 
 getting no farther than the lobby, where it is 
 not unusual to meet a friend ; and when 
 the comedy ends, every lady finds an escort 
 ready. It is a fact too, that if the cazuela be 
 crowded during the first act, there is generally 
 room enough during the second, and more than 
 enough during the third. This needs no expla- 
 nation. 
 
 I saw only one really beautiful countenance 
 in the theatre ; but there were some expressive 
 faces, and inexpressibly fine eyes, almost 
 worthy of a serenade. Here, the fan seemed a 
 most indispensible companion ; for besides its 
 common uses, it exercised the powers of a 
 critic, expressing approbation or dislike ; and 
 between the acts, it proved itself a powerful 
 auxiliary to the language of the eyes. 
 
 The play, like most of the Spanish comedies, 
 was a piece of intrigue, plot within plot, and
 
 106 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 abounding in strange situations, and innumer- 
 able perplexities and difficulties, scarcely to be 
 comprehended by a spectator unless possessing 
 a previous knowledge of the piece ; and to be 
 thoroughly enjoyed by a Spaniard only. The 
 acting was spirited, the dresses characteristic, 
 and the orchestra not contemptible ; and the 
 satisfaction of the audience was shewn in im- 
 moderate bursts of laughter. 
 
 The play being ended, the next part of the 
 entertainment consisted in the Bolero. This is 
 danced by two persons ; the man, in the dress 
 of an Andalusian peasant — for to Andalusia the 
 dance properly belongs— with dark embroidered 
 jacket, short white embroidered waistcoat, crim- 
 son sash, white tight small clothes, white 
 stockings, and the hair in a black silk knot ; 
 his partner in a gaudy dress of red, embroi- 
 dered with gold. These are nothing more than 
 the usual holiday-dresses of the Andalusian 
 peasantry. The dance itself, is a quick minuet ; 
 advancing, retiring, and turning; the feet all 
 the time performing a step, and the hands 
 occupied with the castanets. I had heard much 
 of the indelicacy of the Bolero, but I could find 
 nothing in it in the slightest degree indecorous.
 
 SPAIN IN 1830, 107 
 
 The dance is long, at least it is often repeated ; 
 three or four times the dancing ceases, the 
 music continuing, and the dancers standing 
 opposite to each other ; and after a short interval, 
 the entertainment is resumed. 
 
 At this theatre, and at the Teatro de la Cruz, 
 Italian operas are performed twice a week ; 
 sometimes at the one theatre, and sometimes at 
 the other ; a very bad arrangement, because it 
 forces the lover of Italian music to have a box 
 in both houses ; and after all, one is apt to 
 make a mistake as to the house in which the 
 opera is performed. The Italian opera is a 
 losing concern in Madrid ; the prices are too 
 low, and the house is not large enough to ensure 
 a return. The star, when I was in Madrid, was 
 a Signora To-si, who received no less than 1 ,200/. 
 sterling to perform three nights a week for five 
 months. This Signora Tossi was a remarkable 
 favourite in Madrid ; she performed in an opera 
 which had been written expressly for her; and 
 when this opera was announced, the house 
 would have been filled even if it had been three 
 times larger. Nothing could gain admittance 
 but bribery ; if one inquired for a ticket, the 
 answer invariably was, that all were sold : but
 
 108 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 if one chose to add, '* I would give a handsome 
 gratuity for a ticket," a ticket was produced, 
 and an additional dollar given for it. Upon this 
 occasion the corregidor of Madrid pocketed as 
 many as 40 or 50 dollars a day by trafficking in 
 tickets ; he bought 40 or 50 tickets before the 
 theatre opened, and sold them during the day 
 at different prices, according to the demand. 
 So great was the rage for the opera, and so 
 great the dearth of tickets, that the most dis- 
 graceful means were resorted to in order to gain 
 admittance : one evening I myself saw two per- 
 sons detected with forged tickets. The excel- 
 lence of the Opera of Madrid last season, almost 
 excused the madness, — not the meanness of the 
 public. Tossi, I thought a great singer : she 
 resembles Catalini more nearly than any one I 
 have ever heard ; but she possesses more sweet- 
 ness and melody of tone ; and is a better actress, 
 and a finer woman than Catalini ever was. The 
 other vocal parts were well supported, and the 
 orchestra, with a hint and a rebuke now and then 
 from Tossi, acquitted itself well. The prices of 
 the theatres in Madrid are as moderate as the 
 poorest amateur could desire; the best places in 
 the house are to be had for 2s. Qd., and very
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 109 
 
 excellent seats cost but Is. 3(1. ; the public 
 benches in the pit are only 10^/. 
 
 The existence of a good Italian opera in 
 Madrid, and the easy access to it, have no doubt 
 had some eifect in fostering a taste for music, 
 especially Italian music. Spain, with all its 
 sins, has not to answer for the sin of neglecting 
 the fine arts. There are at this moment four 
 Italian operas in Spain : in Madrid, — in Malaga, 
 in Granada, and in Barcellona ; and this is 
 fewer than usual ; for Cadiz and Seville can also 
 generally boast of an Italian company ; and 
 wherever there is an operatic company, there is 
 also a company of comedians. I shall have 
 occasion afterwards, to notice the operas of 
 Malaga, Granada, and Barcellona ; at present I 
 confine myself to Madrid. There, music is 
 universally cultivated; and it is rare to find a 
 Spanish woman, even in the middle ranks, who 
 is not a good pianist. The music of Rossini, set 
 to the piano, is the most in vogue ; but the 
 German masters also are known to many, — and 
 justice is done to them. That instrument so 
 interwoven with our ideas of Spain — the guitar, 
 is now little cultivated in Castile by the higher 
 or middle ranks ; it is in the southern provinces,
 
 110 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 and in some of the more retired Spanish towns, 
 such as Toledo, that the guitar still maintains 
 its power, and exercises its witcheries. In 
 Madrid too, in the evening, the lower orders are 
 frequently seen sitting at their doors thrumming 
 their guitars ; and I have more than once observed 
 a soldier sitting before the guard-house with his 
 guitar, while his comrades sat on the ground 
 listening, and joining in the chorus. If the 
 ladies of Madrid know how to play the guitar, 
 they refrain from displaying their knowledge. 
 The piano is their instrument, and they do it 
 justice. In vocal music, the ladies of Madrid 
 are not proficients ; there is a want of melody 
 in their voices which forbids excellence. This 
 roughness in the voices of the Spanish women, 
 forcibly strikes a stranger upon his first entrance 
 into Spanish society, and is felt to be disagree- 
 able even in conversation : of its effect in vocal 
 performance, one has rarely an opportunity of 
 judging. 
 
 In Madrid, Spanish music is not much culti- 
 vated, — this is a pity ; for although it knows 
 neither operatic performances, nor any composi- 
 tions of a sustained character, it owns many 
 beautiful and original airs, well worthy of being
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 1 1 I 
 
 preserved. A collection of these has lately, 
 I believe, been published in England, accom- 
 panied with some charming poetry, from the 
 pens of Mrs. Hemans and Dr. Bowring. — 
 These are to be heard in the theatres, and 
 occasionally in the mouths of the lower orders. 
 If a lady be requested to play a Spanish 
 air, she will comply ; but otherwise, she will 
 always prefer Italian music.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 MADRID. 
 
 The King, Queen, and Roj^al Family; Personal Appearance of 
 Ferdinand ; a Royal Jeu cVesprit ; the King's Confidence in 
 the People, and Examples ; Character of the King ; a Carlist's 
 Opinion of the King; Favourites, — Calomarde, — Alegon, — 
 Salsedo, — the Duque d'Higar ; rising Influence of the Queen ; 
 Habits of the Royal Family ; Court Diversions ; Rivalry of 
 Don Carlos ; the Queen's Accouchement, and Views of Parties; 
 Detection of a Carlist Plot ; the Salic Law ; Court Society ; 
 Persons of Distinction, and Ministerial Tertulias ; Habits and 
 Manner of Life of the Middle Classes ; a Spanish House, and its 
 singular Defences ; Abstemiousness of the Spaniards; Evening 
 and Morning Visits ; Balls and Spanish Dancing ; Character 
 of Spanish Hospitality ; Spanish Generosity and its origin ; 
 Examples of Ostentation ; Morals ; Gallantry and Intrigue ; 
 the Morals of the Lower Orders ; Religious Opinions in the 
 Capital, and decline of Priestly Influence ; Jesuitical Educa- 
 tion ; the Influence of the Friars ; Causes of the decline of 
 Priestly influence, and the continuance of that of the Friars ; 
 Convent Secrets ; curious Expose at Cadiz ; Devotion in 
 Madrid. 
 
 There is perhaps no European Court about 
 which so little is known, as the Court of 
 Madrid, — nor any European sovereign whose
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 1 13 
 
 character and habits are so little familiar to 
 us, as those of Ferdinand VII. The first time 
 I saw the king, was on the day of my arrival 
 in Madrid : he was expected to return from 
 St. Ildefonso, and I mixed with the crowd in 
 the palace-yard about an hour before he 
 appeared. There were several thousand per- 
 sons present, of all ranks, and his Majesty 
 was received with respect, but with no 
 audible demonstrations of welcome. Upon 
 this occasion, 1 was not sufficiently near to 
 observe the countenance and demeanour of 
 the king. 
 
 The next time I saw his majesty, was on 
 the Prado, the Sunday following, when he 
 appeared in his state equipage, followed by 
 the equipages of the two Infantes. The dis- 
 play was regal : his majesty's carriage was 
 M'orthy of a more powerful monarch : it was 
 drawn by eight handsome horses^ elegantly 
 caparisoned, and was followed by the two 
 carriages of Don Carlos and Don Francis, 
 and by that of the Princess of Portugal, each 
 drawn by six horses ; and the cavalcade ^ras 
 attended by a numerous party of huzzars. 
 
 VOL. I. J
 
 114 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 There were no other persons than their 
 Majesties in the royal carriage. The king 
 was dressed in military uniform, and his 
 royal consort wore a pink French crape hat, 
 and printed muslin gown. When the royal 
 cavalcade passed, the king was received with 
 the usual silent tokens of respect ; but when 
 the carriage of the infante Don Carlos 
 appeared, I could distinguish a few vivas. 
 The king took scarcely any notice of the 
 obeisances of his subjects; but the queen 
 seemed anxious to conciliate their favour by 
 many sweet smiles and affable bendings of 
 the head. As for Don Carlos, none of the 
 vivas were lost upon him : he had a bow and 
 a grim smile for every one. It is said, and 
 I believe with truth, that the king does not 
 like this public competition with his brother 
 for popular favour; but it has long been the 
 invariable custom for all the branches of 
 the royal family of Spain, to attend prayers 
 every Sunday evening in the royal chajDcl 
 in the convent of San Geronimo, and afterwards 
 to drive along the Prado. 
 
 A few days afterwards I met the king and 
 queen in the Retire, on foot ; they had been
 
 SPAIN IN 1S30. 115 
 
 viewing the menagerie, and were returning to 
 their carriage. Ferdinand VII. king of Spain, 
 is like a lusty country gentleman, not the 
 meagre figure he appears in Madame Tassaud's 
 exhibition ; he is large, almost to the extent 
 i of corpulency ; his countenance is fat and 
 
 heavy; but good natured, with nothing of 
 hauteu7\ still less of ferocity in it : it betrays, 
 in fact, a total want of character of any kind. 
 The queen is a remarkably pleasing, and, 
 indeed, a remarkable pretty woman ; and the 
 charm of affability, which is universally grant- 
 ed to her by those who have had the honour 
 to approach her person, shines conspicuously 
 in her countenance : she looks like 28 years 
 of age, but I believe she is some years 
 younger. The king took little notice of the 
 people who stood by, and who acknowledged 
 the royal presence; but the queen bestowed 
 upon them her usual smiles and curtesies. 
 She was then an object of much interest with 
 the public, for she was expected shortly to 
 give birth to an heir to the Spanish throne ; 
 and to this event, most thinking persons 
 looked forward, as one that must produce 
 I 2
 
 116 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 an important influence upon the future con- 
 dition of Spain. His majesty stepped into 
 the carriage first, leaving the queen to the 
 gallantry of an old general, who was their 
 only attendant, — perhaps this is Spanish court 
 etiquette : but that I may not be the means 
 of fixing upon his majesty the character of 
 an ungallant monarch, I must relate a cir- 
 cumstance that will certainly make amends 
 for this seemingly ungracious act. 
 
 I happened to be walking one day in the 
 Calle de Alcala, when the royal carriage drove 
 up to the door of the Cabinet of Natural History, 
 and being close by, I stopped to see the king 
 and queen. The king stepped from the carriage 
 first; he then lifted from the carriage, a very 
 large poodle dog, and then the queen followed, 
 whom, contrary no doubt to royal etiquette, his 
 majesty did not hand, but lifted, and placed on 
 the pavement; and then turning to the crowd 
 who surrounded the carriage, he said to them 
 "Pesa menos el matriomoni," which means. Ma- 
 trimony is a lighter burden than the dog, — a 
 very tolerable jeu d'espiit to have come from 
 Ferdinand VH. 
 
 It is a general belief in England, that the
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 117 
 
 king of Spain seldom trusts himself out of his 
 palace ; at all events, not without a formid- 
 able guard : but this idea is quite erroneous ; 
 no monarch in Europe is oftener seen with- 
 out guards than the king of Spain. I could 
 give numerous instances of this, which have 
 fallen under my own observation ; but I shall 
 content myself with one. A few days before 
 leaving Madrid, while walking in the Retiro 
 about six in the evening, in one of the most 
 private walks, I observed a lusty gentleman, 
 in blue coat and drab trowsers, with one 
 companion, about twenty paces in advance; 
 and, as ray pace was rather quicker than 
 their's, I caught a side look of the lusty 
 gentleman's face : it was the king, accompa- 
 nied by a new valet, who had just succeeded 
 Meris, who died a week or two before, of 
 apoplexy. I had frequently seen the king 
 without guards ; but never before, at so great 
 a distance from attendants, or in so retired 
 a place ; and that I might be (juite certain 
 that this was indeed the redoubtable Fer- 
 dinand, I followed, in place of passing. He 
 walked the whole lengtli of the Retiro, parts 
 of which are more than a mile from any guard
 
 118 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 or gate ; the garden is open to every body ; 
 some of the walks are extremely secluded ; so 
 that he was the whole of the time, entirely in 
 the power of any individual who might have 
 harboured a design against him ; and all 
 this struck me the more forcibly since, upon 
 that very day, it had been announced for the 
 first time in the Gaceta de Madrid, that the 
 refugees had passed the frontier; and in the 
 same paper the ordinance had appeared, for 
 closing the universities. The king walked 
 like a man who had nothing to fear; and never 
 once looked behind him, though his com- 
 panion occasionally did. Before making the 
 circuit of the Retiro, he reached the frequented 
 walks, which were then crowded, and where 
 he was of course recognized, and received as 
 usual. This exposure of himself seemed to me 
 extraordinary, and scarcely to be accounted 
 for : the best of kings have occasionally 
 suffered by their temerity ; and surely Fer- 
 dinand can have no right to suppose himself 
 without an enemy : his conduct shewed either 
 a very good, or a very hardened conscience. 
 
 But, in truth, the king has not many 
 enemies; many despise him, but few would
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 119 
 
 injure him. I have heard men of all parties, 
 — the warmest Carlists, the most decided 
 liberals, speak of him without reserve ; and 
 all speak of him as a man whose greatest 
 fault is want of character ; as a man not 
 naturally bad ; good tempered ; and who 
 might do better, were he better advised. 
 An honest adviser, a lover of his monarch, 
 and a lover of his country, Ferdinand has 
 never had the good fortune to possess ; but, 
 counselled always by men who desire only 
 to enrich themselves, and to maintain their 
 power, he is constantly led to commit acts 
 both of injustice and despotism, which have 
 earned for him the character of tyrant. A 
 despicable king might often make a respect- 
 able private gentleman. That capital failing 
 in the character of an absolute king, which 
 may be called want of character, — leading 
 him to listen to every tale that is told,— is the 
 fruitful source of injustice in every depart- 
 ment of the Spanish government. And the 
 same fault that in a king, leads to the advance- 
 ment of knaves, and the neglect of deserving 
 men — to robbery of the nation, and the ill- 
 serving of the state, would, in a private sphere,
 
 120 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 only lead to the dismissal of a footman, or the 
 change of a fruiterer. I am acquainted with 
 a Colonel in the Spanish service, who, after 
 serving his country fifteen years, and receiv- 
 ing seventeen wounds, was rewarded with the 
 government of an important fortress ; two 
 months after being appointed to this employ- 
 ment he lost it; and a distant connexion of 
 the mistress of one of the ministers, was put 
 in his place. The colonel demanded, and 
 obtained an audience of the king ; shewed 
 his wounds, and asked what crime he had 
 committed : the king said he must inquire 
 of Salmon, who had told something to his 
 disadvantage; and this was all the satisfac- 
 tion he ever obtained. This man, a brave 
 officer, and a loyal subject, was converted 
 into a disaffected person ; and yet even he, 
 although then leagued with the Carlists, spoke 
 of the king as a man who would act better 
 if he were better advised : " Leave him," 
 said he, "the name of king; let him per- 
 ceive no difference in the externals of roy- 
 alty ; leave him his secretaries and valets ; 
 give him his segar ; and let him have his 
 wife's apartments at hand ; and he would con-
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 121 
 
 sent to any change that might be proposed to 
 him by an honest and able minister." A bad 
 education has produced its worst effects upon 
 a naturally irresolute and rather weak mind. 
 Ferdinand was badly brought up, by his 
 mother ; at an early age he was shamefully 
 kidnapped by Napoleon, and long kept a 
 prisoner, where he could learn nothing of the 
 art of good government. He afterwards fell 
 into the hands of a bigot, his late wife: and 
 constantly assured by those around him of the 
 precariousness of his throne, with the liberals 
 on one side, and the apostolicals on the other, 
 he has felt the impossibility of acting for him- 
 self; and has confided all, to those who have 
 undertaken to keep the state vessel afloat. 
 
 The man who has most the ear of the king, 
 is Don Francisco Tudeo Calomarde, minister of 
 justice, as he is called in Spain. The private 
 opinions of Calomarde, are decidedly aposto- 
 lical ; but the opinions of his colleagues being 
 more moderate, he is obliged to conceal his 
 sentiments, and to pretend an accordance with 
 theirs. The ministers who are reputed to be 
 moderate in sentiment are Don Luis Ballas- 
 teros, minister of finance ; Don Luis Maria
 
 122 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 Salagar, minister of marine, and generally 
 considered the most able in the cabinet ; and 
 Don Manuel Gonsalez Salmon, secretary of 
 state, and nominally prime minister. This 
 minister, for several years, held only the office 
 of interim secretary of state ; because, as was 
 generally believed, etiquette forcing the king 
 to take the prime minister along with him to 
 his country palace, the advancement of Sal- 
 mon would have deprived Calomarde of this 
 privilege : lately, however, Salmon has been 
 named secretary of state without reserve, pro- 
 bably because he would not serve upon other 
 conditions ; or, according to another version, 
 because he threatened Calomarde with some 
 e.vposk if he opposed his advancement. 
 
 Calomarde, unquestionably no fool, is un- 
 derstood to keep all together ; the minister of 
 the marine is the only other man of talent, and 
 he is a new man, possessing little influence, 
 and who could not, for a moment, support 
 himself against Calomarde ; he was only a 
 few months ago presented with the rank of 
 general, that etiquette might enable him to 
 hold some office with which the king wished 
 to reward his services.
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 123 
 
 But Calomarde had not the king's un- 
 divided ear; and, if report speak truly, he 
 has tale-telling and cabal to encounter, as 
 well as those in inferior stations. There are 
 other two individuals who, without high state 
 offices, possess great private influence, and are 
 generally looked upon in the light of favourites. 
 These are the Duque de Alegon and Salsedo. 
 The former was appointed last autumn to the 
 office of captain-general of the guard ; an 
 office that keeps him much about the king's 
 person. This Alegon is a dissipated old man, 
 long known to the king, and who used, in 
 former days, to pander to his pleasures ; the 
 king has never forgotten the convenient friend 
 of his younger days, and has now thought of 
 rewarding him. The services of the Duque 
 de Alegon refer to many years back. Before 
 the king wedded his bigot wife, not affection, 
 but religious fear kept him faithful during 
 that connexion ; and now, the love he bestows 
 upon the young queen, entirely supersedes 
 any call upon the services of Alegon. 
 
 The other individual, who is justly con- 
 sidered the royal favourite, par excellence, is 
 Salsedo, who holds the office of private secre-
 
 124 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 tary. A dishonourable link formerly bound 
 him to his sovereign, and he still retains his 
 influence. It is generally known, that pre- 
 vious to the marriage of the king with his 
 present wife, the wife of Salsedo was in royal 
 favour. Salsedo is decidedly a man of good 
 tact, if not of talent ; his having retained his 
 post fourteen years is some proof of both . His 
 principles are understood to be moderate ; at 
 all events his advice is so, for he has sense to 
 perceive that an opposite policy would pro- 
 bably accelerate the ruin of both his master 
 and himself. Salsedo possesses more in- 
 fluence in the closet than Calomarde, — the 
 king likes him better, and confides in him 
 more. The influence of Calomarde is not 
 favouritism ; the king looks to his opinion, 
 because he trusts to his knowledge. There 
 are still one or two others who have some- 
 thing to say at court, particularly the Duque 
 d'Higar, the best man of the Camarilla, and a 
 man both of talent and information : but the 
 influence of the Duque d'Higar is not great. 
 The favourite valet de chambre, who died of 
 apoplexy some months ago, was also fast creep- 
 ing on towards high favour ; and his death has
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 125 
 
 thrown more influence into the hands of Sal- 
 sedo. 
 
 But it is now generally supposed, that the 
 rising influence of the queen will in due time 
 discard every other influence about court. 
 No king and queen ever lived more happily 
 together, than the present king and queen of 
 Spain. The king is passionately attached to 
 her; and it is said she is perfectly satisfied 
 with her lot. He spends the greater part of 
 the day in her apartments ; and when engaged 
 in council, leaves it half a dozen times in the 
 course of an hour or two, to visit his queen. 
 The habits of the court are extremely simple : 
 the king rises at six, and breakfasts at seven ; 
 he spends the morning chiefly with the queen, 
 but receives his ministers and secretary at any 
 time before two ; at half-past two he dines, 
 always in company with the queen. Dinner 
 occupies not more than an hour; and shortly 
 after, he and the queen drive out together: he 
 sups at half-past eight, and retires early. The 
 queen does not rise so early as the king ; she 
 breakfasts at nine; and the king always sits 
 by her. There is scarcely any gaiety at court. 
 The queen is fond of retirement ; and excepting
 
 126 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 now and then a private concert, there are no 
 court diversions. 
 
 While I vv^as in Madrid, the favourite pas- 
 time of the king and queen was of rather an 
 extraordinary kind ; especially as the queen 
 was on the eve of her accouchement. It con- 
 sisted in looking at the wild beasts, which are 
 kept in the Retiro. Almost every evening 
 about five o'clock, the royal carriage might be 
 seen crossing the Prado, on its way towards 
 the menagerie ; and as the Retiro was generally 
 my afternoon lounge, I had frequent oppor- 
 tunities of seeing this royal diversion. There 
 is a large square court about 200 yards across, 
 inclosed with iron railings, and round the in- 
 terior of this court, are the cages of the wild 
 animals; and in this court, sat the king and 
 queen upon a bench, while the animals were 
 turned out for their amusement, — such of them 
 at least as were peaceable, — camels, elephants, 
 zebras, &c. &c. The keepers mounted upon 
 the backs of the animals, and made them trot 
 round the area ; and when this had been done 
 often enough to please their majesties, the beasts 
 were led in front of their royal visitors, and 
 made to kneel, — which act of homage however
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 127 
 
 they sometimes refused to perform. Upon one 
 occasion, the man who rode the camel, not 
 being able to keep his seat, turned his face 
 towards the tail, sitting upon the neck of the 
 animal ; their majesties were in ecstasies at 
 this exhibition ; the king, I thought, would 
 have died with laughing. 
 
 T was witness, another time, to a strange 
 scene of rivalry between the king and Don 
 Carlos. When the king's carriage drove up to 
 the gate of the court, Don Carlos and his wife 
 and family were seated in the area, and his 
 carriage was in waiting : upon this occasion, 
 the king arrived in state ; a party of dragoons 
 attended him, and his coachmen were in court 
 dresses. The carriage of Don Carlos was in 
 strange contrast with that of the king ; it was 
 drawn by six mules, harnessed with ropes ; in 
 place of postilions in court dresses, his servants 
 were in the dress of Spanish peasants in their 
 holiday clothes, — one on the coach-box, — the 
 other employed as a runner by the head of the 
 mules. Don Carlos affects all this appearance 
 of simplicity and Spanish usage, to please the 
 people ; and for the same reason, his wife 
 generally appears in a mantilla. The moment
 
 128 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 the king's carriage appeared, Don Carlos left 
 the court with his wife, and continued to walk 
 in the most crowded part of the garden while 
 the king and queen remained, dividing the 
 attention which their majesties would other- 
 wise have received, and indeed engrossing the 
 larger share of it. I could not avoid remarking 
 the greater popularity of Don Carlos among 
 the lower orders : while they only took off 
 their hats as the king passed, they bowed 
 almost to the ground at the presence of the 
 Infante. The appearance of the queen, how- 
 ever, always produced a favourable impres- 
 sion, especially when contrasted with that 
 of her aspiring rival. One cannot look at 
 the spouse of Don Carlos, without perceiving 
 that she covets a crown; while in the coun- 
 tenance of the queen, we read indifference 
 to it. 
 
 Upon frequent other occasions while in 
 Madrid, I had proofs of the anxiety of Don 
 Carlos to recommend himself to the people. 
 The most marked of these, was upon the 
 evening when the queen gave birth to a prin- 
 cess : not an hour after this was known, the 
 Infante drove through the streets and along
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 129 
 
 the Prado, in an open carriage, along with 
 his three sons, who, by the repeal of the 
 Salic law, were that day cut out of their in- 
 heritance. 
 
 The event to which I have alluded, — the 
 accouchement of the queen — was a matter 
 of deep interest in Madrid ; and before its 
 accomplishment there was the utmost anxiety 
 among all ranks. Each party had its own 
 views. The moderate, or government party, 
 and many belonging to the other parties, 
 who desired peace and tranquillity, anxiously 
 looked to the birth of a prince, as an event 
 that would at once extinguish the claims of 
 those who, but for the repeal of the Salic 
 law, would have had a right to the throne, 
 in case of the birth of a princess. The Car- 
 lists secretly wished that the event might 
 be precisely the opposite ; and the liberal 
 party, seeing some possible advantage in 
 whatever should tend to unsettle the existing 
 government, united their wishes with those 
 of the Carlists : but, the great majority of 
 the respectable inhabitants, perceiving in the 
 birth of a prince, a guarantee for the tran- 
 quillity of the kingdom, and the security of 
 
 VOL. I. K
 
 130 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 property, devoutly wished that such might 
 be the event. 
 
 The anxiety that filled the public mind, 
 was fully partaken by the government; for 
 it was well known to the heads of the state, 
 that conspiracies were on foot ; and that, in 
 the event of the birth of a princess, the Car- 
 lists would have a pretext for an open mani- 
 festation of their views. They, however, had 
 resolved not to wait this event, but to anti- 
 cipate it ; and a plot, which might possibly 
 have proved successful, and which, at all 
 events, must have led to scenes of blood, 
 perhaps to revolution, was fortunately dis- 
 covered on the day before that appointed 
 for its execution ; and the most prompt mea- 
 sures were immediately taken for crushing 
 it. On the fifth of October, about midnight, 
 carriages, accompanied by sufficient escorts, 
 were taken to the houses of Padre Cirilo, 
 the chief of the Franciscan order of friars ; 
 of Don Rufino Gonsalez : of Don Man. 
 Herro, both Counsellors of State, and of 
 thirteen others ; the conspirators were put 
 into the carriages, and driven off, — Cirilo to 
 Seville ; Rufino to La Mancha, and the others
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 131 
 
 to different places distant from the metropolis. 
 The conspirators intended that some of the 
 heads should have repaired to the inner court 
 of the palace while the king was engaged in 
 his evening drive ; that about a thousand of 
 the royalist volunteers — who are for the most 
 part Carlists — should assemble at the palace 
 yard ; that the entrance to the palace should 
 be taken possession of;' the king seized upon 
 his return, and forced to change his ministers, 
 and to restore the Salic law. I feel little 
 doubt, that if this plot had not been dis- 
 covered, it would have led to more than a 
 change of ministers. Among the military, 
 and even among the guards, there are many 
 discontented men, who fancy they see in the 
 elevation of Don Carlos, a guarantee for a 
 more impartial system of promotion ; and the 
 royalist volunteers of Madrid, 6000 strong, 
 and all provided with arms, and accustomed 
 to manoeuvre them, are, with few exceptions 
 of the lowest classes, and chiefly Carlists. 
 
 I walked to the palace yard the evening 
 when it was expected the event would be 
 known : it presented a dense mass of persons, 
 iv 2
 
 132 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 chiefly of bourgeois and of the middle classes, 
 all waiting with anxiety the announcement of 
 the event, upon which the tranquillity of the 
 country so greatly depended. At length the 
 white flag — the announcement of a princess — 
 was slowly hoisted. There was a universal 
 and audible expression of disappointment : 
 ''Que lastima! que lastima T and the crowd 
 slowly dispersed. 
 
 The repeal of the Salic law was not in 
 itself an unpopular measure; and had there 
 been no claimants to the crown under the 
 old law, or no party to take advantage of 
 disunion, and support these claims, it would 
 have been a matter of indiflerence to the peo- 
 ple, whether the queen gave birth to a son or 
 a daughter : the repeal of the Salic law was 
 only the revival of the ancient law of Castile, 
 andjoer se, gave no dissatisfaction. It was the 
 peculiar circumstances in which the country 
 was placed, and the state of parties, that 
 rendered the birth of a prince or a princess 
 a matter of importance : the event created 
 much disappointment to the government party, 
 but no discontent : it is well known that the 
 Constitutionalists on the frontier had trusted
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 133 
 
 to the latter, and hoped to profit by it: but 
 the effect was rather against than favour- 
 able to that party; because the Carlists, seeing 
 their own ultimate chances increased, were 
 therefore more interested in assisting govern- 
 ment to suppress the Constitutionalists, whose 
 ascendancy would leave them no hope. — But 
 to return to the court. 
 
 There is nothing of court society at Madrid : 
 the secluded habits of the king and queen, 
 I have spoken of already; and there is scarcely 
 any visiting among the courtiers. The persons 
 of distinction in Madrid lead a most mono- 
 tonous life: one lady only, the Duchess of 
 Benevente, opens her house once a week, — 
 this is on Sunday evening, and she receives, 
 among others, those of the foreign ministers 
 who choose to visit her. Her parties, how- 
 ever, are far from being agreeable : the Spa- 
 niards of distinction who frequent her tertulia, 
 generally withdraw when the foreign ministers 
 are announced. This disinclination on the 
 part of the Spanish grandees, and others 
 holding high court preferment, to associate 
 with the foreign ambassadors, is notorious in 
 Madrid. At the tertulia, of the wife of Don
 
 134 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 Manuel Gonsalez Salmon, the foreign ministers 
 used formerly to be present, but they dis- 
 covered that they were regarded in a light 
 little different from that of spies ; and they 
 are now never seen at these tertulias. In 
 Madrid there are no ministerial, no diplomatic 
 dinners ; and among the persons of most 
 distinction, entertainments are extremely rare. 
 There is, in fact, nothing like gaiety among 
 the upper ranks in the Spanish metropolis. 
 And yet, if you remark to a Spanish lady that 
 there is little society among the higher classes 
 in Madrid, she will express the utmost astonish- 
 ment that you should have imbibed so false a 
 notion of Madrid and its society ; but her 
 idea of society and yours differ widely. If a 
 dozen houses are open, into which a Spanish 
 lady may go when she pleases, sit down on 
 the sofa with her friend, fan herself, and talk 
 till she is tired ; this she considers society, — 
 and this is the only form of society to be found 
 among the highest classes in Madrid, — gaiety 
 there is none. 
 
 Previous to travelling into Spain, I had 
 heard much of the difficulty, if not impossi- 
 bility, of obtaining access to Spanish society ;
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 135 
 
 and before I had the means of judging for 
 myself, I received frequent corroboration of 
 this opinion. One of his majesty's consuls, 
 whom I accidentally met in the Pyrenees, and 
 whose appointment lies in the largest city of 
 Spain, next to Madrid ; a man too, who, both 
 by his rank, for he is the nephew of a peer, 
 and by the affability of his manners, Avould 
 be likely to be every where well received, 
 told me that I should probably leave Spain 
 with no greater knowledge of Spanish society 
 than when I entered it ; that it was more than 
 probable I should never see the inside of a 
 Spanish house : and he concluded by saying, 
 that he had been four years in Spain, and 
 actually did not know if the Spaniards dined off 
 a table doth. This was rather disheartening: 
 and when I waited upon the British minister 
 upon my arrival in Madrid, 1 received from 
 him no greater encouragement. He told 
 me that Spanish houses were closed against 
 foreigners; and that, for his own part, he 
 knew nobody, and visited no where. 
 
 I am not able to reconcile these opinions, 
 and the experience of others, with my own ; 
 my advantages, considerable as they certainly
 
 136 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 were, could not be compared with those of the 
 accredited representatives of government, who 
 had resided many years in the country. It is 
 a fact, however, that I had not been many 
 days in Madrid, before I had the entr6e of 
 several Spanish houses, both in the higher and 
 in the middle classes of society : this good 
 fortune I may partly attribute to my intimacy 
 with an attache of the Spanish embassy in 
 London, who, grateful for the attentions he 
 had received from my countrymen, repaid 
 them in the manner most acceptable to me, — - 
 namely, by making me acquainted with a 
 numerous circle of friends and relatives. His 
 father, a member of the council of state, 
 may easily be supposed to have possessed the 
 power of assisting the inquiries of a traveller; 
 and to him, and to my young friend, now 
 secretary to one of the legations in Italy, I 
 have to return my best thanks for a hundred 
 civilities. 
 
 It is the habits of the middle classes, that 
 best interpret the condition and character of a 
 people ; and to these I mean at present to con- 
 fine myself. I shall begin by giving the reader 
 some idea of the interior of a Spanish house ;
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 137 
 
 but let me premise, that the houses in the 
 different cities of Spain, bear scarcely any 
 resemblance to each other : the houses of 
 Madrid differ in almost every thing from 
 those of Seville, — w^hich, again, are in many 
 respects different from the houses in Malaga 
 and Valencia. These distinctions are suffi- 
 cient to excuse a detail so apparently trifling, 
 as the description of a house ; because they 
 arise from a distinction in the manners and 
 habits of the people inhabiting the different 
 provinces of Spain. 
 
 In Madrid, the whole of the middle classes, 
 and, indeed, all excepting the very highest 
 ranks, live in stories, or flats, as they are 
 called in Scotland, — each story being a dis- 
 tinct house. The outer door of every house 
 in Madrid is of an enormous strength, more 
 like the door of a prison, or of a convent, 
 than of a private dwelling house ; and m 
 the centre, there is a small window, about 
 six inches long by two broad, grated with 
 iron, and with a sliding shutter. When one 
 rings at the door of a Spanish house, the 
 answer to the bell is a voice, which calls 
 out " Quien es ?" — who is it ? or who comes ?
 
 138 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 and the person wishing to be admitted, must 
 answer " Gente de paz,"' — literally, People 
 peace. But this assertion does not content 
 the person within, who then shoves aside the 
 shutter and peeps through ; and the usual 
 colloquy is carried on through the grating, 
 before the door be thrown open, unless the per- 
 son without, be known to the servant within. 
 One cannot help endeavouring to account for 
 the origin of so singular a custom ; and 
 perhaps the truest guess that can be made, is, 
 to refer it to the suspicion, and feeling of per- 
 sonal insecurity, which are the offspring of bad 
 government, of political persecution, and re- 
 ligious inquisition. The window shutters of 
 the houses are as massive as the doors ; and 
 the glass of the windows is purposely so bad, 
 that it is impossible to see into a house from 
 the opposite side of a street: three panes, 
 however, are always of good glass, so that 
 one may be able to see out. 
 
 The house which I select for a descrip- 
 tion of its interior, as a fair sample of the 
 dwelling-houses of the middle classes in 
 Madrid, belonged to a gentleman holding a 
 government appointment of 50,000 reals (500/.)
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 139 
 
 per annum ; which may be equal to about 
 700/. a-year in London : and, with very few 
 variations, this house may be taken as an 
 average specimen of the houses of profes- 
 sional men, employees, and independent per- 
 sons, of from 500/. to 1,000/. per annum. 
 The principal room, answering to the English 
 drawing-room, is large, and well-lighted ; a 
 handsome straw matting, worked in a pat- 
 tern of coloured flowers, and which looks 
 quite as pretty as a carpet, entirely covers 
 the floor, which is generally of brick. There 
 is no fire-place in the room ; the walls and 
 roof are both what is called stained, and this 
 is as well executed as I have ever seen it 
 in England ; and the furniture of the room 
 consists of a large mahogany sofa, with hair 
 cushion, covered with flowered black satin ; 
 mahogany chairs, with green and straw- 
 coloured basket-seats ; four small mahogany 
 tables, of good material, and prettily carved, 
 and a large round table in the centre of the 
 room — ^just an English loo-table — upon which 
 stands a handsome service of china ; a mirror, 
 and two marble slabs between the windows, 
 and a few pictures — copies from Spanish
 
 140 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 masters, — complete the furniture : but let me 
 not omit five or six low stools, scattered here 
 and there; for every lady has her footstool. 
 
 At one end of this room, opening from the 
 side, is a recess, twelve or thirteen feet square, 
 and not concealed by any curtain. This is a 
 bed-room," — a bed-room too in constant use. 
 The bedstead is of steel or brass wire ; the bed 
 is covered with a counterpane, trimmed with 
 broad lace ; the furniture is all of mahogany, 
 and the wash-hand basin and ewer are of 
 brass. 
 
 A wide archway opening at the other end 
 of the drawing-room, leads to an ante-room, 
 covered with the same matting as the draw- 
 ing-room, and furnished with a couch, chairs, 
 and footstools, covered with blue satin. At 
 the side of this ante-room is another recess, 
 open like the other, containing two beds, 
 between them a small marble slab, with a 
 vessel of holy-water, and at the head of each 
 a small image of Christ in ivory. This is the 
 matrimonial chamber. The rest of the house 
 consists of a long, tortuous, and rather dark 
 passage, from which the other rooms enter: 
 these are, a small parlour, or study, always
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. ]41 
 
 poorly fitted up ; a boudoir, with a low couch 
 covered with black satin, a couple of foot- 
 stools, a table, and very handsome looking- 
 glass; this important room is either matted, or 
 floored with Valencia tiles; and the walls are 
 generally covered with a French paper, and 
 adorned or disfigured as the case may happen, 
 with a few pictures, religious, or of an opposite 
 character, or both, according to the taste of the 
 seiiora. 
 
 T]:.e worst room in almost every Spanish 
 house, is the dining-room, or rather eating- 
 room, for every meal is taken in the same 
 room : the floor has generally no matting, — the 
 walls are unadorned, — the furniture is of the 
 commonest description, — and the room itself 
 so small, that the table, which nearly fills the 
 room, is rarely large enough for more than six 
 persons. This at once lets a stranger into an 
 important secret in the economy of Madrid 
 society ; that there is no probability of receiving 
 an invitation to dinner. I say Madrid society, 
 because in the southern provinces, the dining- 
 room and its uses are different. But although 
 a stranger must not expect many invitations to 
 dinner in Madrid, yet, if he be once received
 
 142 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 into a family upon a familiar footing, and 
 should pay a visit while the family are at 
 dinner, or just sitting down to dinner, he will 
 not be denied admittance, but will be re- 
 quested to walk into the eating-room, and a 
 chair will be immediately placed for him at 
 table. This civility, however, must be accepted 
 with discretion ; because the civil speech, which 
 is invariably addressed to a stranger, when 
 he concludes his first visit, — Esta casa es a la 
 disposicion de V^-, — " This house is at your 
 disposal," — is a form of words not to be 
 always interpreted literally. I have omitted 
 to mention the Spanish kitchen, which is 
 provided with a stone table, in which there 
 are six or eight circular holes for charcoal, 
 and numerous earthen vessels to fit these 
 holes. Generally speaking, respectable Spanish 
 houses, whether in Madrid, Seville, or Valencia, 
 are scrupulously clean. I have never in any 
 country, seen kitchens and bed-rooms so clean 
 as they are in Spain. The description I have 
 given may serve to convey to the reader a 
 tolerably accurate idea of the houses of Madrid : 
 some may contain a greater number of apart- 
 ments, and others fewer ; and some may be a
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 143 
 
 little better, others a little worse furnished ; 
 but in the material points, they are all the 
 same ; they have all an elegant drawing-room, 
 bed-rooms in recesses, a wretched dininir- 
 room, and a luxuriously fitted-up boudoir. 
 
 In a former chapter, I spoke of the manner 
 of living among the middle classes in the 
 northern provinces. In Madrid, and generally 
 in Castile, there is somewhat more luxury in the 
 table, though the Spaniards as a nation, may 
 justly be characterized as abstemious, and little 
 addicted to the pleasures of the table. The 
 olla or puchero, is not the sole dish that graces 
 the tables of the middle and upper classes in 
 Madrid : there is generally a stew of some kind 
 added, and dinner is always followed by cakes, 
 sweetmeats, and fruit ; but this is after all but 
 an indifferent dinner for one with an income 
 of 700/. or 800/. a-year. And there are still 
 very many in Madrid, even in the upper ranks, 
 who are contented with the puchero; and I 
 was myself acquainted with one or two families 
 in good circumstances, who yet lived in a way 
 which we should call piggishly in England, 
 sending to the cook-shop for a puchero, and to
 
 144 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 the wine-shop, for the daily portion required 
 at dinner. 
 
 The inhabitants of Madrid, excepting the 
 trades people, rise late, and breakfast between 
 ten and eleven, upon a cup of chocolate, with 
 scarcely any bread, and a glass of cold water. 
 Going to mass, dressing, paying and receiving 
 visits, and walking the streets, occupy the 
 ladies till the dinner hour; and this, following 
 the example of the court, and in order that it 
 may not interfere with the claims of the Prado, 
 is early, even among the highest ranks. Then 
 follows the siesta; and the interval between 
 the siesta and dressing for the Prado, is 
 usually passed upon the balcony. After the 
 Prado, is the tertulia, which may be said to be 
 the only form of Spanish society. When you 
 have the entr6eof a house in Madrid, and pay 
 your visit in the evening, you find the family 
 assembled near the windows, with two or 
 three strangers, chatting and laughing; the 
 ladies of the house without mantillas, and the 
 visitors generally wearing them. The young 
 ladies, or seiioritas, are in one part of the 
 room, with one or two caballeros ; and the
 
 SPAIN IN IS/JO. 145 
 
 Senora de Casa in another, probably con- 
 versing" with a priest or friar; unless she be 
 young, in which case there is no division in 
 the society. The room is usually badly lighted, 
 most commonly with a semi-luna at the far- 
 thest corner, — and the master of the house is 
 rarely one of the party. He is a member of 
 another tertulia. The conversation is always 
 lively, and somewhat piquante, and the visitors 
 stay late, and are not presented with any re- 
 freshment. 
 
 If the visit be made in the morning, the lady, 
 if not walking the streets, or gossiping, is found 
 in her boudoir, seated upon a low couch, in a 
 black silk dress ; her feet upon a footstool ; and 
 beside her, a large basket, such as Murillo has 
 so often painted. She is always engaged in 
 some kind of embroidery, — and her fan, which 
 she resumes the moment you enter, lies on the 
 table before her. 
 
 The only kind of party to which a stranger 
 is invited in Madrid, is a ball ; but there is no 
 necessity for an invitation, if one has the entree 
 of the house. At these parties, the ladies are 
 rarely dressed in the Spanish fashion, but 
 
 VOL. I. L
 
 146 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 generally a la Francaise, with white or coloured 
 dresses, — the only distinguishing, and never 
 to be mistaken mark of a Spanish woman, being 
 the fan. The Spanish ladies invariably dance 
 well ; and yet their mode of dancing is as 
 opposite as possible from the French style : 
 it is the management of the head and shoul- 
 ders ; and the manner, not the power of motion 
 in the limbs, that distinguish the Spanish 
 woman. There is another remarkable differ- 
 ence between the Spanish, and the French or 
 English dance : the gravity of countenance, — 
 and generally, the silence that prevails among 
 quadrillers, both in France and England, is 
 remarkable, and even ludicrous ; but the 
 Spanish ladies talk and laugh while they 
 dance, — seeing no reason why one pleasure 
 should suspend another. At these parties 
 there is rarely any refreshment offered ; a 
 glass of water may be had, but nothing more. 
 Are the Spaniards a hospitable people ? — 
 This is a question that cannot be answered 
 by a simple monosyllable : it seems difficult 
 to separate hospitality from generosity ; and 
 yet this distinction must be made in speak- 
 ing of the conduct of Spaniards towards
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 147 
 
 strangers. A Spaniard considers himself to 
 be remarkable for his hospitality, because he 
 is at all times happy to see a stranger within 
 his doors : he says, speaking to an English- 
 man, " in your country you invite a foreigner 
 to your house, and there the civility ends ; 
 he cannot return without another invitation. 
 But here, if a stranger be once received 
 within our houses, they are ever afterwards 
 at his disposal ; he needs no farther invita- 
 tion." This is true enough, but it scarcely 
 amounts to hospitality. This word, from the 
 days of Abraham, who fed the angels, has sig- 
 nified setting meat before one ; but a stranger 
 might live years in a Spanish city, and be 
 on terms of intimacy with many wealthy 
 Spaniards, and might yet never break bread 
 within a Spanish house, — certainly never by 
 invitation. I speak at present of Madrid, and 
 the cities of the interior. In Cadiz, Malaga, 
 Valencia, and Barcellona, dinner parties are 
 occasionally given. But, with this seeming- 
 want of hospitality towards strangers, there 
 is much, and very uncalled-for generosity. 
 Wherever a stranger goes in company with 
 
 r. 2
 
 148 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 a Spaniard, — if to a coffee-house, to the 
 theatre, to a bull-fight, — even to shops where 
 fancy articles are sold, the Spaniard insists 
 upon paying : any remonstrance offends him ; 
 nor will he ever, at any after time, permit 
 you to repay the obligation in a similar 
 way. He is at all times ready with his purse ; 
 and draws its strings with the alacrity of a 
 man who is eager to give away his money. 
 It is difficult to refer to any common principle, 
 the different ways in which a Spaniard and an 
 Englishman shew kindness to a stranger. The 
 Spaniard lays out his money upon him cheer- 
 fully; but gives him nothing to eat: the En- 
 glishman, on the other hand, would dislike 
 paying a crown for a foreigner, but would ask 
 him to dinner again and again, and thus lay out 
 ten times its amount. 
 
 I fear this apparent disregard of money, may 
 have some connexion with that great and un- 
 fortunate failing in the character of the middle 
 classes in Spain, particularly in Castile — love 
 of display, or ostentation. This failing belongs 
 to the middle and upper classes in an extra- 
 ordinary degree; while inconsiderateness, and 
 carelessness of to-morrow, are conspicuous in 
 
 II
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 149 
 
 the characters both of the middle and lower 
 classes. Almost every one in Spain lives up 
 to his income. Even the employees, who hold 
 their posts by a very uncertain tenure, seldom 
 lay by any thing ; they generally die penny- 
 less: and it is a certain fact, that the families 
 of employees who have died beggars, have 
 swelled the Spanish pension list to a most 
 formidable length. A Spaniard will dine 
 without a table-cloth, to save the expense of 
 washing; but this, not that he may lay by 
 his money, — but that he may have the eclat, 
 not t\ie pleasure, of frequenting the opera; the 
 pride, not the gratification, of eating ice in the 
 Cafe Catalina. I have known some extraor- 
 dinary instances of this love of display : a 
 Spanish officer, with whom we had some ac- 
 quaintance, invited us to accompany him and 
 his wife to the Prado. A handsome carriage 
 drove up to the door, attended by two servants 
 in gay liveries : will it be believed, that the 
 carriage and servants were hired for the occa- 
 sion ; and that this officer was married, had a 
 family, and possessed only his pay, amounting 
 to about 140/. a-year? What sacrifices must 
 have been made for the indidgence of this
 
 150 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 piece of vanity ! I knew the family of a judge, 
 consisting of a widow, and four daughters, all 
 of whom appeared every Sunday on the Prado 
 with new satin shoes and clean white gloves : 
 the pension of a judge's widow is 8000 reals, 
 (80/. sterling). There is nothing remarkable in 
 these instances ; and the same love of display 
 is visible among the lower orders in Madrid, 
 as far as this can be shewn in their rank of life. 
 Persons in very humble circumstances are seen 
 in most expensive dresses ; and it is not at all 
 unusual to meet a female servant with a comb, 
 fan, and mantilla, whose united expense would 
 amount to 41. or 51. 
 
 In the upper and middle classes of society 
 in Madrid, morals are at the lowest ebb : though 
 veils are almost thrown aside, and serenades 
 are rare, Spain is still the country of gallantry 
 and intrigue. Want of education among the 
 women, and the absence of moral and religious 
 principle among the men, are the fruitful 
 sources of this universal demoralization. In 
 the education of a Spanish woman, all has 
 reference to display; knowledge forms no part 
 of it. The business of her life, is dress and 
 show; and its object, admiration: this leads to
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 151 
 
 gallantry, and all its train of consequences. It 
 is impossible to walk into the street, or along 
 the Prado, without perceiving even among 
 children, that the rudiments of Spanish in- 
 discretion are already laid. Little girls of the 
 tenderest age shew by their gait and manner, 
 that they are already initiated in the business 
 of life. I have heard others, scarcely escaped 
 from childhood, talk in a manner that would 
 have made an English married woman blush, — 
 and, to gather something even from infancy, 
 I have heard a child five or six years old, ask 
 its companion, how it could disregard appear- 
 ance so much as to venture out without a pro- 
 per ceinture. 
 
 In married life, I have reason to think that 
 infidelity is more universal than in Italy; but 
 the origin of it is different, and the thing is 
 differently managed in the two countries. It 
 is a great error to imagine — as some old writers 
 upon Spain, and accurate writers in other 
 respects, have asserted — that there is any 
 connivance in Spain on the part of the hus- 
 band : Spanish husbands, with few exceptions, 
 are too proud to bargain for their own disho- 
 nour. While I was in Madrid, two instances
 
 152 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 occurred, in which husbands murdered their 
 wives in fits of jealousy: in neither of these 
 cases was the thing sifted to the bottom ; be- 
 cause it was known that in doing this the 
 villany of two priests would have been 
 brought to light. The Cortejo of Spain is 
 by no means the Cisesbeo of Italy. The liaison 
 in Spain is a secret one ; it has not originated 
 in interest or vanity, but in passion ; and the 
 greatest pains are taken to conceal it from the 
 husband, and even (intimates excepted) from 
 the world. There are not in Madrid the same 
 opportunities for the formation and prosecu- 
 tion of intrigue, as in Seville and the cities of 
 the south. In these, the gardens and summer 
 houses, — the walls of both forming a part of 
 the street, — are particularly favourable to the 
 serenade, the billet-doux, and their recom- 
 pense. In Madrid, opportunities are more 
 precarious : the mass, the street, the balcony, 
 are the only places of rendezvous ; and of 
 these, the latter is the most prized. Walking 
 the streets, while all the world enjoys the 
 siesta, wakeful sehoras and serioritas are here 
 and there seen behind the curtains that fall 
 over the balconies, and which are supposed to
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 153 
 
 shade the light from the eyes of the sleeper; 
 and now and then some medium of intelli- 
 gence is seen fluttering downward, to be picked 
 up by a cloaked cabalero. There is another 
 important difference between the gallantries 
 of Spain, and of Italy or France : in Spain, 
 they are not confined to married women : im- 
 proper liaisons are not unfrequently formed by 
 unmarried ladies ; and those whom one sees 
 on the balconies, are much more frequently 
 seiioritas than senoras. 
 
 Intrigue is not confined in Madrid to the 
 upper, or even the middle classes of society; 
 but is found also among the trades people. 
 Sometimes during the hours of sleep and 
 silence, I have ventured, in passing along the 
 street, to draw aside the curtain that is meant 
 to secure an uninterrupted siesta to the in- 
 mates of the embroiderers, perfumers, or 
 dress-makers' shops ; and I have more than 
 once interrupted a tete-a-tete. It is fair to add, 
 however, that I oftener found the seiiorita fast 
 asleep. It is well understood in Madrid, that 
 during the time of siesta, no one enters a shop 
 where a curtain is drawn ; but a stranger may
 
 J 54 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 sometimes do unpermitted things, under pre- 
 tence of ignorance. 
 
 The lower orders in Madrid cannot be 
 characterized as grossly immoral : they are not 
 drunken and brutal, like the mob of London; 
 nor ferocious and insolent, like the canaille 
 of Paris. In walking the streets of Madrid, 
 it is rarely that one sees either quarrelling or 
 gambling ; and I believe it might be possible 
 to walk through any part of the city with the 
 corner of a handkerchief hanging out of the 
 pocket, and to return with it in its place : 
 petty larceny, a Castilian thinks beneath him. 
 Between the character of the Castilian and 
 the Andalusian, there is as marked a dis- 
 tinction as that which exists in the characters 
 of any two people inhabiting different king- 
 doms ; but I will not anticipate. 
 
 I suspect that among the upper and middle 
 ranks in Madrid, religion is as low as morals : 
 among them, priestcraft exercises very little in- 
 fluence ; and, indeed, ridicule and dislike of all 
 orders of religion, form a very common season- 
 ing to conversation. There can be no doubt 
 that the occupation of the Peninsula by the
 
 SPAIN IN 18:50. 155 
 
 French army, has gone far towards diminish- 
 ing the respect in which the priesthood was 
 formerly held by the great majority of all 
 classes in Spain. In Madrid, I have never 
 heard one individual above the rank of a small 
 tradesman, speak with respect, of religion, — or 
 with affection, of the priesthood. There can- 
 not be the smallest doubt that, in the capital 
 at least, both the clergy and the friars are 
 sensible of a great diminution in the power 
 which they formerly enjoyed ; and their tone 
 and bearing are altered accordingly. At pre- 
 sent, they, at all events the regular clergy, 
 yield a little to the tide that has set in against 
 them. I have been surprised to hear the 
 freedom with which some of the priests have 
 spoken of the state of Spain. 1 have heard 
 them particularly lament the difficulties that 
 stand in the way of publishing books, and 
 admit the oppressive nature of the enactments 
 that regard education. The clergy have not 
 the same interest as the friars, in supporting 
 the present system, because they have not 
 the same fears. A revolution that might 
 possibly chase every monk from the soil, and 
 which would, at all events, des|)oil them of
 
 156 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 their possessions and terminate their dominion, 
 would probably but slightly affect the clergy 
 of the church ; and I have observed that since 
 the French revolution, their fears have di- 
 minished. The example of France, in the 
 respect it has shewn for the rights of the 
 church, they look upon as a guarantee of 
 their own security; and perhaps justly. Go- 
 vernment still seeks for support in the in- 
 fluence of the church, and endeavours, by 
 every means, to keep up this influence. This, 
 it may easily be supposed, is attempted 
 through the medium of education, which, 
 throughout Spain, may be said to be a go- 
 vernment concern. The schools in Madrid 
 are all conducted by Jesuits ; and the educa- 
 tion received in them, is such as might be 
 expected from their heads. This surveillance 
 commenced when the king returned to the 
 head of the government, in 1824. The col- 
 leges were then remodelled ; and all the pub- 
 lic seminaries, even those destined for military 
 education, were placed under Jesuit heads. I 
 have frequently met in the streets of Madrid, 
 long lines of students of the Colegio Imperial, 
 and of the Samnario de Noblcfi, some in military
 
 SPAIN IN 18:30. 157 
 
 uniform, and each company headed by a priest. 
 And no choice is left to the people, as to the 
 education of their children : the only choice 
 is, the government school, or no school ; for 
 obstacles, almost insurmountable, are thrown 
 in the way of private tuition. Before a family 
 dare employ a tutor, the permission of govern- 
 ment must be obtained ; and the tutor must 
 provide himself with a license : this implies 
 minute inquiries into character, political and 
 religious opinions, &c. ; so that, in fact, no 
 tutor is ever licensed, unless there is a perfect 
 security that the system of education to be 
 pursued by him, — intellectual, political, and 
 religious, — shall be precisely the same as that 
 taught in the public seminaries : there is no- 
 thing therefore gained by private tuition. 
 Whether the priesthood may possibly regain 
 any part of its lost influence, owing to the 
 present system of education, may admit of a 
 question. If Spain should remain in its pre- 
 sent condition, without revolution or change, 
 it is probable that the growth of liberal 
 opinions may be retarded ; the thousands now 
 educated on Jesuitical principles, and denied 
 the means of real knowledge, were not old
 
 158 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 enough during the existence of the constitu- 
 tion, to have caught a glimpse of the light 
 which at that time dawned upon the darkness 
 of Spain ; nor have they had opportunities 
 of being influenced by French principles, 
 during the time of the occupation of the Pe- 
 ninsula. The policy of the Spanish govern- 
 ment, therefore, with respect to its surveil- 
 lance of education, is not unworthy of a 
 government that desires to maintain itself by 
 the blindness of the people. 
 
 The influence of the friars is much greater 
 than that of the priests ; though this also 
 diminishes daily. I speak of Madrid only. 
 In many of the other cities of Spain, of which 
 I shall afterwards speak more in detail — par- 
 ticularly in Toledo, Seville, Granada, Lorca, 
 and Murcia, and in most of the smaller towns, 
 I think it almost impossible that the influence 
 of the friars could ever have been much greater 
 than it is. In Madrid, less attention is paid 
 to religious ceremonials and processions, than 
 in any other city of Spain: and one sees fewer 
 external proofs of the veneration of the people 
 for the character of friar. A Franciscan may 
 pass from one end of Madrid to the other,
 
 SPAIN IN ISnO. 159 
 
 without having one claim made upon his pater- 
 nal blessing by a grown-up person. I have 
 seen the Virgin of St. Rosalio, and an image 
 of St. Thomas, carried through the streets, 
 with some hundreds of friars accompanying 
 them, without any one being excited to a 
 greater act of devotion than raising the hat 
 from the head : and during my morning walk, 
 when I invariably looked into the churches 
 belonging to whichever of the convents that 
 happened to lie in my way, I seldom saw 
 more than half a dozen persons at their devo- 
 tions. All this is very different at Toledo and 
 Seville ; and judging by the difference I have 
 observed in the proofs of bigotry apparent in 
 the different Spanish cities, I feel myself jus- 
 tified in believing that the influence of the 
 friars, as well as that of the priests, has sensi- 
 bly diminished in Madrid. But it is far 
 from being small : it still exists, with less or 
 more force, among all ranks : and the breast of 
 a friar is still the favourite depository of family 
 secrets. From my house, I could see the 
 regular visits made by friars to several houses 
 within the range of my window ; and little 
 children may at all times be seen in the
 
 160 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 street, running after the monk of any order, to 
 kiss his hand and beg his blessing. 
 
 There are many reasons why the influence 
 of the friars should decline more slowly than 
 that of the priesthood: as the first of these 
 may be mentioned, the greater immorality of 
 the lives of the latter. This immorality is 
 notorious throughout Spain ; and, indeed, 
 they take little pains to conceal, — I will not 
 say their pecadillos, — but the opportunities and 
 temptations to commit them, which they create 
 for themselves ; and they obtain full credit for 
 yielding to these temptations. Perhaps it is 
 doing wrong to the clergy to assign to the friars 
 greater purity of life than to them ; but what- 
 ever may be the immoralities of the monks, 
 they have more the art, and they possess 
 better opportunities too of concealing them. 
 Priests live in the world, and have worse 
 opportunities of concealment than other men, 
 because their profession lays them open to 
 scrutiny ; but friars live in a world of their 
 own, fenced round, not only by walls of stone, 
 but by a more impenetrable wall of prescrip- 
 tive veneration, — and they are very daring 
 eyes that pry into the secrets of the cloister.
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. IGl 
 
 But strange, and even dreadful events, occa- 
 sionally occur, to lay open the hidden scenes 
 that are transacted within a convent's w^alls. 
 One such occurred last September, while I 
 was in Madrid. One morning, the Superior 
 of the monastery of San Basilio was found in 
 bed murdered, — ^his throat cut, his hands tied, 
 and several stabs in his body. There could be 
 no doubt that the murder had been committed 
 by the friars ; and as no pretence could be 
 found against instituting an inquiry, a com- 
 mission was accordingly appointed to investi- 
 gate, and sat during several days. Strange 
 disclosures were made : it appeared that the 
 superior had been a good man, and remarkably 
 strict in the observances enjoined upon the 
 order, — too much so for the inclination of the 
 friars, who had been accustomed to commit 
 every kind of excess, and to transgress in the 
 most essential points, the rules of the convent; 
 particularly in being absent during the night. 
 The superior used to reprove this laxity, and 
 exerted his authority to restrain it ; and dis- 
 like towards him was naturally produced. In 
 these circumstances, no doubt, rested in the 
 
 VOL. I. M
 
 162 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 mind of any one, that the murder was com- 
 mitted by the monks ; but it had been re- 
 solved, that in some way or other the affair 
 should be got rid of. The porter of the con- 
 vent, who, previous to the appointment of the 
 commission, had declared that no one had 
 entered, so qualified his words before the com- 
 missioners, that through his evidence, they 
 found a loop-hole by which justice might ooze 
 out : — he said, that he had some recollection, 
 when half asleep, of having seen a person 
 enter; but besides the impossibility of any 
 one entering, unless the porter had been so 
 much awake as to open the gate, the murder 
 could not have been committed by one person. 
 The result was, that the commission broke up 
 without coming to any decision; but as a sacri- 
 fice to public opinion, three of the friars were 
 committed to prison on suspicion. It was 
 well understood that the affair would never go 
 further ; and I was assured by the wife of a 
 person holding a high official employment, 
 that in a few months the imprisoned monks 
 would be found again in their convent. When 
 the king returned to Spain in 1823, he hanged 
 a friar for a murder ; but this was done at that
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 1G3 
 
 particular juncture to please the Constitu- 
 tionalists ; and while the investigation I have 
 mentioned v^^as proceeding, every one knew 
 that his majesty dared not venture upon a 
 repetition of this. 
 
 A few years ago, a curious expos^ was made 
 at Cadiz, which, as I am upon the subject of 
 friars, I shall mention in this place. There 
 was, and still is, a banker named Gargallo, 
 one of the richest men in Cadiz, whose magni- 
 ficent dwelling-house is separated from the 
 wall of the Franciscan monastery only by one 
 small house ; and this house also belonged to 
 Sr. Gargallo, although it was not inhabited. 
 The master of the house, who though a rich 
 man, looked closely into his affairs, perceived 
 that his cook's bill greatly exceeded the sum 
 necessary for the subsistence of the family; 
 and after bearing this during a considerable 
 time, he at length discharged his cook. The 
 cook applied for service elsewhere ; and upon 
 his new master applying to Gargallo for a 
 character, he refused to give one, alleging as a 
 reason, the dishonesty of his servant : the cook 
 enraged at this injustice, and more solicitous 
 M 2
 
 164 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 to preserve his own good character than that 
 of the friars, returned to Gargallo's house, 
 taking witnesses along with him; and aloud in 
 the court-yard told this story: that every day 
 he had carried a hot dinner into the house 
 adjoining, where Gargallo's wife and daughter 
 entertained a select party of Franciscan friars ; 
 and what was worse still, his late master's 
 money had been expended in the support of 
 three children and a nurse, who all lived in 
 the adjoining house. The truth of this story 
 was easily put to the test ; the three children 
 and a nurse were found in the house, and the 
 whole affair was brought to light. The especial 
 favour of the ladies was reserved for only two 
 of the friars : the very reverend father Anto- 
 nio Sanches de la Camissa, Sacristan Mayor, 
 was the favourite of the wife ; and another, 
 whose name I forget, but who was next in 
 rank to the prior, and had formerly been con- 
 fessor in Gargallo's house, was the selection of 
 his daughter. These had the entree of Gar- 
 gallo's house at all hours ; and in order to 
 keep quiet a few others, who were supposed 
 to be in the secret, a savoury dinner was pro- 
 vided every day for the self-denying Francis-
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 165 
 
 cans. Gargallo married his daughter to an old 
 apothecary, at Chiclana, where she now lives 
 a widow ; and he confined his wife during two 
 years in an upper room in his own house ; but 
 she now lives again with her husband. At 
 the first disclosure of the affair, he wished to 
 send both offenders to the Penitentiary ; but 
 the captain-general of the province interfered, 
 to prevent so much publicity in an affair com- 
 promising the character of the Franciscans. 
 No notice whatever of this disgraceful trans- 
 action was taken in the convent. Both reverend 
 fathers continned to bear the character of good 
 Franciscans ; and doubtless returned for a time, 
 to the austerities of the order, — and when I 
 was in Cadiz, one of them every day accom- 
 panied Manuel Munoz, the superior, and Ce- 
 rillo, who had been banished to Seville, in an 
 evening walk. 
 
 But these immoralities of the friars, al- 
 though some such are occasionally brought 
 to light, and although much that exists is 
 hidden, are yet far more rare than the immo- 
 ralities of the priests ; and, it is without 
 doubt, the greater immorality of the clergy, 
 and the greater belief in that immorality.
 
 166 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 that are the primary reasons why the influ- 
 ence of the friars diminishes more slowly than 
 that of the priesthood. 
 
 Several other reasons might be given, why 
 the influence of the friars maintains itself 
 better than that of the clergy, in the minds 
 of the people, — especially the lower orders: 
 one may be stated to be, the known austeri- 
 ties practised by some of the orders, particu- 
 larly by the Franciscans, the Capuchins, and 
 the Carthusians ; another, the greater alms 
 given by the convents than by the church ; 
 another, the mystery that involves the lives 
 and habits of the friars, — for mystery recom- 
 mends any thing to the ignorant ; and a 
 fourth, which addresses itself to all classes, 
 is, the direct tax which the support of the 
 clergy imposes. The friars, whether poor or 
 not, have the semblance of poverty ; at all 
 events, the sources of their revenues are not 
 seen to flow into their treasury; and, although 
 the nation at large groans under the weight, 
 individuals feel no part of it. Such are a few 
 of the causes which, in my opinion, operate 
 in supporting the influence of the friars ; and 
 in diminishing that of the clergy.
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 1G7 
 
 Comparatively with the rest of Spain, there 
 is little attention paid to the ceremonials of 
 religion in Madrid. I often strolled into the 
 churches at all hours ; and, excepting at time 
 of mass, few were to be seen at prayer. One 
 morning I walked into the collegiate church 
 of St. Isodro, and found the pulpit occupied 
 by a priest, who was exclaiming, apparently 
 extempore, and with great vehemence, against 
 the sin of religious infidelity. St. Isodro is 
 the principal church of Madrid, and yet I do 
 not believe there were 300 listeners to the 
 discourse ; and of these at least five-sixths were 
 women. It is a curious spectacle to see the 
 women all sitting upon the ground a la Turqice, 
 on little round mats, and every fan in quick 
 motion. The entrance of a stranger into a 
 church during mass, always creates a sensa- 
 tion : a hundred eyes may at any time be 
 withdrawn from the contemplation of either 
 a preacher or an image, by the slightest pos- 
 sible cause.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 MADRID. 
 
 The Profession of a Nun ; Reflections ; Description of the Interior 
 of a Convent; the Monastic Life ; Description of a Bull-Fight; 
 Sketches of Spanish Character ; a Horse Race. 
 
 No one ever visited a Roman Catholic coun- 
 try, without feeling some curiosity upon the 
 subject of nuns and convents, monks and 
 monasteries; and there is certainly no country 
 in the world that affords so many incitements 
 to this curiosity, or so many facilities for grati- 
 fying it, as Spain. Among all the ceremonies 
 belonging to the church of Rome, none per- 
 haps possesses so much interest in the eyes 
 of a stranger, as that which is denominated 
 " taking the veil ;" chiefly, because it is the 
 only one of them all, that addresses the heart 
 more than the eye. I had always felt great
 
 SPAIN IN 18.30. 169 
 
 curiosity to witness this extraordinary sacri- 
 fice of reason and nature, at the altar of bigotry 
 and ignorance; but I found the gratification 
 of this curiosity more difficult than I had 
 imagined. Heretics are no welcome guests at 
 such times ; and during the first month of my 
 residence in Madrid, I made two unsuccessful 
 attempts to witness the ceremony of taking 
 the veil ! It fortunately happened, however, 
 that the priest whom 1 had engaged at my 
 arrival in Madrid, to speak Spanish, and read 
 Don Quixotte with me, and with whom I 
 passed much of my time, was the officiating 
 priest in the convent of Comendadoras de Calci- 
 trava; and as I had often expressed a strong 
 desire to see a profession, he came one day 
 with the welcome intelligence, that in that 
 convent, a profession would take place on the 
 Sunday morning following ; and as it was his 
 dutv to officiate on the occasion, and to ad- 
 minister the sacrament to the new sister, he 
 had it in his power to gratify my wishes, and 
 to admit me at an early hour : and he also all 
 but promised, that after the ceremony, I should 
 be permitted to see the interior of the con- 
 vent — a privilege even greater than the other.
 
 170 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 The chapel of the convent is separated from 
 the other apartments by a wide iron grating — 
 so wide, that every thing which takes place on 
 the other side, is seen as distinctly as if there 
 was no separation whatever. I placed myself 
 close to this grating some little time before the 
 ceremony commenced. 
 
 How many strange, wild, and romantic as- 
 sociations are connected with *' taking the 
 veil !" The romances of our earlier days, — the 
 tales, that professed to reveal the mysteries of 
 the cloister, crowd upon our memory : we see 
 standing before us the creatures of our imagin- 
 ation — the inflexible lady abbess — the trem- 
 bling nun — we hear the authoritative question, 
 and the timid reply — we see the midnight 
 procession, and hear the anthem of sweet and 
 holy voices — and a crowd of mysterious and 
 half-forgotten dreams and visions float before 
 us. Some of these early visions I had learned 
 to doubt the reality of, — I had already caught 
 occasional glimpses of those mysterious crea- 
 tures who inhabit convent walls, without find- 
 ing any realization of my vision of charms 
 more than mortal. I had learned to know 
 that nuns grow old, and that the veil does not
 
 SPAIN IN ISnO. 17 J 
 
 always shadow loveliness ; but having under- 
 stood that the victim about to sacrifice herself 
 was scarcely seventeen, I dismissed from my 
 mind all the realities that warred with my 
 romantic illusions, and recurred to the dream 
 of my earlier days. 
 
 At the hour appointed, the abbess entered 
 the room on the other side of the grating, 
 accompanied by all the nuns, and by several 
 ladies, friends and relatives of the novice. She 
 entered a moment after ; and immediately 
 knelt down, with her face towards the grat- 
 ing, so that I had a near and distinct view of 
 her. She was attired in the novice's robe of 
 pure white, and wore a crown of flowers upon 
 her head. She seemed scarcely more than 
 sixteen. Her countenance was gentle, sweet, 
 and interesting; — there was an expression of 
 seriousness, but not of sadness, in her face ; 
 and a skin, fairer than usually falls to the lot 
 of Spanish women, was sensibly coloured with 
 a fine carnation, — the glow of youth, and 
 health, and happiness, yet lingering on her 
 cheek; and connecting her with the world of 
 light, and life, and freedom, about to close 
 upon her for ever.
 
 172 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 The administrator now entered by the chapel, 
 and placed himself in a chair close to where 
 I was stationed, and at the side of an opening 
 in the grating of about a foot square. The 
 novice then rose, and walking forward to the 
 grating, presented him with a paper, which 
 he read aloud : this was the act of renuncia- 
 tion of all property, then and for ever ; and 
 during this ceremony the novice retired and 
 knelt as before, holding in her hand a long 
 lighted taper, with which the abbess pre- 
 sented her. The preparatory service then 
 commenced by reading and chanting ; and 
 this, although monotonous, was pleasing and 
 impressive, according well with the solemnity 
 of the scene that had introduced it ; and in 
 this service the novice joined, with a clear 
 sweet voice, in which nothing of emotion 
 could be distinguished. When this was con- 
 cluded, the novice again rose, and advanced 
 to the grating, and pronounced slowly and 
 distinctly the three vows that separate her from 
 the world, — chastity, poverty, and obedience. 
 Her voice never faltered ; nor could I perceive 
 the slightest change of countenance ; the colour 
 only, seemed to be gradually forsaking her.
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 173 
 
 The lady abbess, who stood close by her side, 
 wept all the while. Ah ! if each tear could 
 have told why it flowed, what a history might 
 have been unfolded. Indignation was the 
 feeling produced in my mind. I wished for 
 the cannon of the Constitutionalists, to throw 
 down these most odious of prisons ; and even 
 to the priest, who stood by me in his crim- 
 son and gilded surplice, I could not restrain 
 myself from saying, half audibly, " Que in- 
 famia ! " 
 
 When the vows that could never be re- 
 called had been pronounced by this misguided 
 child, she stepped back, and threw herself 
 prostrate upon the ground, — this is the act 
 confirmatory of her vows, — symbolical of 
 death, and signifying that she is dead to the 
 world. The service was then resumed, — a 
 bell continued slowly to toll ; and the priest 
 read ; while the nuns who stood around their 
 new-made sister, responded, — " dead to the 
 world — separated from kindred — bride of hea- 
 ven ! " and the nun who lies prostrate is sup- 
 posed, at the same time, to repeat to God in 
 secret, the vows she has already pronounced 
 aloud. When this was concluded, a slow
 
 174 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 organ peel, and a solemn swell of voices rose, 
 and died away ; and the abbess then raised 
 the nun from the ground, and embraced her ; 
 and all the other nuns and her relations also 
 embraced her. I saw no tear upon any cheek, 
 excepting upon the cheek of the abbess, whose 
 face was so full of benignity, that it half re- 
 conciled me to the fate of the young initiated 
 who had vowed obedience to her. When she 
 had embraced every one, she again knelt for 
 a few moments^ and then approached the 
 grating along with the abbess ; and the priest 
 handed to the abbess through the opening, the 
 vestments of a nun. Then came the last act 
 of the drama: — the crown was lifted from her 
 head ; the black vestment was put on, and the 
 girdle and the rosary ; and the black hood was 
 drawn over her head ; — she was now a nun, 
 and she again embraced the abbess and all 
 the sisters. Still I could not discover a single 
 tear, excepting on the cheek of the abbess, 
 who continued to weep almost without ceasing 
 to the very end : the countenance of the young 
 nun remained unmoved. The crown was 
 again replaced upon her head, to be worn all 
 that day ; the sacrament was administered.
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 175 
 
 and one last embrace by friends and relations 
 terminated the scene. 
 
 I had thus seen what I had long felt so 
 much anxiety to see, — " taking the veil ;" and 
 I found it, at the same time, a stirring and 
 a melancholy spectacle : stirring, because it 
 filled the mind with indignation against those 
 whose cruel and insidious counsel had mis- 
 led an innocent girl ; and melancholy, because 
 it pointed to a life uncheered by life's sweetest 
 charities, — unblest by its holiest ties, — life 
 without interest, without change, without 
 hope ; its sources of enjoyment dried up; and 
 its wells of affection frozen over. 
 
 It is not difficult to account for such sacri- 
 fices as this. A young person enters a convent 
 as a novice at fifteen or sixteen : this requires 
 little persuasion, —the scene is new, and there- 
 fore not without its attraction. Mothers, 
 sisters, and friends are occasionally seen ; and 
 no vow prevents a return to the world. During 
 the noviciate, she forms attachments among 
 the nuns, who exert themselves to the utter- 
 most to please her. The attractions of the 
 world are not presented to her, and they are, 
 therefore, not felt to be attractions ; and all
 
 176 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 the while, the priests and confessors have been 
 labouring to impress her with a notion of the 
 excellence of a religious life, — its pure enjoy- 
 ment in this world, and its certain and great 
 reward in another ; and these arguments are 
 enforced by strictures upon the vexations and 
 evils of the world without, and the lack of 
 enjoyment to be found in it. Such reasoning 
 cannot fail to produce its effect upon the mind 
 of a young person who has never known the 
 world, and who is daily assured by the sisters 
 in the convent that they are happy : add to 
 this, a certain eclat in taking the veil, — ^ex- 
 tremely captivating to a youthful mind, — and 
 it will scarcely seem surprising, that when the 
 noviciate expires, there should be nothing ter- 
 rible, or even very affecting in the ceremonial 
 that fixes the destiny of the novice. She 
 feels that she is vowing a continuance of the 
 same life that she has already led, and for 
 which habit may even have taught her an in- 
 clination; and her days are to be spent with 
 those whom she probably loves more than any 
 others without the convent walls. And what 
 are the vows, to a child who has entered a 
 convent at fifteen ? She vows obedience to
 
 SPAIN IN 18.10. 177 
 
 one whom she feels pleasure in obeying. She 
 renounces property she never enjoyed, and 
 whose uses are not understood ; and in vowing 
 chastity, she knows only that she is dedi- 
 cating herself to heaven. The profession of a 
 girl of sixteen or seventeen, is an abomina- 
 tion ; and admitted so to be, even by the 
 priests. A canon at Seville — nay, more, a 
 Dominican friar near Alicante, agreed with 
 me in opinion, that no woman ought to be 
 permitted to take the veil at an earlier age 
 than twenty-four. If a woman who has tried 
 the world, and knows its enjoyments and its 
 dangers, chooses to renounce it, and retire 
 into a convent, she can only accuse herself of 
 folly, or bigotry ; but it is altogether a piece 
 of villany when a child leaves the nursery to 
 begin her noviciate. 
 
 The priest, who had led me to hope that 
 I might be permitted to visit the interior of 
 the convent, did not disappoint me. This 
 convent is one of the most complete, and the 
 best fitted up of any in Madrid. No one 
 enters it who cannot bring to its treasury a 
 considerable fortune ; and its accommodations 
 
 VOL. I. N
 
 178 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 are accordingly upon a scale of corresponding- 
 comfort. In company with the priest and the 
 porteress, an old nun, I went over the greater 
 part of the building. The accommodations of 
 each nun consist of a small parlour and a dor- 
 mitory adjoining, and a small kitchen. The 
 nuns do not eat in company. The dinners 
 are separately cooked, and the whole is then 
 carried to a public room, where it is blessed ; 
 and again carried back to the separate apart- 
 ments, where each nun eats alone. The little 
 parlours of the nuns are plain and clean ; the 
 walls white- washed, and the floors generally 
 matted ; but the room is without any fire- 
 place, and contains a table and two chairs. 
 The beds are extremely small, and extremely 
 hard ; and upon the table, in every dormitory, 
 there is a crucifix. Among other parts, I was 
 conducted to the chamber of the new-made 
 nun. The bed was strewn with flowers — 
 marigolds and dahlias, — and a crown of jilly- 
 flowers lay upon the pillow. Here every 
 thing was new ; yet all would grow old along 
 with the inmate. A new bright lamp stood 
 upon the table ; and as I looked at it, I could 
 not avoid the picture that presented itself in
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 179 
 
 fancy, — the dull light falling upon the white 
 wall ; and the silent inmate of the chamber 
 with her book and rosary, through the long- 
 chill evenings of winter; — what a contrast 
 from the picture of a cheerful home ! 
 
 The rooms of the nuns all look into the 
 garden. Those in front are occupied by ladies 
 who have not taken the veil, but who have 
 retired from the world, and who live there 
 in tranquillity and seclusion. Many of these 
 rooms are prettily fitted up, and contain small 
 libraries, altogether of religious books, and a 
 few pictures of the same character. In going 
 through the convent, I saw two of the nuns, — 
 old, disagreeable, ill-favoured women, — the 
 younger sisters were not visible, excepting the 
 new-made nun, who seemed that day to be 
 allowed the range of the convent ; for I saw 
 her, with her crown still upon her head, in 
 her own chamber, in one of the corridors, and 
 in the garden : she looked quite happy. After 
 having been conducted through almost every 
 part of the convent, I was introduced into the 
 refectory, and presented with wine and cake. 
 I shall never forget the taste of that cake; it 
 N 2
 
 180 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 seemed to me, to taste of the tomb ; and crum- 
 bled in one's hand like something touched by 
 the finger of decay. 
 
 The order to which this convent belongs, is 
 not so strict as many others. The chief differ- 
 ence in strictness between one order and 
 another, consists in the more rigid observance 
 of fasts, the number of meagre days, the obli- 
 gation to night prayers, and the rules as to 
 solitude and society. In some of the orders, 
 dispensation from the vows of poverty and 
 obedience may be obtained ; and such dispen- 
 sations occasionally are obtained, — if, for ex- 
 ample, the labour or service of a nun should 
 be required for the support or comfort of a des- 
 titute or aged mother. Dispensation from the 
 vow of chastity is scarcely to be obtained ; yet 
 even this has sometimes been known. Last 
 year, a lady of high family who had taken the 
 vows in Barcellona, obtained a general dispen- 
 sation, and married, — it is said that she was 
 never happy ; and she died a few months after- 
 wards. It may easily be supposed, that long 
 accustomed prejudices, and a superstitious 
 bias, acting upon the imagination, might pro- 
 duce disastrous effects both upon mind and
 
 SPxVIN IN I8;50. 181 
 
 body. Ill the case of the late Countess Ofalia, 
 a dispensation was also obtained. She was 
 five years a nun. She entered the convent at 
 the age of fourteen ; and the dispensation was 
 granted upon the ground of her youth, and 
 also because her consent was supposed to have 
 been extorted. This lady had, fortunately, 
 less superstition than the other. She left the 
 convent at nineteen; and married the Count 
 Ofalia, with whom she lived happily. 
 
 During the French government in Spain, 
 under Joseph Buonaparte, and also during the 
 time of the constitution, the doors of the con- 
 vents were open to whosoever might choose to 
 go again into the world : it is said, that not 
 more than two in Madrid, and four or five 
 throughout the rest of Spain, availed them- 
 selves of this privilege. This is scarcely to 
 be wondered at ; superstitious fears, and con- 
 scientious scruples, interfered no doubt with 
 the wishes of many ; others had grown grey 
 within their convent walls, and to whom 
 could they return ? Some, M'ho might yet 
 have found enjoyment in the world, had no 
 means of living in it, having renounced their 
 inheritance ; and many, no doubt, had con-
 
 182 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 tracted a partiality for a religious life, and 
 were actuated by pious motives. 
 
 Next to the curiosity I had felt to witness 
 the profession of a nun, was my curiosity to 
 witness an exhibition of a very different kind : 
 the spectacle of a bull-fight. This is one of 
 the many things that are to be seen in Spain, 
 and in no other country in the world ; and, 
 however barbarous the spectacle must seem 
 to every one but a Spaniard, it is, neverthe- 
 less, one of so stirring and so extraordinary 
 a kind, that 1 think it would almost repay a 
 journey to Madrid, even if the traveller set 
 off next morning upon his return. 
 
 The bull-fight is the national game of Spain; 
 and the love of the Spaniards for this spec- 
 tacle, is almost beyond belief. Monday, in 
 Madrid, is always, during the season of the 
 bull-fights, a kind of holiday; every body 
 looks forward to the enjoyments of the after- 
 noon ; and all the conversation is about los 
 toros. Frequency of repetition makes no differ- 
 ence to the true amateur of the bull-fight ; he 
 is never weary of it; at all times he finds 
 leisure and money to dedicate to his favour- 
 ite pastime. The spectacle is generally an-
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 183 
 
 nounced, in the name of his majesty, to begin 
 at four o'clock ; and, before three, all the 
 avenues leading towards the gate of Alcala, 
 are in commotion ; the Calle de Alcala, in 
 particular, throughout its whole immense ex- 
 tent, is filled with a dense crowd, of all ranks 
 and conditions, pouring towards the gate : a 
 considerable number of carriages are also seen 
 — even the royal carriages ; but these arrive 
 later : and there are also many hack cabri- 
 olets, their usual burden being a peasant, and 
 two girls, dressed in their holiday clothes ; 
 for there is no way of shewing gallantry so 
 much approved among the lower orders, as 
 treating to a bull-fight ; and when this is car- 
 ried so far as to include a drive in a red and 
 gilded cabriolet, the peasant need sigh no 
 longer. 
 
 I had been able to secure a place in one of 
 the best boxes, through the kindness of one 
 of my friends; and, some little time before the 
 fight begun, I was comfortably seated in the 
 front row, with quite enough to occupy my 
 attention, until the commencement. The 
 spectacle was most imposing. The whole 
 amphitheatre, said lo contain 17,000 persons.
 
 184 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 was filled in every part, round and round, 
 and from the ground to the ceiling ; carrying 
 the imagination back to antiquity, and to 
 *' the butcheries of a Roman holiday." The 
 arena is about 230 feet in diameter ; this is 
 surrounded by a strong wooden fence, about 
 six feet in height, the upper half retiring about 
 a foot, so as to leave, in the middle of the 
 fence, a stepping- place, by which the men 
 may be able, in time of danger, to throw 
 themselves out of the arena. Behind this 
 fence, there is an open space about nine feet 
 wide, extending all the way round, meant as 
 a retreat; and where also the men in reserve 
 are in waiting, in case their companions 
 should be killed, or disabled. Behind this 
 space, is another higher and stronger fence 
 bounding the amphitheatre, for the spectators; 
 from this fence the seats decline backward, 
 rising to the outer wall ; and above these are 
 the boxes, which are all roofed, and are, of 
 course, open in front. Those on the east side, 
 which are exposed to the sun, (for the spec- 
 tacle always takes place in the evening), have 
 awnings ; but these are insufficient to screen 
 the spectators from the heat ; and accordingly,
 
 SPAIN IN 18.30. J85 
 
 the price of the places on the west side, is con- 
 siderably more than the price of those exposed 
 to the sun. Below, in w^hat may be called the 
 pit, the difference in price, according to sun or 
 shade, is still greater, because there are there 
 neither coverings nor awnings : so important, 
 indeed, is this distinction considered, that 
 there is not only one price for places in the 
 sun, and another for places in the shade, but 
 there is an intermediate price for places partly 
 in the sun and partly in the shade, — exposed 
 to the sun during the first part of the evening, 
 but left in shade the latter part of it. The 
 best places in the boxes cost about 4*. ; the 
 best in the amphitheatre below, about 2so 6d. ; 
 the commonest place, next to the arena, costs 
 four reals. In the centre of the west side, is 
 the king's box ; and scattered here and there, 
 are the private boxes of the grandees and 
 amateurs, distinguished by coloured silk dra- 
 pery hanging over the front. In the boxes, I 
 saw as many women as men, — and in the 
 lower parts, the female spectators were also 
 sufficiently numerous ; all wore mantillas : 
 and in the lower parts of the amphitheatre 
 which were exposed to the sun, every spec-
 
 186 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 tator, whether man or woman, carried a large 
 circular paper fan, made for the occasion, and 
 sold by men who walk round the arena before 
 the fight begins, raising among the spectators 
 their long poles, with fans suspended, and 
 a little bag fixed here and there, into which 
 the purchaser drops his four quartos (lid). 
 
 The people now began to shew their im- 
 patience, and shouts of el toro were heard in a 
 hundred quarters ; and soon after, a flourish 
 of trumpets and drums announced that the 
 spectacle was about to commence. This 
 created total silence, — one of the results of 
 intense interest, — and the motion of the fans 
 was for a moment suspended : — First entered 
 the chief magistrate of the city, on horseback, 
 preceded by two alguacils, or constables, and 
 followed by a troop of cavalry, who imme- 
 diately cleared the arena of every one who had 
 no business there ; next, an official entered on 
 foot, who read an ordonnance of the king, com- 
 manding the tight, and requiring order to be 
 kept ; and these preliminaries having been 
 gone through, the magistrates and cavalry re- 
 tired, leaving the arena to the two picadores, 
 who entered at the same moment. These are
 
 SPAIN IN 1S30. 187 
 
 mounted on horseback, — each holding- a Jong- 
 lance or pike, and are the first antagonists 
 the bull has to encounter; they stationed them- 
 selves on different sides of the arena, about 
 twenty yards from the door at which the bull 
 enters ; and at a new flourish of trumpets, the 
 gate flew open, and the bull rushed into the 
 arena : this produced a deafening shout, and 
 then total silence. The bulls differ very 
 widely in courage and character : some are 
 rash, — some cool and intrepid, — some wary 
 and cautious, — some cowardly. Some, im- 
 mediately upon perceiving the horse and his 
 rider, rush upon them ; others run bellowing 
 round the arena, — some make towards one or 
 other of the Chulos, who at the same moment 
 that the bull appears, leap into the arena with 
 coloured cloaks upon their arms ; others stop, 
 after having advanced a little way into the 
 arena, look on every side, and seem uncertain 
 what to do. The blood of the bull is generally 
 first spilt: he almost invariably makes the first 
 attack, advancing at a quick trot upon the 
 picador, who generally receives him upon his 
 pike, wounding him somewhere about the 
 shoulder. Sometimes the bull, feelinjj- himself
 
 188 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 wounded, retires, to meditate a different plan 
 of attack ; but a good bull is not turned back 
 by a wound, — he presses on upon his enemy, 
 even if in doing so, the lance be buried deeper 
 in his flesh. Attached to the mane of the bull 
 is a crimson ribbon, which it is the great object 
 of the picador to seize, that he may present 
 to his mistress this important trophy of his 
 prowess. I have frequently seen this ribbon 
 torn off at the moment that the bull closed 
 upon the picador. 
 
 The first bull that entered the arena, was a 
 bad bull: he was deficient both in courage 
 and cunning : the second, was a fierce bull of 
 Navarre, from which province the best bulls 
 are understood to come ; he paused only for a 
 moment after entering the arena, and then 
 instantly rushed upon the nearest picador, 
 who wounded him in the neck ; but the bull 
 disregarding this, thrust his head under the 
 horse's belly, and threw both him and his rider 
 upon the ground : the horse ran a little way; 
 but encumbered with trappings, he fell, — and 
 the bull, disregarding for a moment the fallen 
 picador, pursued the horse, and pushing at 
 him, broke the girths and disengaged the
 
 SPAIN IN 1S30. 189 
 
 animal, which finding itself at liberty, galloped 
 round the arena — a dreadful spectacle, covered 
 with gore, and its entrails trailing upon the 
 ground. The bull now engaged the chulas : 
 these young men shew great dexterity and 
 sometimes considerable courage, in the running 
 fight, or rather play, in which they engage the 
 bull, — flapping their cloaks in his face,^ — 
 running zig-zag when pressed, and throwing 
 down the garments to arrest his progress a 
 moment, and then vaulting over the fence, — an 
 example which is sometimes followed by the 
 disappointed animal. But this kind of war- 
 fare, the bull of Navarre seemed to consider 
 child's play, — and leaving these cloaked anta- 
 gonists, he made furiously at the other picador, 
 dexterously evading the lance, and burying 
 his horns in the horse's breast : the horse and 
 his rider extricated themselves, and galloped 
 away ; but suddenly the horse dropped down, 
 the wound having proved mortal. The bull, 
 victorious over both enemies, stood in the 
 centre of the arena, ready to engage another ; 
 but the spectators, anxious to see the prowess 
 of the bull directed against another set of 
 antagonists, expressed their desire by a mono-
 
 190 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 tonous clapping of hands, and beating of sticks, 
 a demonstration of their will perfectly under- 
 stood, and always attended to. 
 
 The banderilleros then entered : their busi- 
 ness is to throw darts into the neck of the 
 bull ; and in order to do this, they are obliged 
 to approach with great caution, and to be ready 
 for a precipitate retreat ; because it sometimes 
 happens that the bull, irritated by the dart, 
 disregards the cloak which the banderillero 
 throws down to cover his retreat, and closely 
 pursues the aggressor. I saw one banderillero 
 so closely pursued, that he saved himself only 
 by leaping over the bull's neck. The danger, 
 however, is scarcely so great as it appears to 
 the spectator to be ; because the bull makes 
 the charge with his eyes shut. The danger 
 of the picador who is thrown upon the ground, 
 is much greater ; because, having made the 
 charge, the bull then opens his eyes, and the 
 life of the picador is only saved by the address 
 of the chulos, who divert the attention of the 
 victor. Generally, the banderilleros do not 
 make their appearance until the bull appears 
 by his movements, to declme the combat with 
 the picadors; which he shews by scraping the
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 191 
 
 ground with his feet, and retiring. If the bull 
 shew little spirit, and the spectators wish that 
 he should be goaded into courage, the cry is 
 "fitego,''' and then the banderilleros are armed 
 with darts, containing a kind of squib, which 
 explodes while it sticks in the animal's neck. 
 
 When the people are tired of the banderil- 
 leros, and wish to have a fresh bull, they 
 signify their impatience in the usual way, and 
 the signal is then given for the matador, whose 
 duty it is to kill the bull. The matador is in 
 full court dress, and carries a scarlet cloak 
 over his arm, and a sword in his hand : the 
 former he presents to the bull ; and when the 
 bull rushes forward, he steps aside and plunges 
 his sword in the animal's neck ; at least so 
 he ought to do, but the service is a dangerous 
 one, and the matador is frequently killed. 
 Sometimes it is impossible for the matador to 
 engage upon equal terms a very wary bull, 
 which is not much exhausted. This was the 
 case with the sixth bull which 1 saw turned 
 out : it was an Andalusian bull, and was both 
 wary and powerful. Many times the matador 
 attempted to engage him, but witiiout success ; 
 he was constantly upon the watch, always
 
 192 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 disregarding the cloak, and turning quick 
 round upon the matador, who was frequently 
 in imminent danger. At length the people 
 were tired of this lengthened combat, and 
 seeing no prospect of it ending, called for the 
 semi-luna, an instrument with which a person 
 skulks behind, and cuts the ham- strings of 
 the animal : this the bull avoided a long while, 
 always turning quickly round ; and even after 
 this cruel operation was performed, he was 
 still a dangerous antagonist, fighting upon his 
 knees, and even pursuing the matador. The 
 moment the bull falls, he is struck with a 
 small stiletto, which pierces the cerebellum ; 
 folding doors, opposite to those by which the 
 bull enters, are thrown open, and three mules, 
 richly caparisoned and adorned with flags, 
 gallop in ; the dead bull is attached by a hook 
 to a chain, and the mules gallop out, trailing 
 the bull behind them : this is the work of a 
 moment, — the doors close, — there is a new 
 flourish of trumpets ; and another bull rushes 
 upon the arena. 
 
 And how do the Spaniards conduct them- 
 selves during all these scenes? — The intense 
 interest which they feel in this game is visible 
 
 I
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 193 
 
 throughout, and often loudly expressed ; an 
 astounding shout always accompanies a critical 
 moment : — whether it be the bull or the man 
 who is in danger, their joy is excessive ; but their 
 greatest sympathy is given to the feats of the 
 bull. If the picador receives the bull gallantly, 
 and forces him to retreat ; or if the matador 
 courageously faces, and wounds the bull, they 
 applaud these acts of science and valour : but 
 if the bull overthrow the horse and his rider; 
 or if the matador miss his aim, and the bull 
 seems ready to gore him, their delight knows 
 no bounds. And it is certainly a fine spectacle 
 to see the thousands of spectators rise simul- 
 taneously, as they always do when the interest 
 is intense : the greatest and most crowded 
 theatre in Europe presents nothing half so 
 imposing as this. But how barbarous, how 
 brutal is the whole exhibition ! Could an 
 English audience witness the scenes that are 
 repeated every week in Madrid ? — a universal 
 burst of " shame ! " would follow the spectacle 
 of a horse, gored and bleeding, and actually 
 treading upon his own entrails, while he gal- 
 lops round the arena : even the appearance of 
 the goaded bull could not be borne, — panting, 
 
 VOL. I. o
 
 194 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 covered with wounds and blood, lacerated by 
 darts, and yet brave and resolute to the end. 
 
 The spectacle continued two hours and a 
 half; and during that time, there were seven 
 bulls killed, and six horses. When the last 
 bull was dispatched, the people immediately 
 rushed into the arena, and the carcass was 
 dragged out amid the most deafening shouts. 
 
 The expenses of the bull-fights are great ; 
 but the receipts far exceed them, leaving a 
 very handsome sum for the benefit of the hos- 
 pital, which, it is said, draws a revenue from 
 these entertainments of 300,000 reals, (3000/. 
 sterling). Some persons begin to afiect a 
 dislike of the bull-fight, but they go to it not- 
 withstanding ; and I think I may venture to 
 say, from my own observation, that this na- 
 tional entertainment is not yet on the decline. 
 The king occasionally goes ; Don Carlos rare- 
 ly ; but Don Francis and his wife are generally 
 to be seen there ; and I noticed, that the 
 private boxes of the nobility were as well 
 filled as any other part of the house. On 
 leaving the amphitheatre, 1 counted forty- 
 five private carriages in waiting. 
 
 A few weeks afterwards, I was present at
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 195 
 
 another bull-fight. I have no intention of 
 describing this also; but I gathered some in- 
 formation from it that had escaped me upon 
 the former occasion. This time, I paid more 
 attention to the demeanour of the people, than 
 to the fight ; and instead of securing a place 
 in the boxes, I took my seat in the commonest 
 division, that I might the better observe the 
 character of the lower orders. It is not at all 
 unusual for those of the nobility who are 
 amateurs of the bull-fight, to place themselves 
 among the lowest classes ; a true lover of the 
 bull-fight likes to be under no restrictions, 
 but to express his delight as loudly as a pea- 
 sant. In that place he is at his ease ; he gives 
 himself up to the full enjoyment of his passion ; 
 he applauds, he condemns, and gives vent to 
 his joy like the people that surround him. 
 This is true happiness to him. It is said that 
 Don Francis occasionally disguises himself; 
 and enjoys, even though Infante, the pleasure 
 of a water-carrier. 
 
 At this fight, all the bulls were indifi'erent 
 excepting one ; but he proved himself a per- 
 fect master of the science. He rushed first 
 o 2
 
 196 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 at one picador and then at the other, and over- 
 threw both the horses and then' riders; killing 
 both horses, and wounding one of the pica- 
 dores. Two fresh picadores immediately ap- 
 peared ; and these, he served in a precisely 
 similar way : but the overthrow was more 
 tragical — one of the horses and his rider were 
 raised fairly into the air; and the horse falling 
 so as to crush the rider between its body and 
 the fence, he was killed upon the spot. The 
 bull was now master of the arena ; he had 
 cleared it of men — three horses lay dead — and 
 he stood in the midst, lashing his tail, and 
 looking round for another enemy. This was 
 a time to observe the character of the people. 
 When the unfortunate picador was killed, in 
 place of a general exclamation of horror, and 
 loud expressions of pity, the universal cry was 
 '' Que es bravo ese totv!" Ah, the admirable 
 bull ! — the whole scene produced the most un- 
 bounded delight ; the greater horror, the greater 
 was the shouting, and the more vehement the 
 expressions of satisfaction — I did not perceive 
 a single female avert her head, or betray the 
 slightest symptom of wounded feeling. Acci- 
 dents do not occur so frequently as a spec-
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 197 
 
 tator would be apt to imagine : danger is in 
 fact more apparent than real, because those 
 who engage the bull are well trained to the com- 
 bat. There is, both in Madrid and at Seville, 
 a regular school of instruction, where those 
 destined for Las Corridas, practise the art 
 with young animals ; and excepting the mata- 
 dores, who are occasionally killed, no other of 
 the combatants runs great risk from the bull. 
 When the picador is killed, the catastrophe 
 is always occasioned by the horse falling 
 upon his rider, or crushing him against the 
 inclosure. 
 
 Every time I attended a bull-fight, I was 
 more and more impressed with a conviction 
 of its cruelty and brutality. It is improperly 
 termed a fight, because the bull has never a 
 chance of victory and escape ; it is merely 
 a massacre, — and the series of abominable 
 cruelties exhibited in the treatment of the 
 horses, stamps the whole with a character of 
 brutality and barbarism, sufficient, in my 
 opinion, to separate Spain from the list of 
 civilized nations. It is not merely the atro- 
 cities that an interested contractor for the bull- 
 fights may permit, — not merely that the pica-
 
 198 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 dor continues to ride upon an animal bathed 
 in blood, and whose entrails trail upon the 
 ground, — but that the Spanish people can 
 witness and tolerate such barbarity. I do 
 not wish to seem prejudiced; but I cannot 
 believe that there are many among the very 
 lowest ranks in this country who would not, 
 at such a spectacle, cry out " kill him !" It 
 was proposed by the present queen to en- 
 velope the horses in a net, by M'hich the most 
 disgusting part of the exhibition would have 
 been concealed ; but this was a refinement 
 which it was thought would not be relished 
 by the mob, and I believe it was never at- 
 tempted. By the horses having no power of 
 defence, and by their being deprived of the 
 means of consciousness of their condition, the 
 cruelty of the spectacle is increased. Towns- 
 liend, that very respectable and accurate 
 writer, is in error when he speaks of the cou- 
 rage shewn by the horses in facing their ene- 
 mies : this, if true, would give a character of 
 greater nobility to the entertainment ; but the 
 horses know neither their enemies nor their 
 danger; their eyes are blinded, and their ears 
 are tied up. If the horses were netted round
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 199 
 
 the body, and if they were led off the arena 
 when wounded ; if their eyes were uncovered, 
 that when the rider was unhorsed, they might 
 have a chance of escape, in place of stand- 
 ing to be gored, unconscious of the vici- 
 nity of the enemy, — if the semi-luna were 
 discontinued; — and, above all, if a valiant bull, 
 which could unhorse two picadores without 
 being Avounded, and parry two or three thrusts 
 of the matador, were allowed the reward of 
 its victory — life : then the bull-fight would 
 be divested of much of its barbarism, without 
 losing, but, on the contrary, greatly adding to 
 the interest which it at present possesses. 
 
 It is impossible to witness a spectacle like 
 this, without being impressed with a convic- 
 tion that such exhibitions must produce some 
 influence upon the character of a people. One 
 would naturally argue that there must be an 
 affinity between the character of a people and 
 their amusements, especially since we actually 
 find this affinity among several savage nations ; 
 and yet I should be doing gross injustice to 
 the Spanish character, if I said that any such 
 affinity existed in Si)ain. There is nothing 
 of deliberate cruelty in the character of a
 
 200 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 Spaniard, — less hard-heartedness than I have 
 found among most other nations: — he invari- 
 ably treats his mule with the utmost kindness, 
 he is mindful even of his dog and his cat. The 
 murders which are so frequent in the south 
 of Spain, are the result of an irascible temper, 
 brandy, and a hot climate ; but are never de- 
 liberate : and the robberies, which originate 
 in poverty, and which bad laws encourage, 
 are rarely attended by violence. All this is a 
 riddle, — nor is it less a riddle, that the females 
 who can look unmoved, and even with plea- 
 sure, upon scenes from which a woman of any 
 other nation turns away disgusted, do not pos- 
 sess less refinement than the females of other 
 countries. Generally speaking, the character 
 of the Spanish woman is kind and compas- 
 sionate ; and even among the lower ranks, I 
 have heard sentiments that would do honour 
 to the women of those countries that are 
 esteemed the foremost in refinement. 
 
 The first attempt at a horse race in Madrid, 
 was made last autumn ; and as I am upon the 
 subject of diversions, I shall give a slight 
 sketch of the Spanish mode of conducting 
 these things. The ground chosen for the race.
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 201 
 
 was a sandy road, extending from the bridge 
 of Toledo along the canal. The road is a 
 common cart road, covered with stones, and 
 full of ruts ; and the distance was about two 
 miles. A large concourse of persons was at- 
 tracted to the spot by the novelty of the enter- 
 tainment. There were between two and three 
 hundred horsemen, and upv/ards of twenty 
 carriages on the ground : among others, the 
 handsome equipage of the Duke of San Carlos, 
 the owner of one of the horses, an English 
 mare, called Pensive. Her only opponent 
 was a Spanish horse. Pensive was ridden by 
 a jockey, dressed in the English fashion ; the 
 horse, by a Spanish groom, in the dress of a 
 peasant. Pensive was a very indifferent 
 animal, but had seen better days, and would 
 have been distanced at a sixth-rate English 
 race. Before starting, the horses were held 
 by a man at the head of each, and at a signal, 
 they were let go. The greatest possible 
 anxiety was shewn by the spectators, that the 
 English mare might be beaten ; but it came 
 in two or three lengths before its opponent. 
 This created extraordinary disappointment ; 
 but the crowd resolved that the next heats
 
 202 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 should be different ; and they carried their 
 resolution into effect. They, formed an avenue 
 just wide enough for the horses; and as the 
 Spanish horse passed, every one struck it with 
 a stick, a whip, a stone, or whatever was at 
 hand, and so urged it on ; and partly owing 
 to this, and partly owing to some carts inter- 
 cepting the road, the Spanish horse gained 
 both heats. This triumph was followed by 
 loud acclamations ; and so intemperate was 
 the mob in its joy, that the grossest insults 
 were offered to the carriage of the Duke of 
 San Carlos as he left the ground. I heard it 
 reported, that the Duke intended to take the 
 field again with better horses, and upon better 
 ground; and that horse races in Madrid would 
 re-commence at a future time, under the pa- 
 tronage of one of the Infantes.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 MEMOIR OF MURILLO. 
 
 A slight sketch of the life of Murillo, will not 
 be considered an unappropriate introduction 
 to some notice of his principal works, yet to 
 be found in the Picture Gallery of Madrid; 
 and in the churches, convents, and hospitals 
 of Seville. 
 
 EsTABAN Murillo, the prince of painters, 
 was born at Seville, on the 1st of January, 
 1618. The small town of Pilm, in Andalusia, 
 has disputed this honour with Seville ; but 
 the claim of Pilas to this distinction has pro- 
 bably arisen from the fact, that his mother 
 was from Pilas, and that he inherited, through 
 her, some property in that neighbourhood. 
 But it is of little importance whether the 
 courtly Seville, or the lowly Pilas, gave birth
 
 204 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 to Murillo ; they may feel equally honoured 
 in his name, for the name of Murillo belongs 
 to his country. How he acquired the name 
 of Estaban, has also been matter of dispute : 
 some say he derived it from his father, who, 
 it is said, was called Gaspar Estaban Murillo ; 
 and others are of opinion, that he took the 
 name of his maternal uncle ; but this dispute 
 is of even less importance than that respect- 
 ing the place of his nativity. Neither of the 
 Estabans are now alive, to claim the honour 
 of such a name-son ; and Murillo's honours 
 are independent of his kindred. 
 
 Great painters, more than any other class 
 of eminent men, have given intimation, during 
 childhood, of the distinction to which they 
 have afterwards attained ; and if the chroni- 
 cles and traditions of Murillo record truly, his 
 infancy did not form an exception. This fact 
 is not difficult to account for ; because, at the 
 earliest age, the genius of the painter finds 
 facilities for displaying itself. The infant 
 musician to whom nature has denied a vocal 
 talent, cannot, without an acquaintance with 
 some instrument, convey a knowledge of his 
 powers ; still less can the infant poet embody
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 205 
 
 poetic conceptions, without an acquaintance 
 with language : but the painter finds, every 
 where around, the means of giving expression 
 to his thoughts : a dark and a light substance 
 are all he requires ; and in Spain, where the 
 walls of the rooms are almost universally 
 white-washed, the infant Murillo could find 
 no obstacle to the indulgence of his genius. 
 
 The parents of Murillo saw no good likely 
 to arise from an inclination for daubins: the 
 walls, and scratching the brick floors ; and 
 did all that lay in their power to discourage 
 it ; but the boy knew his calling, and still 
 continued to disappoint the hopes of his father, 
 M'ho had destined him for the church ; and to 
 exhaust the patience of his mother, who, as it 
 is said, returning one day from mass, found 
 that her only picture, which she prized highly 
 — an infant Christ and a lamb — had suffered 
 an extraordinary transformation. Murillo had 
 taken the glory from the head of the Christ, 
 and substituted his own little hat, intending 
 to represent himself; and the lamb he had 
 converted into a dog — an animal in which he 
 took great delight. Murillo was then too 
 young to be conscious of any impiety in this
 
 206 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 transformation ; the bent of his mind through 
 life, was wholly averse from this : but his 
 parents, despairing of a cure, thought it ad- 
 visable to let him have his own way, and sent 
 him to the house of his kinsman, Juan cle Cas- 
 tillo, who undertook to teach the youthful 
 Murillo the first principles of design and 
 colouring. 
 
 This Castillo was no despicable hand ; 
 especially in the art of colouring, for a know- 
 ledge of which, he was partly indebted to Luis 
 de Varjas, who had sometime before returned 
 to Seville from Italy, bringing along with him 
 the knowledge which he had acquired in 
 Florence. Besides the youthful Murillo, Cas- 
 tillo could boast of several other disciples 
 in his school ; particularly Pedro de Moya, — 
 of whom, more hereafter, — and Alonzo Cano, 
 whose freedom of touch, natural design, and 
 charming colouring, afterwards secured for him 
 a high rank among Spanish painters. But 
 Murillo, whdse genius was of still a loftier 
 kind, soon supplanted his companions in the 
 favour of his master, by the yet more rapid 
 progress which he made in the art ; but he 
 continued, notwithstanding, to discharge the
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 207 
 
 menial offices of grinding the colours, cleaning 
 the brushes, and preparing the canvas, — such 
 being the original conditions upon which he 
 had been admitted into his relation's work- 
 shop. 
 
 There was at this time much rivalry among 
 the masters in Seville, each of whom had a 
 school in his own house, — and this rivalry was 
 fully partaken by their pupils ; for the reputa- 
 tion of the schools necessarily depended, in 
 a great measure, upon the proficiency of the 
 pupils. Murillo felt deeply interested in the 
 honour of his kinsman's school ; and he, pro- 
 bably perceiving in his young disciple, a pro- 
 mise of excellence that might afterwards 
 reflect honour upon himself, was the more 
 assiduous in his instructions ; so that, after a 
 few years, Murillo had well nigh exhausted 
 the information whicli his master was able to 
 communicate. 
 
 But at this time Castillo suddenly quitted 
 Seville to reside in Cadiz ; his school was 
 broken up, and Murillo was left without a 
 master. It is probable that the most import- 
 ant moment of his life, — that upon which has 
 hinged his future character,— was, when feeling
 
 208 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 the helplessness of his condition, he me- 
 ditated upon his future prospects, and pre- 
 sent necessities ; and asked himself that plain 
 question, which must be put and answered 
 by all who are situated like him, " What shall 
 I do?" How much depended upon this re- 
 solve ! for often has genius been extinguished 
 because no friendly hand was by, to fan the 
 flame yet struggling for existence, — often dis- 
 couraged, by being left to grope its way in 
 darkness. Some in Murillo's condition, might 
 have abandoned a profession that held out 
 no solid advantages ; and others, would have 
 sought a new master. But Murillo, whether 
 from a confidence in his own powers, or from 
 an unwillingness to enter any of those other 
 schools which had been rivals to Castillo's, 
 came to a resolution more fortunate for himself 
 and for the world : he determined to throw 
 himself upon his own resources, and to trust 
 in his genius. 
 
 It happened, at this time, to be the fair at 
 Seville, at which season there was always a 
 demand for devotional pictures, both for the 
 uses of the pious at home, and for exportation 
 to America. But these pictures were always
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 209 
 
 of the most wretched description, and painted 
 by the lowest artists ; and with so much haste, 
 that it not unusually happened that some 
 favourite saint was painted during the time 
 that the devout purchaser bargained for the 
 price ; nor was it a rare occurrence that the 
 painter should be required to change a Mag- 
 dalen into a Madonna ; a Virgin into St. An- 
 thony of Padua ; or a group of cherubs into 
 the souls in purgatory. Murillo took his place 
 in the fair, and painted whatever was required, 
 at whatever price was offered ; and there can 
 be little doubt that this varied and rapid prac- 
 tice gave a freedom to the pencil, and a facility 
 in the expression of ideas, which years of 
 study under a master might have failed to 
 produce. 
 
 Murillo had now attained his twenty-third 
 year ; and at this time a circumstance occurred, 
 which had an important influence upon his 
 future career ; this was, the arrival in Seville 
 of Pedro de Moya. It will be recollected, 
 that Pedro de Moya was a co-disciple with Mu- 
 rillo, in the school of Castillo ; but he had, some 
 years before, and while Murillo was still a 
 pupil, left it and Seville ; and had subsequently 
 
 VOL. I. p
 
 210 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 gone to Flanders as a soldier, with a greater 
 disposition to see the world than to paint. 
 But his natural propensities had only been 
 suspended by the desire of novelty, so natural 
 to youth : for meeting in Flanders with the 
 works of Van Dyk, and other eminent Flemish 
 masters, he returned to his profession, and 
 became a disciple of that great painter, under 
 whom he acquired those graces, with which 
 he returned to Seville, to excite the admira- 
 tion and the hopes of Murillo. 
 
 Murillo, struck with the improvement of his 
 former companion, set himself to imitate his 
 style ; but fortunately for Murillo, who might 
 otherwise have degenerated into a copyist, 
 Moya soon quitted Seville, and he was left 
 to his aspirations and his difficulties. Con- 
 scious of his own great imperfections, he had 
 obtained a glimpse of what might be the re- 
 ward of courage and perseverance ; and his 
 desires suggested many projects for their gra- 
 tification. It is a trying, and yet a happy 
 moment for genius, that in which humility 
 and pride arise together, bringing with them 
 the discovery, that the past has been a blank 
 leaf in existence; but begetting a desire to
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 21 1 
 
 turn over another, and to fill it with things 
 that shall never be blotted out. Such was, 
 doubtless, the state of the young painter's 
 mind, when he resolved upon quitting his 
 native city, and seeking in Flanders, or Italy, 
 the opportunities by which he might hope to 
 realise his dream of fame. 
 
 But Murillo was without money, and with- 
 out friends ; and how could he travel to Flan- 
 ders or Italy ? His reputation in Seville, as a 
 painter, was small ; for although his practice 
 of working for the fair, had in reality increased 
 his powers, it was little likely to add to his 
 respectability ; and it was a question, there- 
 fore, not easily solved, how he should obtain 
 the means of effecting his design. But even 
 in this extremity, courage did not desert him ; 
 and an expedient was found, by which he 
 might modestly replenish his purse. He pur- 
 cliased a large piece of canvas; primed it him- 
 self; and dividing it into unequal parts, painted 
 upon it, every possible variety of subject, — 
 saints, landscapes, animals, flowers, — but par- 
 ticularly devotional pieces. With this trea- 
 sure, he went to Cadiz, to tempt the masters 
 
 p 2
 
 212 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 of the India vessels. Among so many sub- 
 jects, the taste of every one could find some- 
 thing to gratify it, and he returned to Seville 
 without any of his canvas, and with a little 
 stock of pistoles. 
 
 Murillo did not now delay a moment longer 
 the execution of his purpose. Communicating 
 his design only to his brother, who lived at 
 Seville in the house of an uncle, he left his 
 native city at the age of twenty-four, to return, 
 and afterwards enrich it with undying memo- 
 rials of that genius which is the glory of Spain, 
 and the just pride of the city where it was 
 chiefly exercised. 
 
 It is a long and toilsome journey from Se- 
 ville to Madrid ; and many must have been 
 the anxious thoughts that filled the mind of 
 the adventurer; but the predominating feeling 
 would doubtless be buoyant, for youth and 
 genius are fertile in hope. We think we see 
 the young painter leave his native town, — 
 long visible in the majestic tower of the cathe- 
 dral, at which he often turns round to gaze. 
 We follow his steps (for his journey was per- 
 formed on foot) up the banks of the Guadal- 
 quivir, flowing towards his home ; we see him
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 213 
 
 with his scanty supplies toiling up the defiles 
 of the Sierra Aloraia, and looking upon the 
 other side, over the wide plain o{ La Mancha; 
 and we see him with a quickened step, hasten 
 towards the capital, when he first descries its 
 towers in the midst of the desert that sur- 
 rounds it. 
 
 Velasquez was, at this time, first painter to 
 the king's bed-chamber, and highly esteemed 
 at the court of Philip IV. ; he was then past 
 the prime of life, and almost beyond its vicis- 
 situdes ; and surrounded by friends, and full 
 of honours, he could feel no jealousy of the 
 friendless boy who came to him for advice and 
 protection. Murillo no sooner arrived in 
 Madrid, than he bethought himself of waiting 
 upon Velasquez ; and he found in this good 
 man, and excellent painter, a friend who in- 
 stantly became his guide; and who never 
 deserted him, even when the progress of the 
 pupil seemed to point out a rival of his own 
 immortality. 
 
 Velasquez questioned Murillo as to his fa- 
 mily, his studies, his knowledge, his motives, 
 and his wishes ; and, like a true lover of his 
 art, admiring the spirit and enthusiasm which
 
 214 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 were disclosed in the answers of Murillo, and 
 approving the motive of his journey, — and, 
 doubtless, discovering in his conversation, 
 tokens by which a man of Velasquez's ex- 
 perience and knowledge, might draw a pre- 
 sage of his future greatness, he took the young 
 painter under his roof as a pupil, a friend, and 
 a countryman. Murillo did not accept the 
 hospitality of Velasquez without immediately 
 proving himself worthy of it. The object of 
 Ills journey was uppermost in his thoughts ; 
 and Velasquez, without delay, afforded him 
 the requisite facilities for prosecuting his de- 
 sign. He sent him to the different palaces, 
 and to the convent of the Escurial, that he 
 might see, and study, the pictures of the great 
 masters ; and directed him to select such as 
 he might be ambitious of copying ; and by 
 this, Velasquez could not fail to obtain farther 
 insight into the bent of his genius, and would 
 even be able to judge better of its extent. 
 What a moment for Murillo, when, entering 
 the sacristy of the Escurial, he first beheld the 
 works of Raphael, and Da Vinci, and Titian, 
 and Paul Veronese ! 
 
 The three years that followed the arrival of
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 215 
 
 Murillo in Madrid, afford little incident for 
 the biographer. During these years, he was 
 no doubt laying the foundation of his future 
 eminence, by practising his pencil and his 
 eye among the excellent models to which he 
 had access ; among whom, no one was a 
 greater favourite with Murillo than his kind 
 friend and patron, Velasquez. It is certain, 
 that he also highly esteemed the genius of 
 Titian ; and although he adopted no exclu- 
 sive model, his admiration of that great head 
 of the Venetian school is discernible in many 
 of his works. 
 
 It appears, however, that Murillo did not 
 confine himself to the study of these two mas- 
 ters, but that he also occupied himself with 
 the works of Van Dyk, and of Rebera (Espa- 
 noletto) ; for when Velasquez accompanied 
 the king into Catalunia, Murillo, upon his 
 return, shewed him three copies from pictures 
 of Van Dyk, Rebera, and himself. These 
 were presented to the king; and surprised 
 equally the court and Velasquez, by their 
 fidelity, and the excellence of their execution ; 
 so much so, that Murillo is said to have been
 
 216 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 advised to occupy himself henceforward with 
 the works of only these masters. 
 
 But the time now approached, when Mu- 
 rillo should no longer copy the works of 
 others; but when he should himself become 
 a model for the imitation of succeeding ages. 
 At the return of Velasquez from a second 
 journey, in which he had accompanied the 
 king to Saragossa, he was so much struck 
 with the progress of his protegi, that he told 
 him he could gain nothing more by a resi- 
 dence in Madrid; and advised him to travel 
 to Rome, to which city he offered, to furnish 
 him with letters of recommendation, and other 
 advantages ; not the least of these, being the 
 command of his purse. 
 
 The true reason of Murillo's rejection of 
 this advice, it is impossible to ascertain ; but 
 he had resolved upon returning to his native 
 city. It has been commonly said, that the 
 importunities of a brother whom he highly 
 esteemed, and certain domestic causes, recalled 
 him: but it seems more probable, that his 
 determination was the result of an internal 
 conviction, that he had already accomplished
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 217 
 
 the end for which he left the place of his 
 nativity : and it is also possible, that a disin- 
 clination to be a farther debtor for the good 
 offices of Velasquez, without which he could 
 not have journeyed into Italy, — may have had 
 its influence. Velasquez, although not ap- 
 proving the determination of his young friend, 
 did not oppose his design ; and Murillo re- 
 turned to his native city. 
 
 It chanced, that at this time the Franciscan 
 friars desired to have eleven historical pic- 
 tures, to adorn the Claustro Chico of their con- 
 vent; but, as the sum to be paid for these, arose 
 solely from alms which a devout person had 
 collected for the purpose, it may be supposed 
 that the painter who might undertake to exe- 
 cute the order, could not expect a very liberal 
 remuneration. Accordingly, the principal 
 painters then in Seville, shewed no great dis- 
 position to engage in the work ; and the friars, 
 failing to secure the talents of any of those 
 who had the reputation of being the first 
 masters, found themselves obliged to be con- 
 tented with an inferior hand, and applied to 
 Murillo, who, being then more needy than his 
 brethren, willingly undertook the commission,
 
 218 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 ill which he no doubt perceived other advan- 
 tages than the paltry remuneration proposed 
 to him. 
 
 No sooner was this order executed, than 
 Murillo found the reward of his perseverance, 
 and a repayment of all his anxieties and diffi- 
 culties. The utmost surprise was excited in 
 Seville ; he was universally courted ; the per- 
 formances of his pencil were greedily sought 
 after; and he at once found himself the ac- 
 knowledged head of the schools of Seville. 
 This was indeed an hour of pride for the 
 friendless artist, who, a few years before, had 
 cast himself and his fortunes upon the wide 
 world. 
 
 But another reward awaited Murillo, — the 
 hand of Donna Beatrix de Cabrera y Soto- 
 mayor, a lady of Pilas, possessing many virtues, 
 great sweetness of temper, and mistress of a 
 considerable fortune. Her claims to beauty have 
 been doubted ; for no picture of her is known to 
 be extant : the story, however, which is related 
 respecting the manner in which he won her, 
 is rather at variance with this supposition. It 
 is said that Murillo, having occasion to visit 
 Pilas, on account of some property which had
 
 SPAIN IN 18:50. 219 
 
 descended to him in right of his mother, saw 
 the Donna Beatrix ; and struck with the sweet- 
 ness of her countenance, and her other graces, 
 became enamoured of her. Her station in life, 
 liowever, was higher than his own ; and de- 
 spairing of a successful issue, he was trying 
 to efface the impression she had made, when 
 a circumstance occurred that renewed the re- 
 collection of her, by suggesting a means of 
 advancing his suit. He accepted an order to 
 paint the altar-piece for the church of St. 
 Geronimo, at Pilas ; and in the countenance 
 of an angel, he painted that of his mistress. 
 This delicate gallantry is said to have won the 
 heart of the Donna Beatrix. The story may, 
 or may not be true ; but it is chronicled in 
 Pilas. 
 
 From the time of Murillo's marriage, he 
 appears to have run a constant career of glory ; 
 advancing in true excellence, and in public 
 estimation. His style suffered some changes 
 during this career; but always towards per- 
 fection; improving in sweetness and delicacy, 
 and in warmth and richness of colouring. The 
 earliest celebrated pitture of Murillo, after his 
 first change in style, was The Conception, for
 
 220 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 the Franciscan convent ; from the archives of 
 which, it appears that he received for it the 
 sum of 2500 reals (25/. sterling) ; a small sum 
 even in those days ; but it is probable that 
 Murillo might have taken into consideration, 
 the reputed poverty of the order ; and this is 
 the more probable, since shortly after, in 1656, 
 he painted the great picture of St. Anthony of 
 Padua, for the baptismal altar of the cathedral 
 of Seville, for which he received 10,000 reals 
 (100/. sterling). But the most glorious epoch 
 in the career of Murillo, was later in life : it 
 was between 1670 and 1680, that he painted 
 for the hospital De la Caridad, his Santa Isa- 
 bella, the Prodigal Son, the Miracle of the 
 Loaves and Fishes, Moses Striking the Rock, 
 John of God, and others, that are looked upon 
 as the most excellent ^of his works. The 
 twenty-five celebrated pictures also, that adorn 
 the Capuchin convent in Seville, were the pro- 
 duction of his ripest genius ; but they were 
 painted antecedently to the pictures of the 
 Caridad; and to those who are conversant with 
 the works of Murillo, there is a still more per- 
 fect charm in the latter. The highest price 
 that Murillo appears to have received for any
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 221 
 
 picture, is 15,975 reals, — a little more than 
 150/. sterling. This he received for the Mira- 
 cle of the Loaves and Fishes. 
 
 In the year 1658, eleven years after his re- 
 turn to Seville, Murillo projected the establish- 
 ment of an academy of painting in his native 
 city. This project was warmly opposed by 
 many, especially by Herrera, who had newly 
 returned from Italy, filled with high, and 
 doubtless just notions, of the greatness of the 
 Italian schools ; and looking with suspicion 
 upon a school, whose founder had never tra- 
 velled beyond Spain. But the genius of Mu- 
 rillo, at length conquered the prejudices of 
 Herrera ; and the academy was opened on the 
 1st of January, 1660, with Murillo at its head, 
 as first president. It may be mentioned, as 
 an instance of the painter's modesty, that in 
 the list of members of the institution, drawn 
 out by himself, the name of Herrera appears 
 at the head of the list. 
 
 There is one passage in the life of Murillo, 
 connected, too, with some of the greatest 
 efforts of his genius, upon which there appears 
 to hang a mystery. I allude to that period 
 during which he painted the twenty-five pic-
 
 222 SPAIN IN 18.30. 
 
 tures that adorn the Capuchin convent. The 
 usual version of the story is, that Murillo, 
 finding himself in some difficulty, took refuge 
 in the Capuchin convent ; and in return for 
 the protection afforded him by the monks, 
 dedicated his talents to the embellishment 
 of their church. But it is difficult to give 
 credence to this. Murillo led a blame- 
 less life ; and ever after his marriage, his 
 pecuniary circumstances were flourishing. 
 What, therefore, could be the necessity that 
 obliged Murillo to take refuge in a convent, it 
 is impossible to conjecture. At the same 
 time, it is certain that in that convent there 
 are twenty-five of Murilio's pictures ; and in 
 the archives of the convent, there is no record 
 of any sum having been paid for these. It is 
 certain, too, that the tradition is steadily 
 maintained within the convent, that Murillo 
 was an inmate of it during two years. The 
 monks even relate little traits of his character 
 and habits; and a picture of St. John, the 
 Virgin, and Child, is shewn by them, — painted 
 upon a table napkin ; and it is certain that the 
 picture is Murilio's. The only solution of 
 these difficulties is, that upon the death of his
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 223 
 
 wife, which took place some time previous to 
 the year 1G70, he retired for a time to the Ca- 
 puchin convent; for it is impossible to believe 
 that he was never an inmate of it. The event 
 which really took place in the life of Herrera 
 (hermoso) may perhaps have given rise to the 
 false version of the story of Murillo. Herrera 
 was forced to take refuge in the church of the 
 Jesuits at Seville ; and his genius has adorned 
 its walls. 
 
 I must not omit the mention of an anecdote 
 that is generally related of Murillo. At the 
 time that he lived near the church of Santa 
 Cruz, it contained, in one of its chapels, 
 the well-known '' Descent from the Cross," 
 by Pedro Campana, now adorning one of the 
 altars in the cathedral. It is said that Mu- 
 rillo was accustomed to spend much of his 
 time in that church, in admiration of this 
 painting ; and that one day, the Sacristan 
 being about to close the gates, and finding 
 Murillo there, asked him what detained him 
 so long in tliat chapel ; to which Murillo is 
 said to have answered, " Estoij espcramlo que 
 cstos santos varones acabcn de baxar at Scfior dc 
 la Craz.'" — I am waiting until these holy men
 
 224 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 take down the Lord from the Cross ; — a com- 
 pliment, perhaps, scarcely merited by the 
 picture of Campaiia, and therefore probably 
 never paid by Murillo. 
 
 The last picture that engaged the hand of 
 Murillo, was one which he undertook for the 
 Altar Mayor of the Capuchin convent at Cadiz. 
 This was in the latter end of the year 1681 ; 
 but he did not live to complete the work. 
 While engaged upon this picture, he fell from 
 the scaffold, and was so much injured, as to 
 be obliged to return to Seville. But the shock 
 he had received, aided by declining years, pro- 
 duced disease ; and his illness increased until 
 the evening of the third day of April in the 
 following year, when he expired in the arms 
 of his friend and disciple, Don Pedro Nunez de 
 Villavicencio. 
 
 From the will of Murillo, preserved in the 
 Franciscan convent of Seville, it appears that 
 he left little property besides that which he 
 acquired by his marriage. This was be- 
 queathed to his sons ; for his only daughter 
 had taken the veil early in life. In this will, 
 there is also contained an inventory of his 
 pictures, among which one of himself is men-
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 225 
 
 tioned. This picture, now in the possession 
 of Mr. Williams, of Seville, represents Murillo 
 about the age of thirty, nearly the time of his 
 marriage, and conveys a very pleasing idea of 
 the appearance and character of the painter. 
 The proprietor, himself an excellent artist, 
 and an intelligent man, has made a masterly 
 drawing from the original : the drawing is in 
 the possession of Mr. Brackenbury, his Bri- 
 tannic majesty's consul at Cadiz; and from 
 that gentleman's admiration of Murillo, it may 
 be hoped, that an engraving from it may soon 
 enable every admirer of that illustrious man 
 to have the gratification of possessing his 
 likeness. 
 
 The character of Murillo, as a painter, can 
 scarcely be separated from his character as a 
 man: humility, kindness, benevolence, were 
 conspicuous in him; and these are also seen 
 in the choice of his subjects. Undoubtedly 
 one of the greatest among the many charms 
 of Murillo, consists in the beauty of his inven- 
 tion; his subjects seldom fail to interest the 
 benevolent feelings: we have affection in all 
 its varieties — charity under its many forms; 
 
 VOL. I. Q
 
 226 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 and even in subjects purely divine, he con- 
 trives to throw over them a human interest. 
 Never was affection more touchingly deli- 
 neated, than in the picture of St. Felix, the 
 Virgin, and Child, in the Capuchin convent 
 of Seville; in which the virgin, after having 
 put the infant into the arms of the holy man, 
 that he might bless him, — stretches out her 
 own, that he may be restored to a mother's 
 embrace. Nor were ever love and benevo- 
 lence more beautifully blended, than in the 
 picture of '' Santa Isabella, Queen of Portu- 
 gal, curing the sick and wounded," wherein 
 the old woman watches, with a mother's 
 anxiety, the cure of her wounded son. And 
 where shall we find charity, and its reward — 
 the favour of Heaven — more impressively dis- 
 played, or more powerfully conceived, than in 
 the picture of " John of God." This has al- 
 ways seemed to me, one of the happiest illus- 
 trations of the genius of Murillo. '*John of 
 God" is supposed to have gone, as was his 
 usual practice during the night, to seek and 
 succour objects of distress. The picture re- 
 presents the Saint, carrying on his back a 
 wretched being, whom he had found in his
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 227 
 
 walk, and bending under the weight of his 
 burden; but suddenly, feeling himself relieved 
 of a part of his load, he looks round, and sees 
 by the miraculous light that encircles his hea- 
 venly visitant, that an angel has descended, to 
 assist him in his work of charity. 
 
 Innumerable examples might be given from 
 the works of Murillo, of that peculiar charm 
 which consists in investing spiritual subjects 
 with a human interest. Murillo never painted 
 a virgin and child without blending a mother's 
 human love, and the pride of a mother in 
 her human child, with the expression of 
 divinity, and with the loftier pride of having 
 given birth to the Son of God. Nor in any 
 representation of scenes in the life of Christ, 
 did Murillo ever forget to unite the human 
 with the divine character. In the great paint- 
 ing, also, of '* Moses striking the Rock," in 
 the Hospital de la Caridad, there is a fine ex- 
 emplification of the excellence of which I have 
 been speaking. This miracle is not made a 
 mere display of power ; Murillo has intro- 
 duced into it many varieties of human feeling 
 —the anxiety of those who wait for the ac- 
 
 (i2
 
 228 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 complishmeiit of the miracle — the burning 
 impatience, and eager importunities of thirst, 
 and its contrasted satisfaction. 
 
 This peculiar charm of Murillo, consisting 
 in his choice of subjects, has made him a 
 painter for all men ; for all, at least, who have 
 human emotions to be excited, and human 
 affections to be touched. But this is only one 
 excellence of Murillo; and standing apart from 
 others, it might belong to any man of bene- 
 volence and fine imagination, however indif- 
 ferent a painter he might be. Murillo possesses, 
 besides, that rare union of high qualities, some 
 of them pre-eminently his own, which has 
 made him one of the first of painters in the eye 
 of the learned, and of all those who have loved 
 and studied the divine art. 
 
 The most striking excellence in the concep- 
 tion of Murillo's figures is Nature, accom- 
 panied by Grace; but never, as in some of the 
 Italian masters, grace running into affectation : 
 — and what is there to desire more in the 
 conception of a picture, than perfect nature 
 and perfect grace, without any alloy of affec- 
 tation? In the combination of these excel- 
 lences, Titian, among all the Italian masters,
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 229 
 
 most nearly resembles Murillo ; but if a pic- 
 ture of this eminent master be placed beside 
 a picture of Murillo, executed in his ripest 
 years, the former appears feebler ; this is pro- 
 bably owing to the unapproachable excellence 
 of Murillo's colouring, which combines the 
 brilliancy of the Flemish, with the truth of 
 the Venetian. Looking at the greatest efforts 
 of Murillo's pencil, there seems nothing left 
 to desire. An invention noble and touching ; 
 a conception natural and graceful ; a compo- 
 sition just, elegant, correct ; a colouring rich 
 and true ; and over all a delicacy, a spiritu- 
 ality, a beauty, — arising from the blending of 
 the whole, — that leave the mind satisfied, but 
 which never satiate the eye. 
 
 There are few painters so difficult to copy 
 as Murillo; although, perhaps, few masters 
 have had more copies attributed to them. The 
 greater number of these are said to be pictures 
 in Murillo's early style ; but the colouring 
 may always be detected; for it is that which 
 constitutes the chief difficulty to him who de- 
 sires to copy this master. The Italian masters 
 are, almost without exception, easier to copy 
 than Murillo, because their colouring is more
 
 230 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 simple. Murillo's colouring, although appear- 
 ing simple, is extremely artful ; and this the 
 copyist speedily discovers. Many pictures 
 of the Italian schools convey an idea of a 
 marbly surface ; but the pictures of Murillo, 
 executed at the epoch of his greatest excel- 
 lence, convey the idea of flesh and blood. 
 This effect cannot be produced by one colour, 
 or one lay of colours ; nor even in perfection 
 by the glazing, of which Titian used to avail 
 himself : the effect is produced by one colour 
 shining through another ; and by the skilful 
 use of these, Murillo has often given to his 
 ground, or back colour, the effect of air, in 
 place of an opaque body ; and the artist who 
 attempts to imitate Murillo by a mixture of 
 colours, will find it impossible to equal the 
 effect of the original. 
 
 It is a common idea, that in Spain, the 
 pictures of Murillo are scarce ; and that the 
 galleries, churches, and convents, have been 
 despoiled of their greatest treasures. This 
 idea is very erroneous. Spain has, no doubt, 
 been robbed of some of her choicest paintings, 
 and some have found their way into other 
 countries as objects of traffic ; but the Penin-
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 231 
 
 sula is still rich in the works of Murillo. In 
 the gallery of Madrid, of which I shall pre- 
 sently speak, there are thirty pictures of Mu- 
 rillo's, two-thirds of them at least, undoubted 
 originals. In the Cabinet of Natural History, 
 three of the greatest productions of his pencil 
 are found. In private collections in Madrid, 
 particularly in those of the Duke of Medina 
 Cceli, the Duke of Liria, Sir John Meade, 
 and some other individuals, there may be 
 nearly an equal number. In Seville, the 
 twenty-five pictures painted for the Capuchin 
 convent, are all in their places. In the hospi- 
 tal de la Caridad, there are four of Murillo's 
 greatest productions. The collection of Mr. 
 Williams of Seville, is distinguished by twelve 
 Murillos; and in other private houses in 
 Seville, perhaps as many more may be found. 
 In the cathedral there are six or eight; and 
 in Cadiz, in the possession of Mr. Brackenbury 
 — in Murcia,— and particularly in Valencia, 
 Murillos may be discovered by any lover of 
 the fine arts, whose inquiries are directed 
 towards that object. 
 
 The present government of Spain watches 
 over the works of Murillo with a jealousy, that
 
 232 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 is not shewn in any thing else that concerns 
 the prosperity or the honour of the country. 
 By a late government order, the works of Mu- 
 rillo are prevented from leaving Spain ; but as 
 bribery is able to conquer many difficulties in 
 that country, the exportation of pictures is not 
 impossible.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 MADRID. 
 
 The Picture Gallery ; the Works of Murillo ; the Annunciation ; 
 the Virgin instructed by her Mother ; Landscapes ; Velas- 
 quez and his Works ; Meeting of Bacchanalians; the Forges 
 of Vulcan ; Espanoletto, and his Works ; Villavicencio ; 
 Juanes ; Alonzo Cano ; Cerezo ; Morales ; Juanes' Last Sup- 
 per; the Modern Spanisli School; Aparicio ; the Famine 
 in Madrid; Itahan Gallery ; Flemish School ; the Sola Reser- 
 vada; Statuary; Cabinet of Natural History; Sola Reser- 
 vada ; the Patrician's Dream; the Desengano de la Jlda ; 
 Private Collections; the Duke of Liria's Gallery; Churches 
 and Convents ; Church of San Isodro ; San Salvador ; Santa 
 Maria; SanGines; Santiago; San Antonio de Florida; Con- 
 vent of Las Salesas ; de la Kncarnation ; the Franciscans ; 
 Santa Isabella; Hidden Pictures; San Pasqual ; Santa Te- 
 resa ; the Palace. 
 
 Since the erection of the splendid building 
 dedicated to the reception of pictures, most of 
 those which formerly adorned the palaces, 
 have been transferred to it ; and Madrid can
 
 234 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 now boast of a gallery equal in extent, and 
 perhaps little inferior in excellence, to any of 
 the other great galleries in Europe. To the 
 lover of the Spanish school, the gallery of 
 Madrid possesses attractions which no other 
 can offer. Besides forty-two pictures of Mu- 
 rillo, it contains fifty-five of Velasquez, twenty- 
 nine of Espaholetto, seventeen of Juanes, 
 six of Alonzo Cano, and many of Ribalta, 
 Cerezo, Villavicencio, Moralez, &c. ; other 
 saloons contain between four and five hundred 
 pictures of the Italian schools, and about three 
 hundred of the Flemish school ; and in the 
 Sala Reservada, there are several dief (Tceiwres 
 of Titian and Rubens. At present, I return to 
 the Spanish school, to notice first, a few of the 
 most distinguished works of Murillo. 
 
 The first we remark is ** A Holy Family," a 
 picture taken away by the French, and after- 
 wards restored. The invention in this picture 
 is in the highest degree original : we have not 
 a mere uninteresting group ; but life and feel- 
 ing. The infant Jesus — Jesus, but yet a human 
 child — holds a bird in his hand, which he 
 raises above his head, to save the little fa- 
 vourite from a dog that tries to seize it : Saint
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 235 
 
 Joseph holds the child between his knees ; 
 and the Virgin, who is engaged in some female 
 employment, lays aside her work, that she 
 may admire the playfulness of her son. This 
 picture is admirably suited for shewing Mu- 
 rillo's chaste and charming conception of 
 female heads and children. 
 
 Passing over "An Infant Christ," ''A John 
 Baptist," and "The Conversion of St. Paul," 
 all three, but especially the second, admirable 
 pictures, the next strikingly fine work of Mu- 
 rillo's is "The Annunciation." This is con- 
 sidered, and with justice, a very finished com- 
 position. The angel Gabriel announces his 
 heavenly message while the Virgin is reading; 
 and in her countenance, as she turns to hear 
 the announcement of Divine will, Murillo has 
 happily displayed the blending of human sur- 
 prise, with the sudden illumination of divinity 
 that fills her mind. 
 
 A " Mother of Griefs," and a " Magdalen 
 Seated in the Desert," the latter, a picture in 
 Murillo's best style of colouring, might be 
 next named ; but I pass to " The Martyr- 
 dom of the Apostle St. Andrew," which may 
 vie with the most celebrated pictures of this
 
 236 SPAIN IN 1S.30. 
 
 master. While the Saint is extended on the 
 cross, the heavens open and the seraphim de- 
 scend, bearing the palm branch and the crown 
 of martyrdom. The blaze of celestial light 
 which shines upon the martyr, and its contrast 
 with the chiaro sciiro, are unrivalled in their 
 effect. In the design and conception too, 
 there is great beauty of thought, particularly 
 in illuminating the martyr with the same 
 celestial light that encircles the heavenly 
 hierarchy. 
 
 " The Adoration of the Shepherds," and the 
 " Infant Jesus and St. John," are both worthy 
 of an eulogium ; the one for its force and har- 
 mony of colouring, the other for its charming 
 simplicity. But one more beautiful than these 
 is " the Virgin receiving a Lesson in Reading 
 from her mother, Saint Anne." This possesses 
 in a peculiar degree, Murillo's excellences of 
 nature and grace. It is all human, as it ought 
 to be ; and the divine calling of the Virgin is 
 only known by two heavenly cherubs hovering 
 above, and dropping a crown of roses upon the 
 head of the unconscious child. 
 
 Besides these more striking pictures of 
 Murillo, there are several others of great merit.
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 237 
 
 " Eliezar and Rebecca," two or three "Con- 
 ceptions," heads of St. Paul and of John the 
 Baptist, the Vision of St. Bernard, and two 
 landscapes. The landscapes of Murillo are at 
 least curious. His proficiency in this depart- 
 ment was probably acquired in his early years, 
 when, at the fair of Seville, he painted what- 
 ever his customers demanded. 
 
 ** A Gipsy and a Spinster," also in the gal- 
 lery, are specimens of that other class of 
 pictures by which Murillo is known to many 
 who have not been in Spain. These pictures 
 being smaller, and not preserved by the 
 jealousy of the convents, more easily find their 
 way into other countries ; accordingly, in this 
 style, we find some of the choicest morsels of 
 Murillo in foreign galleries ; in Munich, in the 
 Dulwich gallery, and elsewhere. 
 
 This slight enumeration affords but a very 
 imperfect glimpse of the pleasure which the 
 admirer of Murillo will find in the gallery of 
 Madrid ; but in other collections, and espe- 
 cially in Seville, I shall have occasion to re- 
 turn to the works of this head of the Spanish 
 schools ; and at present I must proceed to
 
 238 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 notice briefly the pictures of Velasquez, and 
 others, in the Madrid gallery. 
 
 Velasquez, the worthy rival, and, in many 
 points, the equal of Murillo, whose master he 
 was, differs in many respects from his pupil. 
 He studied in Italy; and there acquired that 
 knowledge of the antique, which is by some 
 esteemed above the greater simplicity and 
 unaffected grace that distinguish the works of 
 Murillo. In Velasquez, thought and invention 
 are not so spiritual as in his pupil, but his com- 
 position is more learned ; and in his colouring, 
 he is not excelled even by Titian. His colours 
 often disappear under his brush, because they 
 become in reality the thing which he desires 
 them to represent. 
 
 One of, but not the most extraordinary com- 
 position of Velasquez in the Madrid gallery, is 
 " A Meeting of Bacchanalians." One in the 
 midst of his companions, is seated across a 
 barrel, which is his throne; he is crowned 
 with vine-leaves, and presents a similar crown 
 to another, who receives, with a kind of mock 
 respect, this order of knighthood. There is 
 extraordinary truth in this picture ; in fact.
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 239 
 
 the painter makes the spectator one of the 
 party; he laughs in spite of himself, and 
 almost feels as if he too had drained some 
 bowls to the memory of Bacchus. 
 
 '' The Infanta Margaritta-Mary of Austria," 
 is one of the most splendid compositions of 
 Velasquez. Velasquez is himself represented 
 with his pallet and brushes, painting the In- 
 fanta; and to distract the attention of the 
 infant princess from the portrait, two dwarfs, 
 and her favourite dog, are made to enter the 
 apartment. This picture, in composition, de- 
 sign, and colouring, is absolutely perfect. 
 
 Several portraits of Philip the Fourth, the 
 friend and patron of Velasquez,— particularly 
 one upon horseback, — and one exquisite por- 
 trait of the Duque de Olivares, his prime 
 minister, deserve the highest eulogium : a mag- 
 nificent portrait also, which has obtained the 
 appellation of " Esop ;" " a Suitor for a Place," 
 who, in a garment of worn-out black, presents 
 his memorial ; a portrait of a *' Dwarf and a 
 Great Dog," the " Surrender of the Town of 
 Breda," and a " Manufactory of Tapestry," in 
 which the painter has introduced a charming- 
 female countenance, are all excellent in their
 
 240 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 kind ; but the most striking of all the pictures 
 of Velasquez in this gallery is, The Forges of 
 Vulcan. The god of fire is at his forge, sur- 
 rounded by his Cyclopes, when Apollo brings 
 him intelligence of his wife's dishonour, and 
 his own. The attitude and expression of 
 Vulcan, are in Velasquez most powerful 
 manner. He turns round as if scarcely cre- 
 diting the message of infamy ; but his dark 
 countenance, which seems to grow darker as 
 the spectator looks upon it, expresses that jea- 
 lousy has taken possession of him ; his ham- 
 mer rests idle in his hand, and the Cyclopes, 
 also, suspend their work to listen. The scene 
 is the more striking from the true and brilliant 
 colouring; the red light falling upon the group, 
 and contrasting with the darkness of the sub- 
 terranean world beyond. It is a pity that 
 such a picture should contain any striking 
 fault; and yet it is impossible to avoid per- 
 ceiving that the Apollo is weakly conceived. 
 
 I have not even named the titles of the 
 greater number of Velasquez pictures ; but 
 these few, although not better painted than 
 many others, are more striking, owing to their 
 subjects. The lover of portraits also, will
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 241 
 
 find ample gratification in the many excellent 
 works of this master, which adorn the gallery 
 of Madrid. 
 
 Of the works of Esparioletto, the Madrid 
 gallery contains several chef cCoeiwres. This 
 painter was born near Valencia, in the year 
 1589; he was first the pupil of Ribalta, and 
 afterwards, at Rome, of Caravaggioo The 
 style of Esparioletto is, perhaps, more than 
 any other painter, opposed to that of Murillo. 
 Simplicity, and the graces of nature, are no 
 where to be found in his works, which are 
 forcible, — often verging upon the terrible ; and 
 whose object seems to be, rather to seize the 
 imagination than to touch the heart. But the 
 painting of Esparioletto, after he had seen the 
 productions of Correggio, lost much of that 
 exaggerated manner which the lessons of Ca- 
 ravaggio had taught him ; and in his later 
 styles, he has produced pictures which unite 
 force with many other excellences. Among 
 the best of this master's works in the Madrid 
 gallery are, St. Peter the Apostle weeping for 
 his sins ; in which the design, the composition, 
 and the colouring, are all excellent; — Jacob's 
 
 VOL. I. R
 
 242 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 Ladder, in which the author shews that he 
 has profited by a study of the works of Cor- 
 reggio;^ — '* The head of a Priest of Bacchus," 
 full of character and vigour; — and " Saint Se- 
 bastian," in the last and best manner of the 
 painter. Besides these pictures, there are 
 many in the author's first exaggerated style ; 
 such as " Prometheus bound," ''a Magdalen in 
 the Desert," and " Christ in the Bosom of the 
 Eternal ; " which, if not pleasing, are at least 
 interesting, as contrasts with the improved 
 style of Espanoletto's later compositions. 
 
 There are still other pictures in the gallery 
 which must not be passed over ; but I shall 
 not classify them. '* Children Playing at 
 Dice," by Villavicencio, the disciple of Mu- 
 rillo, and in whose arms he died ; — a picture 
 full of nature and naivete, and charmingly 
 coloured. 
 
 "The Visitation of Saint Elizabeth," by 
 Juanes. Juanes is, undoubtedly, one of the 
 greatest of the Spanish painters after Murillo 
 and Velasquez ; and this, as well as others of 
 his compositions, is entitled to rank imme- 
 diately after the works of these two masters. 
 
 *' Saint John the Evangelist writing the
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 243 
 
 Revelations in the Isle of Patmos," by Alonzo 
 Cano. 
 
 A "St. Francis in ecstasy," by Cerezo, who 
 was an excellent painter ; and who, in design 
 and colouring, sometimes approached Van Dyk. 
 
 " The Virgin and the Infant Jesus." By 
 Morales, sometimes called '* The divine." 
 
 An incomparable " Head of Christ, crowned 
 with Thorns," by Juanes. 
 
 " A Dead Christ," by Alonzo Cano. 
 
 " A St. Francis," by Ribalta. 
 
 *' The Entombment of St. Etienne, ' by 
 Juanes, a picture which partakes largely of 
 the graces that distinguish the school of 
 Raphael and his followers. 
 
 " The Supper," by Juanes. This is con- 
 sidered the chef (Voeuvre of the author, and was 
 taken by the French, and afterwards restored. 
 Love and devotion have seldom been more 
 beautifully painted than in this picture. 
 
 " Jesus Interrogated by the Pharisees, 
 touching the Tribute," by Arias. 
 
 A saloon is dedicated to the modern Spanish 
 school ; containing the pictures both of the 
 living masters, and of those who have lived 
 within the last forty or fifty years. It is im- 
 
 R 2
 
 244 SPAIN IN 1830 
 
 possible to look upon these pictures without 
 feeling more and more the excellences of those 
 painters, who now live only in their works ; 
 for in the modern Spanish school, there is little 
 to remind us of Murillo and Velasquez ; or 
 even of Juanes, Cano, or Morales. Difficult as 
 it must be admitted to be, to imitate the unap- 
 proachable excellences of Murillo, it is sur- 
 prising nevertheless, that the attempt to do this 
 should scarcely ever be made. After the death 
 of Murillo, as well as during his lifetime, there 
 were innumerable artists, who, although con- 
 scious of the immeasurable distance at which 
 they followed, yet, thought it wisdom pa- 
 tiently to seek the traces of his footsteps : and 
 it is a merit of no ordinary kind, if a painter 
 can earn the character of being a follower of 
 Murillo ; because this at least proves, that he 
 is able to appreciate, even if he cannot ap- 
 proach, his excellences. But in looking 
 through the gallery of the modern school, not 
 one picture can be found, of which it may be 
 said, "this is in the style of Murillo." 
 
 Aparicio and Lopez are the painters who at 
 present enjoy the highest reputation ; but 
 neither of these will suffer a comparison with
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 245 
 
 Bayeu, who died thirty-five years ago, or with 
 Goya, who has long since retired from a pro- 
 fessional life, but who still lives at Bourdeaux. 
 As little can the pictures of Bayeu or Goya 
 be compared with the compositions of the 
 ancient school. 
 
 The two great pictures of Aparicio are, 
 '' The Glories of Spain," and " The Famine 
 in Madrid," — and both are more in the style 
 of the modern French, than of the ancient 
 Spanish school. The latter of these is intended 
 to represent (as the author of it says), " The 
 Triumph of Spanish Constancy." During the 
 time of the French invasion, in the winter of 
 1811-12, the famine that raged in Madrid, 
 almost realized what we read, of ancient Nu- 
 mantia ; and many examples of heroic patriot- 
 ism are recorded of this time. The painter 
 has chosen the following : — an old man, ex- 
 tenuated, and apparently dying, is stretched 
 upon the ground ; and the dead bodies of his 
 daughter, and his grandson are at his feet : 
 three French soldiers passing by, touched with 
 compassion, offer him food ; but he, disdaining 
 to accept food from the enemies of his country, 
 covers his face with his hands, that he may
 
 246 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 not be temjDted, and prefers death to what he 
 considers dishonour. 
 
 The subject is undoubtedly fine, and the 
 picture has many merits ; but it is impossi- 
 ble, in looking at any picture, the moral of 
 which is intended to convey an abhorrence of 
 French dominion in Spain, not to feel that we 
 cannot give our sympathy to it ; and the same 
 feeling has led me, in walking over those fields 
 of battle that have been fields of glory for 
 England and Spain, to ask ''where are the 
 fruits"? They are nowhere to be found : the 
 purchase-money was the blood and treasure 
 of England : and what did they purchase ? — 
 the deeper degradation of Spain. 
 
 That part of the gallery which is appro- 
 priated to the Italian schools, 1 shall pass 
 over almost without notice; not because there 
 is nothing in it worthy of being mentioned, 
 but because I could hope to add nothing to 
 what is already universally known of the cha- 
 racter of the great Italian masters. In the 
 Italian saloons, there are many copies, and 
 many re-touched pictures ; but there are also 
 a considerable number of sterling composi- 
 tions. Guido, Andrea del Sarto, Giordano,
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 247 
 
 Guercino, Leonardo da Vinci, Bassano, Alex- 
 ander Veronese, Sachi, Salvator Rosa, Tinto- 
 retto, Titian, and Raphael, all contribute of 
 their abundance. The most remarkable of 
 these pictures, is the portrait of Mona Lisa, 
 a lady of incomparable beauty, and the wife 
 of Francisco Giocondo, a gentleman of Flo- 
 rence. This picture cost 180,000 reals. 
 
 In the saloon dedicated to the Flemish, 
 German, and French schools, there are also 
 some fine originals ; particularly, two Claudes; 
 a Bacchanalian piece, of Nicholas Poussin, 
 remarkable for the excellence of its desisfn, 
 and its inimitable harmony ; " David and 
 Goliah," also by N. Poussin; and "The 
 Adoration of the Angels and the Shepherds," 
 by Mengs. 
 
 To be admitted to the Sala Reservada, re- 
 quires an order from the Director of the insti- 
 tution ; but this is always politely given upon 
 application. In passing to the Sala Reser- 
 vada, the visitor is conducted through a large 
 apartment, in which a picture of the King's 
 landing at Cadiz occupies one of the walls. 
 The painting contains upwards of twenty 
 figures as large as life, — all portraits : this
 
 248 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 room is a favourite lounge of his majesty, who, 
 it is said, contemplates with much compla- 
 cency, the picture that records his restoration. 
 In this Hall, the attention is speedily with- 
 drawn from the picture, by two tables, that 
 well merit admiration. At a little distance, 
 they appear like exquisite flower-pieces, paint- 
 ed on glass, — but upon approaching, you dis- 
 cover that they are of marble ; the ground 
 black, and the flowers Mosaic. Upwards of 
 eighty diff'erent flowers are represented : and, 
 among the marbles of Spain and her late colo- 
 nies, is found every variety of colour necessary 
 to give perfect truth to the representation. 
 
 In the Sala Reservada are two " Sleeping 
 Venuses," by Titian, both too good to be seen 
 by every one ; " Adam and Eve," by Rubens; 
 and eight other pictures, by the same master. 
 An excellent Tintoretto, "Andromeda and Per- 
 seus, '^ by Titian; "The Three Graces," by 
 Albano ; and two delightful compositions of 
 Breughel, in which trees, flowers, nymphs, 
 and fountains, are charmingly mingled. 
 
 In the Hall of Statuary, I found tables quite 
 equal in workmanship to those in the king's 
 apartment, but in value, far exceeding them.
 
 SPAIN IN 18;50. 249 
 
 One represented a landscape, another a ma- 
 rine view — and the effect was produced, not 
 merely by marbles, but also by innumerable 
 precious stones, especially emeralds and sap- 
 phires ; these tables were executed by a 
 Spanish workman, about fifty years ago. 
 Several good statues adorn the Hall; and it 
 seems to me, that the state of modern sculp- 
 ture in Spain, is more promising than that of 
 its painting. A "Venus," by Alvarez, and 
 another, by Gines, are both excellent. There 
 is also, connected with this Hall, a workshop, 
 called the Hall of Restoration ; there, many 
 artists were employed in repairing the ravages 
 of time. Venuses lay on the ground without 
 arms; and Graces without noses. An Apollo 
 was getting fitted with a new foot; and a 
 Calliope with another knee. 
 
 There are two public days in the week, upon 
 which all have access to the galleries ; but I 
 had permission to go at any time, and very 
 frequently availed myself of it ; most fre- 
 quently upon the days that were not public. 
 I generally saw a considerable number of 
 artists engaged in copying ; and all, in the 
 galleries allotted to the Italian masters. Op-
 
 250 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 portunity must not be confounded with en- 
 couragement. The artists of Spain have suffi- 
 cient opportunities, but there is no encourage- 
 ment ; and both are needed, that the fine arts 
 in a country may be flourishing. Spain, as 
 well as Italy, produced her great painters 
 when the art was considered necessary, and 
 was therefore encouraged ; when the adorn- 
 ment of the temples of religion was deemed 
 essential ; and when the different orders of 
 friars, perceiving the effect of externals upon 
 the minds of the people, vied with each other 
 in multiplying these helps to devotion. 
 
 Another building, dedicated to the recep- 
 tion of works both of nature and of art, is the 
 Cabinet of Natural History. The public gal- 
 leries are allotted to mineralogy chiefly ; in 
 which department, the specimens are nu- 
 merous, and many of them fine. I particu- 
 larly remarked the very fine specimens of 
 native gold ; but above all, the extraordinary 
 number and beauty of the precious stones, in 
 which, I believe, the cabinet of Madrid excels 
 every other in Europe. I noticed nearly forty 
 emeralds upon one piece of rock, many of 
 them of great size, and almost all of the purest
 
 SPAIN IN 18.30. 251 
 
 quality. The specimens of crystal and of sul- 
 phur are also numerous and fine ; but the 
 native marbles are perhaps the most interest- 
 ing of all. I counted no fev/er than two hun- 
 dred and seven different kinds. Other saloons 
 in the building are appropriated to Conchology 
 and Zoology, in which the most perfect de- 
 partment is considered to be that of the But- 
 terflies. 
 
 But the Salas Reservadas are more interest- 
 ing than the public rooms. One of the Salas 
 is entirely filled with precious stones, and 
 vessels made of them ; it would almost fill a 
 volume to enumerate the riches contained in 
 this Hall. In the lower part of the building, 
 also a Sala Reservada, is the Hall of Pictures ; 
 and here are preserved some of the choicest 
 specimens of Murillo's pencil. I could not 
 understand why these, and other pictures in 
 this Hall, are not deposited in the great pic- 
 ture gallery ; the more exquisite they are, the 
 better reason there seems to be for increasing 
 the facilities for seeing them, — especially as 
 there is nothing in any of these pictures im- 
 proper to meet the public eye; the only excu.se 
 for a Sala Reservada.
 
 252 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 Among the paintings here, is that exquisite 
 one of Murillo, " Santa Isabella Queen of Por- 
 tugal, curing the sick and wounded," which I 
 have already noticed in the memoir of Mu- 
 rillo. Another in this Hall, which ranks 
 among the highest of Murillo's productions, 
 and which is less known than some others of 
 his works, is '* the Patrician's Dream." A 
 Roman noble asleep, is supposed to have a 
 vision, in which a celestial message commands 
 the building of a temple. The Patrician is 
 seen buried in deep sleep, and an angel is 
 near, pointing to a single column. The co- 
 louring in this picture is exquisite ; and a 
 spirit of the most perfect repose is thrown over 
 the whole composition. In the same Hall hangs 
 the companion to this picture, in which the 
 Patrician is seen recounting his dream to the 
 Pope. 
 
 A " Mary Magdalen Penitent," by Murillo, 
 and a "St. Geronimo," by Espaiioletto, are 
 also found here ; but one of the most extraor- 
 dinary pictures I have seen in Spain, is pre- 
 served in this Sola; it is by Antonio dePereda, 
 and is called " the Desengaiio de la Vida," 
 which cannot be literally translated into Eng-
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 253 
 
 lish, but which means ** the Discovery that Life 
 is an Imposture." A Caballero, about thirty 
 years of age, handsome and graceful, is repre- 
 sented asleep, and around him are seen all those 
 things in which he has found enjoyment. Upon 
 one table lie heaps of gold, books, globes, and 
 implements of study ; upon another are the 
 wrecks of a feast ; musical instruments are 
 scattered here and there ; magnificent mirrors 
 and paintings adorn the walls ; and on the 
 floor lies a jewel-box, which has dropped from 
 the hand that hangs over the couch where he 
 reclines ; and a miniature of a beautiful woman 
 has fallen out of it. But in the air, opposite 
 to the sleeper, is seen the vision of an angel, 
 who holds a scroll, with certain words in- 
 scribed upon it, which the painter has left for 
 the imagination to decipher, and which may 
 be naturally interpreted, " Let all pass, — 
 eternity lies beyond ;" and the countenance of 
 the sleeping figure shews not only that he sees 
 a vision, — but there is something in it so placid, 
 so resigned, that it seems to express an acqui- 
 escence in the advice of the angel, — '* Yes, it is 
 all a cheat." 
 
 I have perhaps dwelt too long upon this
 
 254 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 picture ; but I was strongly impressed with its 
 excellence, both in design and execution. 
 
 There are few private collections of great 
 value in Madrid. Those of the Duke of Liria, 
 and of the Duke of Medina Coeli, are the best. 
 The former of these collections adjoins the 
 duke's palace in the Plaza de Liria; and having 
 carried an introductory letter to his Grace from 
 the Marquesa de Montemar, the duke did me 
 honour to accompany me round the gallery. 
 I found three good Murillos, — " St, Roch," 
 *' Santa Teresa," and "Murillo's Son,"— the 
 latter only in his best style ; several pictures, 
 which may or may not be Salvator Rosa's; 
 but generally believed to be originals ; two of 
 Rubens: a ''Battle of the Amazons;" and 
 "Ruben's Wives," — the latter in his best man- 
 ner; "Adam and Eve chased out of Para- 
 dise," by Paul Veronese, in all the grace and 
 sweetness of that esteemed master ; " A Holy 
 Family," by Gaspar Poussin ; three land- 
 scapes, by Nicholas Poussin ; a charming 
 portrait of Mengs, by himself; two or three 
 delightful gems of Berghem, full of beauty 
 and repose ; three Titians, " A Holy Family," 
 the female head singularly beautiful ; " St.
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 255 
 
 John in the Wilderness," a picture of great 
 richness and finish ; and " A Boy playing* 
 with a Lion;" a "Venus," by Brencino; two 
 Canalettos, but neither of them in his best 
 style ; " The Children of Velasquez," by Ve- 
 lasquez ; and " A Holy Family," by Perucini, 
 the well known eleve of Raphael, — for which 
 the present possessor paid 10,000 sequins. 
 
 The Duke of Liria's gallery also contains 
 some statuary ; a Venus, by Alvarez, the 
 Spanish Canova ; and the Mother of the Duke 
 by the same sculptor. The Duke of Liria, 
 although not himself a great connoisseur in 
 the fine arts, is their liberal patron, which is 
 better. The chapel in the Duke's house con- 
 tains some good fresco, by Antonio Callione 
 de Torino, a very promising Spanish painter, 
 but who, by his bad conduct, was forced to 
 exile himself, and who lately died in France. 
 
 The collection of ancient armour in the re- 
 sidence of the Duke of Medina Ccela, is more 
 interesting than his pictures. It contains, 
 among other things, the armour of Gonsalva 
 de Cordova. The Duke of Medina Coeli pos- 
 sesses immense revenues ; but, like the greater 
 number of the grandees in Spain, he is en-
 
 256 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 cumbered with debt, being robbed by those 
 to whom he has delegated the management of 
 his property. It is a certain fact, that several 
 of the Spanish nobles whose property lies in 
 Andalusia, and other southern provinces, have 
 never seen their own estates. 
 
 The lover of pictures will be disappointed 
 in his search among the churches and con- 
 vents of Madrid. The collegiate church of 
 San Isidro contains the greatest number ; but 
 they are not of first-rate excellence ; and this 
 church, as well as all the others in Madrid, 
 are so dark, that it is impossible to obtain a 
 proper view of any thing which they contain. 
 The church of San Isidro is not worthy of 
 being the metropolitan church. The interior 
 is in the ornate taste of the Jesuits, to whom 
 it formerly belonged ; but it has taken a higher 
 rank since the real body of the patron saint 
 of Madrid, and the ashes of Santa Maria de la 
 Cabeza, have been deposited within its walls. 
 There are, however, some pictures in this 
 church which, with a favourable light, are worth 
 visiting. Among the best are " the Conver- 
 sion of St. Paul," and " San Francisco Xavier 
 baptizing the Indians," by Jordan ; a Christ,
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 257 
 
 by Morales ; another Baptism of the Indians, 
 by Jordan ; and several others of Cano, Coello, 
 and Palomino. In one of the chapels are two 
 urns, wherein are deposited the ashes of Ve- 
 larde y Daoiz, and the other victims of the 
 2d of May, 1808, in memory, as it is recorded, 
 of *' the glorious insurrection of Spain." 
 
 The church of San Salvador is only interest- 
 ing as containing the tomb of Calderon ; that 
 of Santa Maria is honoured by being the de- 
 pository of the miraculous image of our lady 
 of Alumeda. San Gines has a Christ by 
 Cano, and the Annunciation by Jordan. San- 
 tiago contains two or three pictures by Jordan ; 
 and San Antonia de Florida boasts of a fresco 
 by Goya. This limited interest is all that the 
 churches of Madrid possess. 
 
 Among the sixty-eight convents in Madrid, 
 few possess great interest from the treasures 
 of art which they contain. It is in Seville, 
 and in the other cities of the south, that the 
 convents offer the chiefest attractions to the 
 lovers of painting. 
 
 The greatest and the richest among the 
 convents of Madrid, is Las Salesas. It was 
 
 VOL. r. s
 
 258 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 founded by Ferdinand the Vlth., and is 
 adorned with a profusion of the most beautiful 
 marbles and porphyries of Cuenca and Gra- 
 nada. I noticed several columns of green 
 marble, upwards of sixteen feet high, and each 
 of one piece. Both in the church of the con- 
 vent, and in its sacristy, there are some good 
 pictures ; and a fine marble monument, raised 
 by command of Charles III. to the memory of 
 the founder, does credit to the taste of Fran- 
 cisco Sabatini, who designed it, and to the 
 powers of Francisco Gutierrez, who executed 
 it. The morning service in the church of this 
 convent is enchanting ; the nuns, all of noble 
 family, and well educated, — chiefly in the same 
 convent, —seem to have made music a principal 
 study. I have never heard an organ touched 
 with so delicate a hand, as in the Convento 
 de las Salesas. 
 
 The church of the Convent de la Encarna- 
 cion, also a female convent of bare-footed 
 Augustins, contains beautiful marbles, and 
 some pictures perhaps worth a visit, by Cas- 
 tillo, Bartolom6, Roman, and Greco. 
 
 The Franciscan convent is worth visiting, 
 only on account of its great extent ; it contains
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 259 
 
 ten courts, and dormitories for two hundred 
 monks. Ev^ery where the Franciscans are the 
 most numerous. It is said of Cirillo, the 
 chief, or general, as he is called, of the Fran- 
 ciscan order, — he who is now exiled from 
 Madrid, — that he boasted of his power of 
 putting 80,000 men under arms : a force almost 
 equal to the king's. The head of the Francis- 
 can order used formerly to reside in Rome, 
 but the present head has made choice of 
 Spain. 
 
 The convent of Santa Isabel was robbed by 
 the French of many choice works of Espano- 
 letto ; but it still possesses some pictures by 
 Cerezo, Ccello, and others, — these are in the 
 church of the convent ; but it is said that 
 there are others in the interior, which it is 
 difficult, if not impossible, to see. There can- 
 not be a doubt, that among the many hundred 
 convents in Spain, in the interior of many of 
 which no man has ever been, — no one, at all 
 events, whose object has been to search for 
 pictures, — there are hidden, many productions 
 of the first masters. These may have come 
 into their possession in many ways ; they 
 
 s 2
 
 260 SPAIN IN 1830, 
 
 may have been the individual property of dis- 
 tinguished persons previous to taking the veil ; 
 they may have been bequeathed to the convent 
 by the founder ; the gift of the painters them- 
 selves ; or offerings of the devout : but it is 
 certain, that pictures of value and merit are 
 shut up in convents. I am acquainted with a 
 gentleman at Seville, who himself purchased 
 "Joseph's Dream," by Juanes, and a portrait 
 by Giordano, from the abbess of the Domi- 
 nican convent at Seville, — who sold them in 
 order to purchase certain ornaments for one of 
 the altars. 
 
 The convent of San Pasqual was, previous 
 to the French invasion, the richest in paintings 
 of any of the convents or monasteries in Ma- 
 drid. It possessed the compositions of Van 
 Dyk, Veronese, Titian, Da Vinci, Jordan, 
 and many other eminent painters. The greater 
 number of these have been removed ; but there 
 are still several left, that well repay the trou- 
 ble of a visit to the church of the convent. 
 There is the " Taking of Christ in the Gar- 
 den," by Van Dyk ; a " Conception," by 
 Espanoletto ; "St. Francis in Prayer," by 
 Veronese ; and one or two others by Espa-
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 2G1 
 
 noletto. Several more valuable than these, 
 among the rest, ** Jacob Blessing his Sons," 
 by Guercino, have been removed from the 
 chnrch into the interior ; but the porter in- 
 formed me, that it was intended shortly to 
 restore them again to the different chapels in 
 the convent church. These paintings were 
 bequeathed to this convent by its founder, 
 the Duke de Medina y Almirante de Castilla ; 
 affording another example of the manner in 
 which pictures may come into the possession 
 of nuns. 
 
 There is reason to believe that in the con- 
 vent of Santa Teresa also, there arc paintings 
 of value. During the time of the scarcity in 
 Madrid, several pictures that used to adorn 
 the church of the convent, were openly sold; 
 and these have since been replaced by others, — 
 several of them, works of merit, which could 
 not have come from any other quarter than 
 the interior of the convent. But in the church, 
 there is yet preserved a picture of great beauty 
 and value : this is a copy of the " Transfigura- 
 tion of Raphael," by Julio Romano; one of 
 the most successful disciples of that great 
 master. This picture, also, was left to the
 
 262 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 convent by its founder, the Prince Astillano, 
 under the condition that it should never be 
 parted with. 
 
 The only other convents worth visiting, are 
 the' Las Salesas Nuevas, which contains a 
 Crucifixion of Greco ; and Las Descalzas 
 Reales, in which will be found a good statue 
 of the Infanta Dona Juana, daughter of Charles 
 v., from the hand of Pompeyo Leoni. 
 
 I regret much that I was not able to see the 
 palace with so much attention as it deserves. 
 I delayed from time to time making any ap- 
 plication for admission ; and in the mean while, 
 the situation of the queen bringing the court 
 from La Granja two months sooner than usual, 
 the palace was only to be seen at short inter- 
 vals, when the king and queen left it ; and as 
 the hour of the sortie was uncertain, the in- 
 terval between obtaining the order, and their 
 majesties return, was very limited. 
 
 The new palace, although but a small part 
 of the original plan, is nevertheless one of the 
 most magnificent in Europe. It was begun in 
 the year 1737, and was built under the direc- 
 tion of Don Juan Bautista Saquete, the dis- 
 ciple of Jubarra. It is a square, each front
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 263 
 
 being 470 feet in length, and 100 feet in 
 height; a balustrade runs round the whole, 
 to hide the leaden roof, and the walls are re- 
 lieved and adorned by innumerable columns 
 and pilasters. The interior of the palace cor- 
 responds with its external magnificence ; eveiy 
 thing within it, is of the most costly and most 
 sumptuous kind, bespeaking the habitation of 
 monarchs who once owned the riches of half 
 the world. The paintings have been mostly 
 removed to the gallery, but some yet remain ; 
 particularly " the Rape of Proserpine," and 
 some others, by Reubens ; '* a Magdalen," 
 and some others, by Van Dyk ; several ex- 
 quisite paintings, by Mengs ; and among 
 others, " The Agony in the Garden ;" two 
 Cattle pieces, by Velasquez ; and several 
 charming pictures, by Tintoretto, Carlo Ma- 
 ratti, and Andrea Vacaro. The ceilings also, 
 by Bayeu, Velasquez, and Mengs, may well 
 excite admiration. In the apartments of the 
 Infantes likewise, I understand there are some 
 valuable paintings ; but these, 1 had not an 
 opportunity of seeing. The great license that 
 is allowed the public, has sometimes surprised 
 me. The royal apartments are of course
 
 264 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 guarded ; but any person may walk up the 
 stairs, and along all the corridors, and even 
 through the ante-rooms without being once 
 questioned. 
 
 In the neighbourhood of the palace, is the 
 royal armoury, which contains many ancient 
 relics ; among others, the arms of Ferdinand 
 and Isabella, of Charles V., of King Chico, 
 the last of the Moorish kings, and of several 
 kings and warriors, — those hardly-used Ame- 
 ricans, who took the Spaniards for gods, and 
 found them worse savages than themselves.
 
 CHAPTER VllI, 
 
 Literature ; Difficulties to be encountered by Avithors ; the Book 
 Fair ; Digression respecting the Claims of Spain to Gil Bias ; 
 Public and Private Literary Societies ; Libraries ; Obstacles 
 to Improvement, from the State of Society ; Female Educa- 
 tion ; Education for the Liberal Professions ; Course of Study 
 for the Bar; Course of Medical Studies; Charitable Institu- 
 tions ; Consumption of Madrid ; Prices of Provisions. 
 
 A priest, with whom I was acquainted in 
 Madrid, telling me one day, that he had 
 thoughts of going to London or Paris, to print 
 an English and Spanish Grammar, and a Ger- 
 man and Spanish Grammar, which he had 
 written ; I asked him why he did not print 
 them in Madrid, since they were intended for 
 the use of his own countrymen, — especially as 
 they could contain nothing political ? His 
 answer was, that nothing was so difficult as 
 to obtain a license to publish a book, even 
 although it contained no allusion to politics :
 
 2G6 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 and '' the better the book," said he, " the 
 more ditficult it is to obtain a license, and the 
 more dangerous to publish ; because Govern- 
 ment does not wish to encourage writing, or 
 even thinking, upon any subject : and the 
 publication of a good book sets men a-think- 
 ing." 
 
 This comprehensive reply explains, pretty 
 nearly, the present state of literature in Spain; 
 judging of it by the number and merit of pub- 
 lished works : 
 
 The number of books published, from 1820 
 to 1823, was very considerable. The energy 
 then communicated to letters, from the re- 
 moval of almost all restriction, was extraordi- 
 nary: books upon all subjects issued from the 
 press ; and the best proof, perhaps, that can 
 be given, that many of these were books of 
 talent, is, that most of them are now prohi- 
 bited. Literature, however, then received an 
 impetus, which still continues in some degree 
 to affect it, notwithstanding the difficulties to 
 be overcome : for there is a considerably 
 greater number of books published now, than 
 previous to the revolution; and no reasonable 
 doubt can be entertained, tl>at another removal
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 2G7 
 
 of the restrictions which press upon literature, 
 would bring into the field a large accession of 
 native talent. 
 
 Even after a license has been obtained to 
 publish a manuscript, its publication is still a 
 dangerous speculation ; because it frequently 
 happens, that when the book is printed, and 
 partly circulated, some great man, even more 
 fastidious than the censors, discovers a dubious 
 passage, and the book is prohibited. There 
 are four difficulties, therefore, which an author 
 must resolve to face, before he sits down to 
 prepare his manuscript : — the probability that 
 he may be refused a license ; the probability 
 that, before being licensed, his manuscript 
 maybe mutilated — a probability that, I am 
 told, amounts almost to a certainty, unless the 
 work be upon one of the exact sciences ; the 
 probability that, after the work be published, 
 some caprice may forbid its sale ; and the 
 certainty, that if the work be a talented work, 
 the author of it, whether obtaining his license 
 or no, will be looked upon with suspicion ; 
 and, if in Government employment, will al- 
 most certainly lose his appointment. 
 
 These are sad drawbacks upon literary
 
 268 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 exertion. But there is yet another : men are 
 afraid to read, as well as to write ; and the 
 sale of a work is therefore insecure. Book- 
 sellers do not care to venture upon the publi- 
 cation without some guarantee ; the conse- 
 quence of which is, that almost every book 
 published in Spain, is published by subscrip- 
 tion, or in numbers, or both in numbers and 
 by subscription ; by either of which modes 
 the risk is lessened. What should we say in 
 England of bills posted about the streets, an- 
 nouncing a new novel to be published by sub- 
 scription, and in numbers? Yet I saw an 
 announcement of this kind, of a novel to be 
 called El Dissimulador — the Dissembler. But 
 the greater number of books at present pub- 
 lished in Spain, are translations from French 
 and English, adapted, of course, to the Spa- 
 nish censorship. I noticed the following an- 
 nouncements, by bills posted on the walls : — 
 " Universal History," from the French, in 
 numbers: "the History of Spain," a new 
 edition, in numbers : " the History of Spa- 
 nish America," an original work, in numbers. 
 This manuscript I should think must have 
 been sadly carved. The following were an-
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 269 
 
 nouDced by subscription : — " Selections from 
 French and English Literature;" "Church 
 History ; " " Chateaubriand's Holy Land ; " 
 '* the History of the Administration of Lord 
 North," a singular enough choice ; " the His- 
 tory of the English Regicides ; " " the Works 
 of Fenelon ; " a new edition of '' Gil Bias ; " 
 ** Evelina;" and while I was in Madrid, pro- 
 posals were circulated for publishing by sub- 
 scription, and in numbers, the whole prose 
 works of Sir Walter Scott. I heard of one 
 voluminous, and rather important work, about 
 to be published by a society called " the Aca- 
 demy of History," viz., all *' the inscriptions 
 in Greek and Latin, now extant, throughout 
 Spain." The Arabic inscriptions are not in- 
 cluded in the work, these being already col- 
 lected and printed. 
 
 Although the Spanish government endea- 
 vours by every means to repress intelligence, 
 and thwart the progress of knowledge, there 
 is no lack of books in Spain, to those who 
 will, and dare to read them. This is indeed 
 done under the rose ; but it is done. There 
 are two libraries in Madrid, which contain the 
 best French authors ; and persons who arc
 
 270 SPAIN IN 1S30. 
 
 known to the librarian, or recommended to 
 him, may obtain almost any prohibited book. 
 I had personal proof of this. Sitting one 
 morning with a lady connected with the royal- 
 ist party, but a woman of very liberal views, 
 and one of the few blue-stockings of Madrid, 
 I was compassionating the situation of those 
 who, like herself, were lovers of literature, 
 but who were denied the means of gratifying 
 their taste. The lady assured me she had no 
 need of my compassion upon this score, for 
 that she might have any French author she 
 chose, and many English authors, from the 
 
 library of . And when I expressed some 
 
 surprise at this, she desired me to fix upon 
 any celebrated books that occurred to me, 
 and they should be put into my hands in less 
 than half an hour. I chose accordingly ; and 
 in ten minutes, I had in my hands a Paris 
 edition of " the Social Compact," and the 
 Basil edition of *' Gibbon's Historical Work." 
 Books, therefore, may be had ; but persons 
 are afraid to have and to read them. 
 
 A considerable number of prohibited books 
 slip into circulation at the time of the fair. I 
 was then in Madrid, and spent a few hours
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 271 
 
 each day strolling among the booths and 
 stalls, and talking with the vendors of goods. 
 Every kind of article is exposed at this fair, — 
 clothes, calicoes, jewellery, toys, hardware, 
 china, but especially books and pictures. The 
 books were innumerable ; and their high prices 
 seemed to be an index to a good demand ; and 
 yet I thought that, on the last day of the fair, 
 the shelves were but little relieved of their 
 burden : probably, hoM'ever, the book mer- 
 chants had other copies to replace those that 
 were sold. The books were of all descrip- 
 tions ; but the most numerous class, was theo- 
 logical and religious ; particularly the lives of 
 saints, who have all their biographers. The 
 next most numerous class was history; chiefly 
 histories connected with Spain and America. 
 Then followed Spanish plays, and Spanish 
 novels. After these, Spanish translations 
 from French and English works. And lastly, 
 books in foreign languages. Among the Spa- 
 nish translations from English works, I noticed 
 many copies of Blair's Lectures, Clarissa 
 Harlowe, and Goldsmith's Roman History. 
 Among the books in English, I observed Bell's 
 Surgery, the Life of Wellington, and Lady
 
 272 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 Morgan's Italy, whose English dress had 
 blinded the eyes of the Inquisitors, who looked 
 very scrutinizingiy at the stalls. I saw several 
 copies of Machiavelli, — a prohibited book, I 
 believe, — and one Bible in 14 volumes, with 
 notes by a Dominican friar, which I have no 
 doubt are sufficiently curious. 
 
 I questioned the book-vendors, as to the 
 demand, and in what current it ran. They in- 
 formed me, that the demand for religious books 
 was on the decline; and that the lives of saints 
 especially, were almost unmarketable. Trans- 
 lation from French and English, especially 
 the former, and even works in the French 
 language, were asked for; the demand was 
 also large and constant, for the Spanish dra- 
 matists and novels ; especially Don Quixotte 
 and Gil Bias, which were to be seen on every 
 stall, in great numbers, and of various editions. 
 I opened several copies of Gil Bias, and found 
 the title-page invariably in these words, — 
 " Aventuras de Gil Bias de Santillana, robadas 
 a Espana, y adoptadas en Franc ia por M. Le 
 Sage ; restituidas a su patria y a su lengua 
 nativa per un Espaiiol zeloso que no sufre se 
 burl en de su nacion." This is a point upon
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 273 
 
 which the Spanish nation is very jealous ; 
 every educated person stoutly maintaining, 
 that to Spain belongs the honour of having 
 produced Gil Bias. It is evident, that in the 
 dispute between France and Spain, regarding 
 their respective claims to Gil Bias, the proofs 
 must be drawn from the internal evidence 
 afforded by the work itself. The only direct 
 proofs that could be obtained, would be the 
 production of the original manuscript. This 
 however must lie upon the French; because 
 if any plausible reason exist for supposing, 
 that the Spanish manuscript got into the hands 
 of Le Sage, the Spanish manuscript of course 
 cannot be produced ; and the French must 
 produce their French manuscript. That this 
 has never been done, seems to atford a prim^ 
 facie evidence in favour of the Spanish claims; 
 especially if, as I believe to be the case, the 
 internal evidence be also in favour of Spain. 
 The belief that Gil Bias is a French work, 
 and the work of Le Sage, is so universal, and 
 I feel so perfect a conviction that this belief is 
 erroneous, that I cannot allow this opportu- 
 nity to escape, of introducing a short digression 
 upon the subject. 
 
 VOL. I. T 
 
 1
 
 274 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 The Spanish statement is this: that Don 
 Antonio de Solis, a well-known Spanish author, 
 wrote in 1665 a romance, entitled " Aventuras 
 del Bachiller de Salamanca, 6 Historia de Don 
 Querubim de la Ronda;" that Solis could not 
 publish this in Spain, owing to its containing 
 many allusions to persons then existing ; and 
 that Hugo, Marquess of Lionne, ambassador 
 from France at the Spanish court, who was a 
 man of letters, purchased not only a library of 
 Spanish poets and dramatists, but also many 
 manuscripts, which were afterwards seen in 
 the library of the Marquess's third son ; that it 
 is known that this son, Julio de Lionne, was 
 intimately allied in friendship with M. Le 
 Sage, and by him the manuscript of the 
 Bachelor of Salamanca, " Don Querubim de 
 la Ronda," was confided to Le Sage, who 
 divided the work, making from it the Ad- 
 ventures of Gil Bias, and the Bachelor of 
 Salamanca. These assertions afford a pre- 
 sumption ; but no more. At the same time, 
 it cannot escape observation, that a complete 
 refutation of these assertions, or at least of the 
 result drawn from them, would be, the pro- 
 duction by the heirs of M. Le Sage, of the
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 275 
 
 manuscript, eitherof Gil Bias, or the Bachelor 
 of Salamanca. But there are many proofs 
 drawn from the work itself, strongly support- 
 ing the presumption afforded by the tale told 
 by the Spaniards. Of these I shall state a 
 few: — 1st. There are many French words and 
 phrases, which do not correspond with the 
 usual elegance of Le Sage's style, and which 
 have the appearance of being literal transla- 
 tions of Spanish words and phrases. 2nd. 
 There are innumerable Spanish proper names 
 in Le Sage's work, and particularly small 
 villages, of which no foreigner could know the 
 names, still less their geographical position. 
 3rd. We find in Gil Bias a variety of particular 
 circumstances, usages, and habits, peculiar to 
 Spanish provincial life, of which no stranger 
 could have a sufficient knowledge. 4th. There 
 are in Le Sage's work innumera])le errors in 
 names of persons and towns, seeming to prove, 
 that errors have arisen in copying the Spanish 
 manuscript. The proofs of each of these might 
 extend to a chapter : none of them, taken 
 singly, amount to much ; but when considered 
 along with the story told of the manner in 
 t2
 
 276 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 which the MS. came into the possession of Le 
 Sage, unanswered, as it is, by the production 
 of any French manuscript ; and along with 
 the admitted fact, that several of the incidental 
 stories introduced into Gil Bias are to be found 
 in old Spanish romances, — a strong conviction 
 is produced, that Gil Bias is a Spanish, and 
 not a French work. 
 
 A strange enough answer was made by the 
 Count de Neufchateau, member of the French 
 academy, to the assertion that Le Sage had 
 availed himself of the Spanish manuscript. 
 He said, Le Sage would not have taken to 
 himself the merit of having written Gil Bias, 
 if the work had been composed from the manu- 
 script of another ; and the reason he gives for 
 his confidence in Le Sage's honour is, that he 
 did not hesitate to acknowledge his other 
 plagiarisms. He acknowledged that he took 
 from Spanish authors ''the New Adventures of 
 Don Quixotte," published by him in 1735; 
 " The Devil upon Two Sticks," published in 
 1732; '' The Adventures of Guzman de Al- 
 farache," published in 1707 ; *' The Life and 
 Doings of Estavanillo Gonzalez," published in 
 1734; and " The Bachelor of Salamanca,'' pub-
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 277 
 
 lished in 1738. What the force of this argu- 
 ment is, I leave the reader to judge. 
 
 But to return from this digression. Private 
 literary associations are out of the question in 
 Spain: several were set on foot in 1821-22; 
 but after the return of the king, any thing of 
 this kind was known to be so obnoxious, that 
 these societies dissolved themselves, without 
 waiting for any express order to that effect. 
 Two public institutions only, connected with 
 literature, exist at present. Like every other 
 institution in Spain, they are Real, and there- 
 fore imder the surveillance of government; — 
 their names are, ** The Royal Spanish Aca- 
 demy," and " The Koyal Academy of History." 
 The object of the first of these, is to perfect 
 the Castilian language ; and with this view 
 they have published two excellent works, a 
 Dictionary and a Grammar, besides a treatise 
 on Orthography, and several smaller writings. 
 The object of the vVcademy of History is to 
 separate truth from falsehood in the history of 
 Spain, and to collect all that may throw light 
 upon the ancient and modern history, as well 
 as geography, of that country. This society 
 has published an excellent Geographical Die-
 
 278 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 tionary, which has gone through several edi- 
 tions ; and is now on the eve of publishing the 
 collection of Inscriptions which I have already 
 mentioned, accompanied by notes. 
 
 There is no want of public and valuable 
 libraries in Spain, particularly in Madrid. 
 The two principal of these, are the Royal 
 Library, and the Royal Library of San Isidro. 
 The former, founded by Philip V., was en- 
 riched in the reign of Charles IIL by the 
 accession of the library of the cardinal Arquin- 
 to, purchased in Rome ; and in the reign of 
 his successor, Charles IV., by several other 
 libraries; and now amounts to 200,000 volumes. 
 The Royal Library also contains many valu- 
 able manuscripts, particularly Arabic ; and a 
 rich collection of coins and medals, illustrative 
 of Spanish history. The Spanish press has 
 produced some fine specimens of printing, 
 which are preserved in this library, particu- 
 larly Don Quixotte and Sallust, both from the 
 press of Ibarra. Besides the library of San 
 Isidro, which contains about 60,000 volumes, 
 . there are some excellent libraries in the pos- 
 session of private persons, particularly the 
 Duke of Osuna, the Duke of Infantado, and
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 279 
 
 the Duke of Medina Coeli : the latter of these 
 was formerly open to the public ; but so 
 great public spiritedness looking too much like 
 liberalism, it is now closed. 
 
 T have already spoken of the obstacles 
 thrown in the way of knowledge, by the re- 
 gulations respecting the schools and acade- 
 mies; and the fetters thrown upon education 
 of every kind : these chiefly affect the rising- 
 generation ; but I may mention, as another 
 cause of the backward state of literature in 
 Sj^ain, the tone of Spanish socicti/. Every Spanish 
 house has its tcrtulia; and every man, Moman, 
 girl, and boy, is a member of one tertulia or 
 another. The introduction to the tertulia 
 begins at a very early age. I have seen boys 
 who, in any other country, would have been 
 in a school-room, or at play, present them- 
 selves regularly at the tertulia, and throwing 
 off the character of boys, act the part of 
 grown-up men. This necessity of resorting 
 every night to the tertulia, not only interferes 
 greatly with habits of study, by employing 
 much valuable time, — but the preparatory 
 education for the tcrtulia, if I may so express 
 myself, is of the most unimproving kind.
 
 280 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 The foundation of the tertulia is gallantry, — 
 here it is that the Spanish woman, after 
 having reaped a harvest of admiration on the 
 Prado, retires to receive that nearer homage 
 which is prized still higher ; and here it is 
 that the Spaniard makes his prelude to future 
 conquest. Gallantry is the business of every 
 Spaniard's life; his object in frequenting the 
 tertulia, is to practise it ; and his principal 
 study, therefore, is that frivolous and gallant 
 conversation that is essential in the first place 
 to captivate the attention of the Spanish 
 woman. The Spanish ladies, with all their 
 agreeable wit and affability, are ignorant 
 almost beyond belief; and in a country where, 
 more than any other in Europe, the society is 
 mixed,— the extreme ignorance of the female 
 sex, and the channel into which conversation 
 must necessarily run every evening of every 
 day throughout the year, cannot fail to have 
 its effect upon the mind, and to act as a draw- 
 back upon the desire of knowledge, and lite- 
 rary distinction. 
 
 I understand that female education begins 
 to improve ; and that besides embroidery and 
 music, a little history and geography are now
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 281 
 
 taught in the schools, but not in the convents; 
 so that the highest classes, who are mostly 
 educated in the convents, are worse educated 
 than the middle classes. While in Madrid, 
 I had the pleasure of being conducted to a 
 girl's Lancastrian school by its directress. 
 Donna Hurtado de Mendoza, a lady every way 
 worthy of the trust. During the time of the 
 constitution, there were also two Lancastrian 
 schools for boys ; but these were suppressed 
 upon the return of the king, who was prevailed 
 upon, however, to allow the school for girls to 
 continue. In the Lancastrian school there 
 are at present 163 pupils, and the system 
 pursued is precisely similar to that followed 
 in England; part of three days every week 
 is dedicated to instruction in the tenets of 
 the Roman Catholic faith. 
 
 There is one fact I had nearly forgotten to 
 mention, — a fact somewhat opposed to the 
 narrow policy of the government in its hosti- 
 lity to the progress of literary knowledge. 
 Eight young men, of promising abilities, were 
 lately sent by the Spanish government to 
 different cities to study the various branches 
 of chemistry, with a liberal allowance from
 
 282 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 the public purse ; and his majesty's gilder 
 was also dispatched to England to make in- 
 quiries as to the manner of gilding buttons, 
 and gilding bronze, with an allowance of 
 18,000 reals; and with another stipulation as 
 to a farther and much larger sum, to be put 
 at his disposal for the purchase of secrets. 
 
 In Spain, the education for the liberal pro- 
 fessions is tedious and strict, but not ex- 
 pensive. The course of study required of a 
 barrister includes no fewer than thirteen years, 
 besides a previous knowledge of Latin, in which 
 the student is examined before entering any 
 of the law universities. The branches of 
 study which occupy these thirteen years, are, 
 three years of philosophy, which consists of 
 logic, physics, metaphysics, and ethics ; and 
 in the first of these years, the outlines of 
 mathematics are taught; but this branch of 
 study is never pursued farther : after this 
 course of philosophy, the theory of Roman 
 law is entered upon, which occupies two 
 years ; one year of Spanish law then follows ; 
 next. Ecclesiastical law, which occupies two 
 years ; and this is all that is required to take 
 the degree of bachelor : but rhetoric, theology,
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 283 
 
 digest of law, and medicine, are required for a 
 higher degree. At the end of each year, ex- 
 aminations are gone through, before granting 
 certificates ; and the whole of the instructions 
 are in Latin, excepting rhetoric and Spanish 
 law. The philosophy used, is that of Gue- 
 barra. The expense of instruction varies 
 according to the university ; at Toledo it is 
 all gratis ; at Alcala it costs about 50/. per 
 annum ; but many are admitted into the co- 
 legios, in which case the student is put to no 
 expense. These colegios are particular foun- 
 dations, under the patronage of certain great 
 families. The education of an attorney re- 
 quires only an apprenticeship, and that the 
 candidate should be twenty- five years of age, 
 and have a certificate of good morals ; he has 
 also to pass one examination in law. Before 
 any barrister, attorney, or notary, be admitted 
 to practice, he is obliged to swear that he will 
 defend the poor gratis. Thirty are appointed 
 each year from each society to defend the 
 poor in civil cases ; and every one is entitled 
 to be put upon the poor list who chooses to 
 swear that he is not worth 4000 reals (40/.) ; 
 and it is a curious fact, that, in criminal cases,
 
 284 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 the prisoner is entitled to make choice of any 
 barrister in Madrid to defend him. In Spain 
 they do not understand that celebrated legal 
 fiction, so implicitly believed by some sound 
 heads in England, that the judge is counsel 
 for the prisoner. I learned that the course of 
 justice, or in plainer terms a legal process, is 
 very expensive in Madrid ; two-third parts, 
 at least, of every account being absorbed in 
 court dues and stamps. 
 
 The Spanish government is not unmindful 
 of the lives and health of its subjects ; for 
 medical is even more strict and tedious than 
 legal education. 
 
 There are three kinds of medical professors 
 in Spain : — physicians, medico-surgeons, and 
 cirujanos romancistos. 
 
 The first of these, after a course of the usual 
 regular scholastic studies, go to the Univer- 
 sity, where they study anatomy, physiology, 
 pathology, and the different branches of medi- 
 cal education ; in which four years are em- 
 ployed. They then go through the hospitals, 
 with professors appointed for the purpose — 
 note down the diseases and their treatment, 
 and submit their notes for revision, to the
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 285 
 
 instructors ; this occupies two years : after 
 which they undergo examinations upon the 
 theory and practice of medicine, before being- 
 admitted to practice. 
 
 The medico-surgeons profess both physic 
 and surgery : they go through the same stu- 
 dies as the physician, adding chirurgical pa- 
 thology, midwifery, clinica medica, and sur- 
 gical practice ; and are subject to examination 
 upon all these branches. 
 
 The third class, the ciriymios iv??iancistos, are 
 literally surgeons who have not studied Latin, 
 and are an inferior class. They are not required 
 to have the same classical education as the 
 others ; but must study, and pass examinations 
 in anatomy, physiology, chirurgical pathology, 
 operative surgery, and midwifery. Those be- 
 longing to this class of medical practitioners, 
 are forbidden, by a royal edict, from prescrib- 
 ing for inward complaints. 
 
 Madrid does not want institutions for the 
 alleviation of bodily infirmity ; there being no 
 fewer than thirteen hospitals in the capital. 
 The principal of these are, the General Hos- 
 pital, which is chiefly supported by the re- 
 ceipts of the bull-fights ; and the Hospicio real
 
 286 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 de San Fernando^ which is also a workhouse, 
 and is supported by imposts upon the entry 
 of goods into the city. There is also an Hos- 
 pital for Illegitimate Children, which receives 
 about 1200 yearly, nearly one-third of the 
 number being foundlings, and which is sup- 
 ported by the lottery ; an Orphan Hospital, 
 which supports about 800 orphans ; several 
 smaller orphan hospitals ; and two lying-in 
 hospitals. 
 
 There are also in Madrid, ten different 
 institutions for philanthropic purposes — the 
 succour of the wretched, and the relief of the 
 poor ; among these, El Monte de Piedad de- 
 serves mention. It is a public establishment, 
 which lends money upon goods, which may 
 be reclaimed at any time during a year, or 
 even longer, in particular cases, upon repay- 
 ment of the loan without any interest. 
 
 Madrid, I have mentioned in the former 
 chapter, is supposed to contain 170,000 inha- 
 bitants ; but this is partly conjecture, — no 
 census having been lately made. In the year 
 1790, there died in Madrid 5915 persons ; 
 and 4897 were born: and in the year 1810, 
 378G persons died ; and 5282 were born.
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 287 
 
 The following was the consumption of Madrid, 
 in the year 1 825 : 230,000 sheep ; 1 2,500 oxen ; 
 70,000 hogs; 2,417,357 arrobas* of charcoal; 
 13,245 arrobas of soap ; 40,809 arrobas of oil; 
 800,000 bushels of corn ; 500,000 arrobas of 
 wine; 50,000 arrobas of snow; 30,000 arrobas 
 of candles ; and 18,000 bushels of salt: and 
 supposing, as there is reason to believe, that 
 since that time the population of Madrid has 
 increased 5000, the addition of a thirty-fifth 
 part to these sums, will give nearly the pre- 
 sent consumption of Madrid. 
 
 Madrid, although, with the exception of 
 Constantinople, the most interesting city in 
 Europe to visit, owing to the perfect novelty 
 of scene which it presents even to him who 
 has travelled through every other country, 
 would not be an agreeable permanent resi- 
 dence. It is not like Paris, or Rome, or 
 Vienna ; in any of Avhicli cities a stranger 
 may, if he pleases, live nearly as he lived in 
 his own country. In Madrid, this is impos- 
 sible ; the hotels are execrable ; boarding 
 houses there are none ; and although a 
 
 * An arroba is 251bs. weight.
 
 288 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 stranger may find lodgings, he will find Spa- 
 nish habits in them. Of the state of society, 
 and of the diversions, I have already given 
 some idea. These possess much interest to a 
 stranger, but not any permanent attraction ; 
 so that after he has remained in Madrid long 
 enough to gratify his curiosity with the novel 
 spectacle of a people differing from all the 
 rest of the world, in dress, habits, amuse- 
 ments, modes of life, and modes of thinking, 
 he will begin to feel some desire to know 
 what the world beyond Spain is doing ; be- 
 cause of this, he can know nothing within 
 Spain. But let no traveller leave Madrid to 
 return to England. Seville and Granada lie 
 beyond; and when the Castiles have lost their 
 attraction, Andalusia and its thousand charms 
 await him. 
 
 Before closing this chapter, — the last that 
 has any reference to Madrid, — let me give 
 some information respecting the price of pro- 
 visions, &c. 
 
 The Spanish capital is probably the dearest 
 capital in Europe ; and this cannot excite sur- 
 prise, when it is considered that Madrid is 
 situated in the midst of a sterile country,
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 289 
 
 where there is no pasture land, no rivers, 
 scarcely any gardens, and no communication 
 with the sea, or with any of the distant and 
 more productive provinces. Notwithstanding 
 these drawbacks, the markets are well sup- 
 plied ; and all kinds of meat, poultry, game, 
 vegetables, and fruit, may be had of an excel- 
 lent quality : fish, and milk, are the only 
 scarce articles. In the following enumera- 
 tion, the best quality of every article is under- 
 stood ; it is not easy to render the prices with 
 precision, into English money, because they 
 are generally reckoned in quartos ; but if the 
 reader recollects that eight quartos are nearly 
 2\d., one quarto being i?th,s of a penny, it will 
 be no difficult calculation to bring the prices 
 to English value. 
 
 Beef, per lb. of 14 oz. 18 quartos. Veal, per 
 lb. 30 quartos. Mutton, per lb. 18 quartos. 
 Pork, per lb. 20 quartos. 
 
 The price of fish cannot be stated ^\ ith 
 accuracy ; it is never seen excepting in winter, 
 and the supply is so precarious, that it is im- 
 possible to approach the truth. 
 
 Bread, of the first quality, is 14 quartos 
 per lb. ; the second quality 10. 
 
 VOL. I. u
 
 290 SPAIN IN 1830, 
 
 Ordinary wine of La Mancha, 21 quartos. 
 
 A fine fowl, 6 reals (1^. 6d.). A chicken „ 
 from 7d. to 10 J. A duck, from Is. 8d. to 2^. Id. 
 A goose, 3.V. 6d. A turkey, from 4^. to 10^., 
 according to the season. Turkeys, in Madrid, 
 are not sold in the markets, but are driven 
 through the streets. I have several times 
 bought a small turkey for 3,y. Pigeons, 1*. 6d. 
 or 1^. 8d. a couple. 
 
 Coffee, 1*. 8^?. per lb. Chocolate, 2*. 6d. 
 per lb. Green tea, 10.y. Black tea, 12^.; but 
 it is scarcely to be found. Sugar, l^. 86^., 
 equal to English sugar at lid. The natives 
 use sugar at 10^/. ; but it is dirty and bad. 
 
 Goat's milk 4d. a pint during summer, — half 
 that price in winter ; cow's milk is difficult to 
 be had in summer, — in winter it is Sd. a pint ; 
 Flanders butter 2*. 6d. per lb. ; salted butter, 
 from the Asturias and Galicia, may also be 
 had at Is. 6d. ; but it is not good. 
 
 Vegetables are rather dearer than in Eng- 
 land, especially potatoes. 
 
 Fruit is always excellent and cheap. A 
 melon, such as cannot be seen either in France 
 or England, costs 5d. ; these are the Valencia 
 melons, extremely pale, and of the most ex-
 
 SPAIN IN 18.10. 291 
 
 quisite flavour. The finest Muscatel grapes 
 are lid. per lb. 
 
 I have mentioned in a former chapter, that 
 the bread of Spain is, without exception, ex- 
 cellent ; and it is nowhere finer than in Ma- 
 drid. The finest, is called pan de Majorca; 
 but this bread is made partly with milk, and 
 is not fitted for general use ; the bread used 
 by the better classes, is the pan Frances, very 
 ill named, because it is much superior to 
 any French bread. The lower orders, and 
 many too among the middle classes, use pian 
 Candealy in which there is no leaven, and 
 no salt. 
 
 I must not omit the mention of fuel ; this is 
 an expensive article in winter to a stranger 
 who is not accustomed to sit without a fire. 
 The American minister told me, that his 
 fuel cost him 20.?. per day in the month of 
 August. 
 
 There is only one thing in Madrid remark- 
 ably cheap ; that is, the keep of horses. From 
 the same authority I may state, that the keep 
 of a horse does not exceed 20/. per annum. 
 The usual food of horses is cut straw, and a 
 
 u 2
 
 292 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 little barley ; and it appears that they thrive 
 well upon this regimen : but in Spain, horses 
 are lightly worked, no one travelling with his 
 own horses, but invariably with mules hired 
 for the purpose.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 STATE OF PARTIES, AND POLITICAL PROSPECTS. 
 
 Ix dedicating a chapter to the consideration of 
 the state of parties, and the probable political 
 prospects of Spain, I am anxious to avoid the 
 imputation of any assumption of superior 
 knowledge, or exclusive information. My 
 knowledge upon these subjects has no farther 
 claim to superiority than that which arises 
 from its having been gathered upon tliQ spot : 
 this ought, no doubt, to count for something; 
 both because a resident in a country is better 
 situated for judging of the authenticity of in- 
 formation, and is able to avail himself of a 
 greater number of sources ; and because, from 
 personal observation, many helps are obtained. 
 During the several months that I remained in
 
 294 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 Madrid, my acquaintance lay among men of 
 all parties. With Carlists, Royalists, and 
 Liberals, I was upon terms of equal intimacy; 
 and I never found, among men of any party, 
 the least backwardness in speaking privately 
 the sentiments of their party ; or in avowing 
 its views, and speculating upon its prospects. 
 Many have been so candid as to avow them- 
 selves hypocrites. Military men in Madrid, 
 and at Barcellona, sworn to support the govern- 
 ment, have admitted to me that they were 
 Carlists, — associated in private societies of 
 that party which held their meetings every 
 second night : and employees in Toledo, de- 
 pendents upon the existing government, who, 
 in that hot-bed of ultraism, found it prudent 
 even to pretend some sympathy with the opi- 
 nions of the Carlists, have told me in confi- 
 dence, that they were neither Loyalists nor 
 Carlists, but Liberals. From this it may be 
 gathered, that a person residing in Spain, and 
 unsuspected of any improper object, may, 
 without much difficulty, learn the opinions 
 and views of men of different parties. The 
 conclusions which I may occasionally draw, 
 many may think erroneous. I will only say,
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 295 
 
 that I am unconscious of being biassed by 
 prejudice ; and whatever I set down shall be 
 based as much as possible upon fact and 
 observation. 
 
 I left England in the belief that there existed 
 in Spain two great parties, — the Constitution- 
 alists, and the adherents of the government ; 
 the latter party indeed somewhat divided, — 
 and comprising many shades of opinion, rang- 
 ing from absolutism, to a point somewhere 
 between that and moderation. But this esti- 
 mate I discovered to be very erroneous. I 
 found three parties in Spain: the Absolutists, 
 there denominated Carlists; the Government 
 party, there called the moderate party; and 
 the Liberals. The most influential of these 
 parties is, beyond all question, the first. 
 Reckoning the total population of Spain, this 
 party is by far the most numerous ; it com- 
 prises the great mass of the lower orders 
 throughout Spain ; and in many parts, almost 
 the whole population, — as inToledo, the towns 
 and villages of the Castiles, and the pro- 
 vinces of Murcia and Catalunia. It com- 
 prises, with few exceptions, the 130,000 
 friars, and a great majority of the clergy,
 
 296 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 and it comprises a considerable proportion of 
 the military, both officers and privates; but 
 chiefly the former. With such components, 
 it is evident that this party does not depend 
 for its power, solely upon its numerical su- 
 periority. Every one knows, that there is 
 uncounted wealth in the convents and churches 
 of Spain. I do not speak merely of the wealth 
 in jewels, and golden urns, and images, locked 
 up in Toledo, and Seville, and Murcia, and 
 the Escurial, and elsewhere, — though much of 
 this would, without doubt, be made a ready 
 sacrifice to the necessities of the party ; but 
 also of the more available riches, well known 
 to be possessed by many orders of frairs ; 
 among others, by the Carthusians, the Domi- 
 nicans, and HieronomiteSo Hundreds of the 
 convents in Spain have no possible way of 
 consuming their revenues — for it is a fact, that 
 the poor orders are invariably the most nu- 
 merous ; and we generally find a very limited 
 fraternity in those convents whose revenues 
 are the largest. In the Carthusian convent, 
 at Granada, there are only nine monks ; and 
 the land for more than half a league round, 
 and comprising numerous country houses, and
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 297 
 
 hamlets, is the property of this convent. In 
 the Convento de los Reyes, in the neighbour- 
 hood of Valencia, there are indeed twenty- 
 seven monks ; but one of their number ad- 
 mitted to me, that the revenues of the convent 
 exceeded 500,000 reals, (5000/. sterling) : and 
 in the neighbourhood of Murviedro, (the an- 
 cient Saguntum), there is another convent of 
 Carthusians, which owns seven villages, and 
 a tract of laud as rich as any in Spain, nearly 
 a league square, and which contains only 
 seven monks. 
 
 In place of three of these examples, as 
 many hundreds might be given. The same 
 monk who admitted to me the amount of the 
 revenues of the Convento de los Reyes, said, 
 in reply to my question as to what they did 
 with so much wealth, that " times of need 
 might come ; " and there can be little doubt 
 that other friars might make a similar reply. 
 Nor can it be doubted, that many of the 
 reputed poor orders, who live upon charity, 
 have no need of it. The prayers, blessings, 
 and other godly offices of the Franciscans, 
 bear the highest value in the market of super- 
 stition ; and in those convents in which the
 
 298 SPAIN IM 1S30. 
 
 visitor dare not put money into the hands of 
 the friar, I have frequently been reminded, 
 that a certain little golden saint, or silver 
 virgin, accepted the iKcttas which were laid 
 upon their altars. This cannot be considered 
 a digression, because it explains another source 
 of influence, besides physical strength, pos- 
 sessed by the apostolicals. 
 
 It scarcely requires that I should adduce any 
 proof of the fact stated, that the lower orders, 
 and the friars, are attached to the party of Car- 
 lists. The present government of Spain is con- 
 sidered by the friars to be guided too much 
 by moderate principles. They perceive that 
 they lose a little groi .id ; and, shut out as they 
 are in a great measure, from commerce with 
 the world, they are ignorant of the pace at 
 ^yhich the world moves : and the secret is 
 breaking upon them but slowly, that the 
 strength of governments lies in free institu- 
 tions. They still fancy that men are to be 
 governed by the scourge and the cowl ; and 
 believe that another Philip II. would elevate 
 the fortunes of Spain, and raise up all the 
 props of the Roman Catholic faith. I have 
 myself heard one of the monks in the Escurial
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 299 
 
 say, that the king was no friend to them : and 
 then, pointing to the urn of Philip, pass an 
 euiogium upon his virtues and piety. If any 
 other proof were needed, of the attachment of 
 the friars to the Carlist party, the circumstance 
 mentioned in a former chapter might be stated ; 
 that the chief of the Franciscan order was 
 detected in a conspiracy to overturn, or at 
 least to overawe the government. I need say 
 nothing of the lower orders, because, with few 
 exceptions, they and the friars are one. 
 
 I have said, that a great proportion of the 
 regular clergy also are Carlists. I know that 
 many are not ; because many are intelligent 
 men, who have at all events the acuteness to 
 perceive, that a more despotic government 
 would not secure its permanency ; and whose 
 alarm at the progress of liberalism in the 
 world, is not so great as that of the friars. 
 But the majority of the priesthood are igno- 
 rant; and the majority are therefore Carlists. 
 Besides, their interest lies that way — the head 
 of the church in Spain, the Archbishop of 
 Toledo, is the head of the party ; the Arch- 
 bishop of Seville is one of its warmest parti- 
 zans ; and almost all the archbishops and
 
 300 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 bishops, hold similar sentiments : the curate, 
 therefore, who envies the luxuries of a canon, 
 must both profess his adherence to that party, 
 and employ his influence in its favour. 
 
 To the friars, the priests, and the lower 
 orders, I have added a part of the military, as 
 partizans of the Carlists ; I might also include 
 a considerable number of the employees. That 
 such is the fact, I have had many personal 
 proofs, as well as information from the most 
 authentic sources. The reason alleged by 
 those in government employment, whether 
 civil or military, for being favourably disposed 
 towards that party which would rather see 
 Don Carlos than Ferdinand at the head of the 
 government, is, the indecision of the king's cha- 
 racter. They say that merit is not rewarded ; 
 that services are not requited ; that promotion 
 is not upon a footing of justice ; and that 
 neither in civil nor military service, is there 
 any dependence upon government favour, 
 which shines or is withdrawn by caprice — 
 which favouritism purchases, and slander de- 
 stroys. All this they ascribe, and probably 
 with justice, to the king's ivant of character : 
 and the idea among them is very general, that
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 301 
 
 under Don Carlos, a system of greater justice, 
 and impartiality, and decision, v.'ould be pur- 
 sued in every department of the state. I have 
 sometimes wished, when I have heard these 
 good qualities attributed to Don Carlos, that 
 he possessed, along with them, some of those 
 other virtues which Spain requires in a sove- 
 reign : there might, in that case, be a more 
 speedy prospect of happiness for Spain. 
 
 Such appear to me to be the elements of 
 the party called Carlists, — the strongest in 
 numbers and wealth, and the weakest in intel- 
 ligence. 
 
 Classing the parties according to their nu- 
 merical strength, I must next mention the 
 party called Liberals ; but generally, in Eng- 
 land, known by the name of Constitutionalists. 
 If, by this party, be meant those who desire 
 a return to the Constitution of 1820; or who 
 would be satisfied to leave the settlement of 
 the government to the wisdom of an army of 
 refugees, — there is no such party in Spain : 
 but if, by the liberal party, we are to under- 
 stand those who perceive the vices of the 
 present government, and who dread still more 
 the ascendancy of the Carlists ; those who
 
 302 SPAIN IN 1S30. 
 
 view with satisfaction the progress of en- 
 lightened opinions in politics and in reli- 
 gion, and who desire earnestly that Spain 
 should be gradually assimilated in her insti- 
 tutions, with the other civilized nations of 
 Europe, — ^then the liberal party comprises 
 the principal intelligence of the country ; 
 and subtracting from the population, the 
 lowest orders, the employees, the friars, and 
 the priests, it possesses a great numerical 
 majority. In any other country than Spain, 
 this party would wield an influence to which 
 its numerical strength would not entitle it ; 
 but in Spain, the light of intellect spreads but 
 a little way ; for it has to struggle with the 
 thick mists of ignorance and superstition ; and 
 when we say that the liberal party comprises 
 nearly all the intelligence of the country, it 
 must be remembered, that intelligence is but 
 scantily sprinkled over the face of Spain ; and 
 that, therefore, enlightened Spain, and en- 
 lightened England, ought to convey very dif- 
 ferent ideas of numerical strength. 
 
 It is a curious fact, that the adherents of the 
 existing government should be the fewest in 
 number ; yet, this is certainly the truth. With
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 303 
 
 the exception of perhaps the majority of the 
 employees, a part of the regular clergy, and 
 the greater part of the army, its friends are 
 very thinly scattered ; and its influence scarcely 
 extends beyond the sphere of its actual benefits. 
 Its patronage has been greatly circumscribed 
 since the lost of the Americas ; its lucrative 
 appointments are centred in a few ; and above 
 all, its power and patronage are held bj'' so 
 uncertain a tenure, that few, excepting those 
 in the actual enjoyment of office, feel any 
 assurance that their interests lie in supporting 
 that which seems to hang together almost by 
 a miracle. 
 
 The only security of a despotic government 
 is strength ; and this security the Spanish 
 government wants altogether. It has no 
 strength in the affections of the people gene- 
 rally ; and even among t'le military and em- 
 ployees, which are its only strength, there are 
 many disaffected. When the king returned, 
 after the overthrow of the constitution, every 
 measure was adopted that might give a ficti- 
 tious strength to the government : a clean 
 sweep was made of all the employees, from 
 the highest to the lowest; and whether hold-
 
 304 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 ing their offices for life, or at pleasure. These, 
 under the constitution, had been selected from 
 amongst the best educated classes ; but all 
 who had been connected with the liberal party 
 being excluded from employment under the 
 succeeding government, the public offices were 
 necessarily filled up with persons of inferior 
 station. Another stroke of policy was intended, 
 in the distribution of office : in no country is 
 there so great a division of labour in public 
 employments as in Spain ; the duties of an 
 office formerly held by one person, were de- 
 legated to three, and the emoluments split in 
 proportion, — by which policy, a greater num- 
 ber of persons were interested in upholding 
 the government. 
 
 A third measure of policy I have mentioned 
 in a former chapter ; that of remodelling the 
 universities, and seminaries of learning, and 
 putting them under the superintendence of 
 Jesuits : and a fourth, was intended to secure 
 the fidelity and increase the numerical strength 
 of the military. To effect the first of these 
 objects, a new body of guards, in all nearly 
 20,000 men, was raised, and officered by 
 children. The king said, he would not have
 
 SPAIN IN 18.30. 305 
 
 a single officer in the guards old enough to 
 understand the meaning of the word constitu- 
 tion ; and even now, that several years have 
 elapsed, the officers are, almost without ex- 
 ception, boys. 
 
 To protect the government by the numerical 
 strength of military, his majesty invited the 
 organization of a force to be called Royalist 
 Volunteers, to come in place of the national 
 volunteers who existed during the time of the 
 constitution. The term volunteer was a mis- 
 nomer; because government held out tempta- 
 tions irresistible to the lower classes, — a new 
 suit of clothes, and pay two days in the week, 
 besides some other little gratuities : the con- 
 sequence was, that a body called Royalist 
 Volunteers, amounting to about 160,000, was 
 speedily embodied. Such were the measures 
 adopted by a government that sought to base 
 itself, not upon the affections of the people, or 
 upon its own merits; but which trusted rather 
 in the zeal of hirelings, the precepts of Jesuits, 
 and the purchased bulwark of bayonets. But 
 these acts of political sagacity have added 
 little to the real strength of the government : 
 
 VOL. I. X
 
 306 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 the change of all men in public office, made 
 as many enemies as friends ; and the exclusion 
 of so many educated men, created a necessity 
 for the employment of many low and unprin- 
 cipled men, who by their bad conduct, have 
 helped to lower the government in public 
 opinion. The fetters put upon education 
 offended many, — because the change from a 
 better to a worse plan of education was soon 
 perceived by the heads of families, in the more 
 limited range of knowledge offered to their 
 children; and the establishment of a volunteer 
 force, is well known throughout Spain to have 
 endangered, rather than strengthened the go- 
 vernment. That force is composed for the 
 most part of the lowest orders; and it is quite 
 a matter of notoriety, that the great majority 
 of these men are Carlists, — a thing proved 
 indeed by the discovery of the conspiracy, in 
 which they had agreed to take an active part. 
 With such elements as those which compose 
 the adherents of government, and with so total 
 an absence of that kind of support to which 
 alone an absolute government dare trust, it 
 seems impossible that the existing govern- 
 ment can long maintain its authority; and the
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 307 
 
 probability of its dissolution will appear the 
 greater, by citing a few facts, proving its utter 
 rottenness; its perfect contempt of honour and 
 justice in its dealings with its subjects; and its 
 constant and flagrant acts of oppression. 1 
 cannot well separate the examples, because 
 the bad acts of the government are not simply 
 oppression, or injustice ; but compounds of 
 oppression, injustice, and weakness. I shall 
 take them as they present themselves to my 
 memory. 
 
 While I was in Madrid, a grandee, a favourite 
 at court, whose name I regret I cannot recol- 
 lect, being deeply in debt, and harassed by his 
 creditors, and unwilling, although extremely 
 wealthy, to limit the number of his enjoy- 
 ments, went to the king and laid the case 
 before his royal master; who, sympathizing in 
 the pecuniary distress of the noble, exercised 
 the prerogative of a king who is above law, by 
 immediately presenting him with a royal order, 
 by which he was secured in the undisturbed 
 possession of his revenues for ten years, — his 
 creditors being interdicted during that time 
 from making any demand upon their debtor. 
 
 X 2
 
 308 SPAIN IN 1830, 
 
 The grandee called his creditors together; and 
 when they supposed they were about to be 
 paid, he produced the royal order, against 
 which there was no appeal. No act of op- 
 pression could be more base than this ; it was 
 a total suspension of law, exercised without 
 reason ; a royal license to commit robbery ; 
 and of the worst kind, the robbery of the poor 
 by the rich. It is more than probable, how- 
 ever, that before the lapse of ten years, the 
 signature of Ferdinand VII. will have ceased 
 to inspire fear, or exact obedience. 
 
 The following circumstance I know to be 
 true. The Duke of Liria (Berwick) having 
 got into difficulties, put himself under, or was 
 put under secresto (sequestration), and was 
 allowed 10,000/. per annum from his revenues. 
 It so happened that the duke had an attack of 
 gout, and that he was obliged in consequence 
 to absent himself a few weeks from court. 
 One evening, while he was sitting at home, a 
 letter was delivered to him, sealed with the 
 royal seal ; and, upon opening the letter, he 
 found it to be an order of the king, that he 
 should pay 2500/. of his income yearly to his 
 grandmother in Paris. Thus, without process,
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 309 
 
 without cause, without any previous intima- 
 tion made to the Duke of Berwick, without 
 any opportunity being given to him of object- 
 ing to this inroad upon his property, he was 
 deprived, by a dash of the king's pen, of 2500/. 
 per annum. This was accomplislied by the 
 intrigue of the duke's grandmother. The 
 sequel to the story, by which it will be seen 
 that the duke regained his money, does not in 
 any respect alter the act of tyranny that de- 
 prived him of it; but only exemplifies the in- 
 decision of the king's character. The duchess, 
 who happened to be a spirited woman, and 
 who knew the character of the king, imme- 
 diately ordered her coach, drove to the palace, 
 asked an audience, saw the king, and returned 
 in less than an hour with the revocation of the 
 order in her hand. 
 
 While at Seville, I learned some very gross 
 instances of injustice practised by the govern- 
 ment in its dealings with its subjects. My 
 authority could not be more authentic, because 
 my informant — an old and highly respectable 
 merchant — was himself the person who had 
 suffered. A debt of IGOO/. was due to him by 
 government, upon a contract for supplying
 
 310 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 cartridge boxes ; this debt had been some 
 years due, and he had applied for payment 
 often, and in vain. At length, having some 
 other business in Madrid, he resolved to at- 
 tempt the recovery of the debt, by preferring 
 his claim in the proper quarter. Day after day, 
 he went to the minister ; sometimes he was 
 denied admittance, — sometimes he saw the 
 minister, and was always treated by him with 
 the utmost rudeness : this was his first trans- 
 action with government, and he had yet to 
 learn its way of doing business. One day, 
 when he was leaving the minister, and slowly 
 passing towards the stair, a reverend gentle- 
 man touched his sleeve, and begged to know 
 what was the cause of his frequent visits to 
 the minister : the merchant told him his busi- 
 ness. " And do you expect to receive pay- 
 ment of the debt ?" demanded the priest. " I 
 despair of it," replied the merchant. " Then," 
 resumed the priest, " you would probably 
 sacrifice a small part to obtain the rest ;" and 
 upon the merchant admitting that he would 
 gladly do this, — " Come," said the priest, 
 "^ to-morrow early, and I'll undertake that you 
 shall have your money !" The merchant kept
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 311 
 
 his appointment; the priest was waiting — the 
 merchant never saw the minister ; and in less 
 than half an hour, the priest put into his hands 
 an order for 1200/., upon the treasury at Se- 
 ville; the remaining 400/. being the perquisite 
 of the minister and his emissary : — yet even 
 after this, it was necessary to sacrifice another 
 100/., before payment of the order could be 
 obtained at Seville. All this is according to 
 usual practice : no settlement of any govern- 
 ment account can be obtained without makinar 
 a large sacrifice ; sometimes as much as a third, 
 or even a half. The system of bribery is uni- 
 versal, from the minister to the lowest official : 
 sometimes the individual is robbed, sometimes 
 the treasury. If the transaction lie between the 
 government and an individual, the minister and 
 his go-between are the gainers, and the con- 
 tractor is robbed. If the affair lie between indi- 
 viduals and employees — as officers of the cus- 
 toms — afalse return of duties is made to govern- 
 ment; the merchant and the employee pocket 
 the difference; and the government is robbed: 
 this is a regular part of the settlement of every 
 custom-house transaction. At Malaga, I learnt 
 a curious instance of this, adding another to
 
 312 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 the many proofs of a weak and disorganized 
 government. All vessels chartered from Gib- 
 raltar for Malta, Corfu, or any foreign port in 
 the Mediterranean, but carrying part cargo for 
 Malaga, are obliged, while they remain at 
 Malaga, to deposit all goods m transitu in the 
 custom-house, as a preventive against smug- 
 gling. Such vessels are well known to be 
 freighted with English goods, or with tobacco, 
 or with other goods either prohibited, or upon 
 which high duties are payable : in fact, the 
 vessel is a smuggler, — and how is this matter 
 arranged ? The captain deposits a hundred 
 bales of goods in the custom-house, being the 
 whole of the goods entered for the foreign port ; 
 and when the vessel leaves the port, the same 
 number of bales must be shipped, — and so 
 they are ; but during their deposit in the 
 custom-house, they have suffered a wonderful 
 diminution in bulk. Bales which measured a 
 yard square, are reduced to the size of foot- 
 balls ; the bales, such as they are, are re- 
 shipped ; — the vessel has disburdened herself 
 of her contraband cargo, and in place of pro- 
 ceeding to Malta, returns to Gibraltar. I 
 relate this, not of course as an example of
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 313 
 
 government oppression or injustice, but as a 
 proof of the lax and unhinged state of the 
 government, and of the total want of integrity 
 that pervades every department of the public 
 service : and before recurring to other in- 
 stances of government oppression or injustice, 
 let me mention another incident, proving that 
 the same system extends even to the army. 
 A regiment of cavalry arrived at Granada 
 sometime last spring; and the soldiers being 
 in want of new spurs, the colonel sent for a 
 tradesman, and told him what he wanted. 
 The tradesman named a certain price : " No," 
 said the colonel, " you must let me have them 
 at half that price;" the tradesman agreed, 
 premising only that the spurs would not last 
 a week. This was of no importance to the 
 colonel; the spurs were delivered, the account 
 was made out at the price first demanded, and 
 being presented to the government office, the 
 money was paid ; one half of which went to 
 the blacksmith, and the other into the pocket 
 of the colonel. 
 
 The following case of extreme hardship was 
 related to me by an English merchant at 
 Seville, a man once extremely wealthy, but
 
 314 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 who has suffered irreparable losses from the 
 unjust acts of the government. He entered 
 into a contract with government to supply the 
 whole accoutrements for 12,000 cavalry. An 
 order so extensive required great outlay, and 
 constant attention. The accoutrements were 
 completed ; and one half, according to the 
 contract, delivered ; and when the time nearly 
 approached for the delivery of the remaining 
 quantity, an intimation was received, that no 
 more could be taken, because, to please the 
 people of Madrid, it was necessary to employ 
 the workmen of the capital. Not only was 
 there no indemnification made for the breach 
 of the contract, by which goods to the value 
 of 36,000/. were thrown upon the merchant's 
 hands ; but the price of the delivered goods 
 is to this hour unpaid. Four years have 
 now elapsed, and he has no expectation of 
 ever receiving one farthing; the debt being 
 too large to be adjusted by the sacrifice of 
 a part. 
 
 While I was at Seville, considerable discon- 
 tent was produced by a most unjust act of the 
 government. All arrears of taxes due upon 
 houses for the past thirty years, were claimed
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 315 
 
 from the actual proprietor : the consequence 
 of which was, that upon the mere shewing of 
 the government officer, proprietors were forced 
 to pay arrears for a period in which the house 
 was in other hands, and even in many cases, 
 before the actual proprietors were born ! 
 
 But more flagrant, at least more violent, 
 acts of injustice and oppression are some- 
 times committed. After the return of the 
 king, between two and three hundred persons 
 who had served in the national volunteers 
 during the constitution, were seized in Bar- 
 cellona, and shipped to Ceuta, — the Spanish 
 Botany Bay, — ^where they now remain. Their 
 crime was said to be, unadvised talk in the 
 coffee houses; but this was never ascertained, 
 because no form of trial was gone through ; 
 and three years have not elapsed, since a man 
 was hanged at Barcellona, without any one 
 knowing what crime he had committed. 
 
 The truest proofs of a good government, arc 
 just laws ; and the best evidence of a well 
 organized government, is to be found in their 
 strict execution. Judging the Spanish go- 
 vernment by these tests, it will appear the 
 worst and weakest government that ever held
 
 316 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 together. Justice of no kind, has any exist- 
 ence ; there is the most lamentable insecurity 
 of person and property: redress is never certain, 
 because both judgment, and execution of the 
 laws, are left to men so inadequately paid, 
 that they must depend for their subsistence 
 upon bribery. Nothing is so difficult as to 
 bring a man to trial who has any thing in his 
 purse, except to bring him to execution ; this, 
 unless in Madrid, and in Catalunia, where the 
 Conde de Espana is captain-general, is impos- 
 sible ; for money will always buy indemnity. 
 Every thing in Spain connected with the 
 following out of the laws, is in the hands of 
 the escrivanos ; these are the friends of all 
 bad men : for whatever be the action a man 
 may commit, or meditate, he has only to con- 
 fide in the escrivano, and pay for his protec- 
 tion. 
 
 The following remarkable fact, I had from 
 the lips of an eye-witness, a highly respect- 
 able American merchant, of Malaga. One day 
 last winter, two butchers quarrelled in the 
 market-place, and got to high words ; and one 
 of them, according to the usual practice in 
 such cases, put his hand under his girdle, and
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 317 
 
 half drew forth his knife. All the while, an 
 escrivano, of known talent in his profession — a 
 man who never allowed any one who confided 
 in him, to be either tried or executed, stood 
 close by. While the man still but half shewed 
 his knife, as if uncertain whether to use it or 
 no, the escrivano continued to jog him on the 
 elbow : ** Da /e," (give it him), said the law- 
 yer, ^'aqui estoy yo i' (don't you see that I am 
 here, so that no harm can come to you). The 
 butcher, however, had not been sufficiently 
 roused, for he put up his knife ; and the 
 escrivano, turning to him with a look of con- 
 tempt, said, "Alma miserable!'' (mean-spirited 
 creature), " and so, for the sake of 400 or 500 
 reals, you would not revenge yourself upon 
 your enemy." 
 
 Before concluding these examples of a bad, 
 weak, and tyrannical government, I cannot 
 refrain from mentioning the case of a man, 
 who has been in prison ever since the evacu- 
 ation of Spain by the French army ; and who 
 has still many years of punishment before him. 
 
 Shortly after the Duke D'Angouleme took 
 possession of Barcellona, the inhabitants were 
 one morning awoke by the ringing of bells,
 
 318 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 and other tokens of rejoicing : the cause of 
 this was soon announced to be, that the Virgin 
 of Monte Serrate, an image of silver or wood, — 
 I forget which, — had come to Barcellona, of 
 her own free will, probably considering herself 
 more secure there, than in the convent of 
 Montserrat; and about a year afterwards, when 
 it became evident that the French intended 
 no outrage upon the convent, it was given out 
 that the virgin had signified her intention to 
 return ; but it was determined, upon this occa- 
 sion, that she should not be allowed to return 
 by herself, but that she should be carried with 
 great pomp. A Catalunian peasant, who stood 
 in the line of procession, perhaps with better 
 eye-sight — perhaps with less faith, than his 
 neighbours, — unfortunately expressed aloud, 
 the thought that passed through his mind : 
 *' She 's only made of wood," said he ; — and for 
 this offence, he was arrested, tried, and con- 
 demned to ten years' imprisonment in the 
 citadel ! 
 
 These various facts will suffice, I think, as 
 proofs of that which I intended they should 
 illustrate : the despotism and the weakness of 
 the Spanish government — the total want of
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 319 
 
 integrity that characterizes all its dealings — 
 and its absolute inefficiency to execute the 
 laws, either for its own protection, or for the 
 redress of others. 
 
 Such being the condition of the Spanish 
 government, we are naturally led to ask our- 
 selves, "What are its prospects?" Is it to be 
 expected that a government, without one ele- 
 ment either of virtue or of strength — without 
 the physical strength that may long support 
 a bad government — and without the moral 
 strength of virtue, will be able long to 
 maintain itself? One naturally answers, — 
 " No," the thing cannot be; the whole system 
 requires ploughing up, and it is impossible 
 that there should not be a change, and that 
 speedily! ! But the question is, what change? 
 After the French revolution broke out, a change 
 of government in Spain was generally ex- 
 pected throughout both France and England; 
 but the expectations upon this subject were 
 certainly grounded upon an erroneous notion 
 of the state of public feeling in Spain. I have 
 no party to serve in giving my opinion ; it is 
 formed, I think, without prejudice, upon what 
 I have seen and heard while in the country ;
 
 320 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 and I feel a confident persuasion, that the 
 change hoped for by every friend of mankind, 
 is still at a distance; and that the present 
 government must yield to the strongest of the 
 two parties that seek its downfal. Spain, I 
 believe, has yet to pass through a fiery trial, 
 before her days of freedom and happiness 
 arrive : the change first to be expected, is one 
 from despotism and weakness to greater des- 
 potism and greater strength : and this will be 
 a new reign of terror. I am not stating my 
 own opinion merely, but the opinion of the 
 most thinking and best informed classes in 
 Spain — liberals, as well as Carlists and roy- 
 alists. With many, it is a miracle that the 
 party of Carlists have not, long ere now, 
 obtained the upper hand ; a fact only to be 
 accounted for, from the uncertainty that pre- 
 vails as to the sentiments of the army. I 
 recollect reading, in one of the French or 
 English newspapers, a statement, that about 
 the time the constitutionalists prepared to 
 enter Spain, the minister sent for the different 
 commanding officers of the guards stationed 
 in Madrid, and demanded of them whether 
 they could answer for their respective regi-
 
 SPAIN IX 1830. 321 
 
 ments ; and that the rej3ly was, they could 
 answer for themselves only : this statement 
 was true, but the interpretation put upon the 
 answer was erroneous. The government had 
 at that time greater fears of the Carlists than 
 of the Constitutionalists ; and the meaning of 
 the officers, when they said they could answer 
 only for themselves, was not — according to the 
 interpretation annexed to the statement — that 
 the troops were supposed to be of liberal sen- 
 timents, but that it was feared they might be 
 attached to the Carlists. The conspiracy for 
 elevating that party, — detected during the 
 autumn, —cannot be supposed to have crushed 
 it. I know that after that period, meetings 
 of its partizans were regularly held ; the in- 
 trigues of the clergy still continued in active 
 operation ; and subsequently to that period, 
 the birth of a princess left the male succession 
 open to the sons of Don Carlos. 
 
 That the probabilities of a change to greater 
 in place of to less despotism, may be more 
 obvious, not only the strength and influence 
 of parties must be looked to, but also the 
 peculiarities of Spanish character. Viewing 
 
 VOL. I. Y
 
 322 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 the present state of Spain, there appears to 
 exist a necessity for a more enlightened govern- 
 ment; and one with difficulty persuades him- 
 self of the probability of a revolution which 
 would pull down one despotic government to 
 raise another more despotic in its place. But 
 an Englishman would judge very erroneously 
 of the prospects of Spain, who should measure 
 Spanish feeling by his own ; and considering 
 what the people of England would do under 
 similar circumstances, conclude that Spain 
 will do likewise. The Spanish government 
 will fall by its weakness, rather than by its 
 vices ; it is the prospect of a stronger, not of 
 a more virtuous government, that incites the 
 exertions of the Carlists. The mass of the 
 population of Spain take little heed of the 
 vices of the government, and are entirely in- 
 different about political privileges. The 
 Basque provinces, which are the most en- 
 lightened, have little to complain of; for they 
 enjoy a multitude of privileges and exemp- 
 tions which are well defined, and jealously 
 maintained : and as for the Spaniard of the 
 southern provinces, — give him his shade in 
 summer, and his sunshine in winter ; his to-
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 323 
 
 bacco, his melon, his dates, his bread, and 
 his wine; give him a hole to creep into, and 
 put him within sound of a convent bell, and 
 he asks no more : or if you rise a degree or 
 two in society, and speak of the respectable 
 peasant, then give to him his embroidered 
 jacket, his tasseled hat, his guitar, and his 
 mqja, (sweetheart, in the dialect of Andalusia), 
 and it is matter of indifference to him, whether 
 Spain be ruled by a Caligula or a Titus. 
 
 The love of ease and pleasure, and the prone- 
 ness to indolence that distinguish the charac- 
 ter of the Spaniard, especially in the provinces 
 south of Castile ; and his total ignorance of the 
 uses and nature of political freedom, will yet, 
 for many years, prove a barrier to the progress 
 of free institutions in the Peninsula. It is 
 true that this contentedness with his condi- 
 tion, — this unripeness for political freedom, — 
 this ignorance of the claims of his species, 
 ought not to be alleged as any reason against 
 the attempt to force free institutions upon 
 him. It is that very ignorance, that unripe- 
 ness, that false contentedness, that hasten the 
 necessity for revolution ; because instruction, 
 Y 2
 
 324 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 without which no country can be rendered 
 fit for the enjoyment of political rights, could 
 never carry its light to the people, under a 
 government like that of Spain. 
 
 A series of attempts to establish liberal in- 
 stitutions in Spain may be necessary, before it 
 be found possible to sustain them ; but I 
 believe that every new attempt will be at- 
 tended with fewer obstacles. The most un- 
 successful struggle against despotism, must 
 produce good effects : accordingly, I do not 
 agree in opinion with those who contend, that 
 the movements of 1812 and 1820, retrograded 
 the cause of liberty. It is certain, indeed, 
 that the Spanish liberals then attempted im- 
 possibilities ; they based the constitution upon 
 principles of liberty, which Spain, nursed so 
 long in despotism, was unable to support; 
 yet the glimpse which Spain then caught of 
 the light of freedom, — the knowledge that was 
 conveyed through the medium of a free press 
 to every part of the kingdom, and especially 
 to all ranks in the metropolis, — and the unre- 
 strained interchange of sentiment, opened the 
 eyes of many, and prepared all, for a future 
 and wiser attempt. Such an attempt may
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 325 
 
 yet be at some distance ; a more despotic, but 
 a more vigorous government, may be able to 
 repress, for some years, the declaration of 
 principles hostile to those by which it is main- 
 tained : but opinion will advance neverthe- 
 less ; and the epoch will certainly arrive in 
 the history of Spain, — as it must in all countries 
 in which government stands still, — when men's 
 opinions, which change, clash with institu- 
 tions which change not. 
 
 The attempt upon the Spanish frontier 
 which followed the revolution in France, 
 would scarcely deserve notice, but for the 
 ignorance which it shewed of the state of 
 public feeling in Spain. I was then in Madrid ; 
 and I think 1 may venture to say, that this 
 movement created less sensation in Spain 
 than in any other country in Europe. An 
 attempt far better organized, could not at that 
 time have met with any success. The plans 
 of the Carlists were then advancing; and the 
 party was becoming every day more a subject 
 of embarrassment and alarm to the govern- 
 ment ; but the views of that party were a 
 sufficient security against the designs of the 
 other, whose ascendancy would at once have
 
 326 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 annihilated the hopes of the Carlists, It 
 was therefore sufficiently obvious, that if the 
 aspect of things on the frontier became formid- 
 able, the interest of the Carlists would lie in 
 strengthening the hands of government. But 
 all the well-informed classes, of whatever 
 party, looked upon the attempt as ill advised, 
 and certain of failure. I conversed at that 
 time with many persons of liberal sentiments, 
 who, with scarcely an exception, deprecated 
 the attempt as rash and useless ; and ex- 
 pressed deep regret that so many unfortunate 
 men should expose themselves to the merciless 
 policy of the government. It was well known, 
 that both the Basque Provinces and Cata- 
 lunia, — the two points at which the entry was 
 made, — were to be depended upon for their 
 loyalty, or their ultraism — sentiments alike 
 hostile to the liberals. The Basque Provinces, 
 which enjoy peculiar privileges, were the least 
 interested in the liberal cause ; and Catalunia, 
 one of the strong- holds of the Carlists, was 
 governed by the Conde de Espafia, whose great 
 experience, staunch loyalty, and decided cha- 
 racter, are always considered a guarantee for 
 the tranquillity of Catalunia. It was never
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 327 
 
 contemplated by the Spanish Government, to 
 meet the attempt by any other weapon than 
 force ; and even if the strength of the Consti- 
 tutionalists had been far more formidable, and 
 their success far more probable, conciliatory 
 measures w^ould have been impossible ; it is 
 perfectly understood that any act of the go- 
 vernment savouring of liberalism, would at 
 once be sealing it over to the power of the 
 Carlists. 
 
 The result was as all had anticipated : no 
 indication of favourable feeling, on the part of 
 the peasantry, attended the movements of the 
 invading force ; and without this, it was im- 
 possible that it could maintain itself. The 
 events that took place upon the frontier, were 
 probably better known in England than in 
 Spain : at all events, it does not fall in with 
 my object to enter into a detail of them.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE ESCURIAL— ST. ILDEFONSO— SEGOVIA. 
 
 Journey from Madrid; First View of the Escurial ; Philip II.; 
 Situation of the Escurial; the Chuixh; Lucas Jordan; the 
 Relics ; the Santa Forma ; the Sacristy and its Pictures ; a 
 Reverie ; the Hall of Recreation ; the Library ; the Tomb 
 of the Kings ; the Manuscript Library ; Ignorance and Idle- 
 ness of the Monks, and Anecdotes ; Manner of Life among 
 the Monks; the Palace; Particulars of the Extent and Cost 
 of the Escurial ; Pedestrian Journey across the Sierra Guader- 
 rama to St. Ildefonso ; the Palace, Waters, and Garden of 
 La Granja; Road to Segovia ; its Remains, and Present 
 Condition ; Expensiveness of Royal Honours ; Return to 
 Madrid. 
 
 Before leaving Castile for Andalusia, I made 
 two excursions, to objects well deserving a 
 visit, — the Escurial and Toledo. To the for- 
 mer of these, I shall dedicate the present 
 chapter.
 
 SPAIN IN 18:50. 329 
 
 Having hired a mule und a guide, I left 
 Madrid one charming morning, before day- 
 break; and passing out of the city by the gate 
 de San Vincente, I proceeded up the bank of 
 the river Manzanares along a good road, bor- 
 dered on both sides by poplars and willows. 
 From this road, the palace is a striking and 
 beautiful object ; and the sun rising shortly 
 after I had passed the gate, its blaze reflected 
 from the innumerable windows, produced a 
 magnificent and almost magical eftect. A 
 league from the city, the road, crossing the 
 river, leaves the stripe of scanty herbage that 
 borders it, and enters upon the wide arid 
 country, that extends all the way to the foot 
 of the Sierra Guaderrama. Travelling in any 
 direction from Madrid, there is little to nar- 
 rate ; the country is wholly devoid of interest; 
 there is scarcely any population; and no tra- 
 vellers are seen on the road, to relieve its 
 monotony, or attract the attention. 
 
 During four leagues, the road continues to 
 ascend almost imperceptibly, and then climbs 
 the first of those ridges, that are connected 
 with the outposts of the Sierra Guaderrama. 
 From the lop of the ridge, about four leagues
 
 330 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 and a half from Madrid, the Escurial is first 
 seen reposing at the foot of the dark moun- 
 tain that forms its back ground ; and although 
 still fourteen miles distant, it appears in all 
 that colossal magnitude that has helped to 
 earn for it the reputation of being the ninth 
 wonder of the world. Between this point and 
 the village of San Lorenzo, there is nothing to 
 interest, excepting the constant view of the 
 Escurial, increasing in extent, rising in eleva- 
 tion, and growing in magnificence, as the 
 summit of every succeeding ridge discloses a 
 nearer view of it. After a ride of seven hours 
 and a half, I arrived in front of the Escurial a 
 little after mid-day ; and dismissing my mule. 
 I immediately presented myself at the gate 
 with my credentials. These were, a letter 
 from the Marquesa de Valleverde, to El muy 
 Rev. Padre Buendia; and another from the 
 Saxon minister, to the Librarian to the Grand 
 Duke of Hesse Darmstadt, M. Feder, who had 
 been for several months resident in the Escu- 
 rial, employed in collating some classical 
 works. The monks being then at dinner, I 
 declined interrupting the enjoyment of the 
 Father Buendia, and was ushered into a small
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 331 
 
 apartment in one of the angles opposite to the 
 Sierra, where I remained about a quarter of 
 an hour, while the monks continued their 
 repast. 
 
 Most persons know that the Escurial was 
 erected by that renowned monarch, Philip II., 
 — renowned for his vices, his bigotry, and his 
 ambition. The reasons assigned by PhiHp for 
 the erection of this building are three-fold: — as 
 a token of gratitude to God, on account of the 
 victory gained over the French at St. Quintin ; 
 as an act of devotion towards the holy martyr 
 San Lorenzo ; and in fulfilment of the wish 
 expressed in the last will of Charles V., that a 
 sepulchre should be erected wherein to de- 
 posit the bones of himself and the empress, 
 the parents of Philip II. Another, and less 
 ostensible reason assigned by this religious 
 monarch, was that he might be able to retire 
 at times from the turmoil of the court ; and in 
 the seclusion of a royal monastery, profit by 
 the lessons of holy men, and meditate upon 
 theinstability of worldly grandeur: and Philip 
 shewed in his practice the apparent sincerity 
 of this motive ; for he was wont often to be an 
 inmate of the Escurial ; and traits of his dc-
 
 332 SPAIN IN 1830 
 
 votion and humiiity are yet related within its 
 walls. 
 
 The situation chosen for the Escurial accords 
 well with the gloomy character of its royal 
 founder. There is no town or city nearer to it 
 than Madrid, which is thirty-four miles dis- 
 tant ; a wild and deserted country forms its 
 horizon ; and the dark defiles and the brown 
 ridges of the Sierra Guaderramn are its cradle. 
 In the building itself, Philip royally acquitted 
 himself of his vows; for a structure so stu- 
 pendous in its dimensions, or so surpassing 
 in its internal riches, is nowhere to be found. 
 The building was begun in the year 1563, 
 under the direction of Juan Bautista de To- 
 ledo, and finished in 1584; Juan de Herrera 
 presiding over the work during several years 
 preceding its completion. 
 
 My meditations were interrupted by the 
 welcome entrance of Father Buendia, whom I 
 found an agreeable and rather intelligent man, 
 although a great worshipper of the memory 
 of Philip II. I was first conducted into the 
 church of the monastery, which certainly ex- 
 ceeds in richness and magnificence any thing 
 that I had previously imagined. It is quite
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 333 
 
 impossible to enter into minute descriptions of 
 all that composes this magnificence : the 
 riches of Spain, and her ancient colonies, 
 are exhausted in the materials ; — marbles, 
 porphyries, jaspers, of infinite variety, and of 
 the most extraordinary beauty, — gold, silver, 
 and precious stones ; and the splendid effect 
 of the whole is not lessened by a nearer in- 
 spection ; there is no deception, no glitter, — 
 all is real. The vv^hole of the altar-piece in 
 the Capilla Mayor, upM'ards of ninety feet high 
 and fifty broad, is one mass of jasper, por- 
 phyry, marble, and bronze gilded ; the eighteen 
 pillars that adorn it, each eighteen feet high, 
 are of deep red and green jasper, and the 
 intervals are of porphyry and marble of the 
 most exquisite polish, and the greatest variety 
 of colour. It is, in fact, impossible to turn 
 the eye in any direction in which it does 
 not rest upon the rarest and richest treasures 
 of nature, or the most excellent works of art ; 
 for if it be withdrawn from the magnificence 
 below, by the splendour of the ceiling above, 
 it discovers those admirable frescos of Lucas 
 Jordan, which have earned for him the charac- 
 ter of a second Angelo. It would be tedious to
 
 334 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 enlarge upon the subject of Jordan's frescos ; 
 they are too numerous indeed to be described 
 within the limits of a chapter ; but they com- 
 prise, it may be said, the whole history of the 
 Christian Religion, beginning from the Pro- 
 mises, and are excelled only by the works of 
 Angelo. The battle of St. Quintin, which 
 ornaments the ceiling of the great stair-case, 
 is considered to be one of the most excellent 
 of Jordan's frescos. 
 
 Lucas Jordan was born at Naples in the year 
 1632. His father chanced to live near Espa- 
 naletto, who was then in Italy ; and Jordan, 
 from infancy, was constantly in his neighbour's 
 workshop. At nine years old, he is said to 
 have made great progress ; and at fourteen he 
 ran away from his father's house, and went to 
 Rome, where, it is said, his father following 
 him, found him in the Vatican copying Michael 
 Angelo's Last Judgment. At Rome he was the 
 disciple of Pietro de Cortona; and he after- 
 wards visited Florence, Bologna, Parma, and 
 Venice, where he improved himself upon the 
 style of Paul Veronese. Subsequently he 
 went to Rome; but unable to forget Veronese, 
 he again returned to Venice, w^here he re-
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 335 
 
 niained until called to Florence, in 1G57, to 
 paint the cupola of the Capilla Corsini in the 
 church of Carmine. He was afterwards in- 
 vited to Spain by Charles II., and arrived in 
 Madrid in 1692 ; and from that time until his 
 death, his genius was employed in enriching 
 the palaces and convents of Spain, particularly 
 the Escurial. 
 
 Having satisfied my curiosity with the 
 church, and the frescos, I wished Father 
 Buendia to conduct me to the sacristy, where 
 are to be seen those glorious creations of the 
 pencil, which have added the charm of beauty, 
 to the grandeur and magnificence of the Escu- 
 rial. But my conductor led me first to the 
 relicary, whose contents were perhaps more 
 valuable in his eyes than those of the sacristy. 
 In this relicary, there were five hundred and 
 fifteen vases before the invasion of the French ; 
 but their number is now reduced to four hun- 
 dred and twenty-two. These vases are of 
 gold, silver, bronze gilded, and valuable wood; 
 many of them thickly studded with precious 
 stones: and upwards of eighty of the richest 
 of these vases still remain. But the French, 
 more covetous of the eold and silver than of the
 
 336 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 relics, made sad confusion of the latter; for 
 not caring to burden themselves with bones, 
 and wood, and dirty garments, they emptied 
 the little gold and silver vases upon the floor, — 
 irreligiously mingling in one heap, relics of 
 entirely different value. The labels indicating 
 the relics having been upon the vases, the 
 bones, &c. were without any distinguishing 
 mark; so that it was impossible to discriminate 
 between an arm of St. Anthonj'-, and the arm 
 of St. Teresa, — or to know a bit of the true 
 cross, from a piece of only a martyr's cross, — 
 or a garment of the Virgin Sin Pecada, from 
 one of only the Virgin of Rosalio : and as for 
 the smaller relics, — parings of nails, hair, &c. 
 many were irrecoverably lost. But with all 
 this confusion, and all these losses, the Escu- 
 rial is still rich in relics. Several pieces of 
 the true cross yet remain ; a bit of the rope 
 that bound Christ ; two thorns of the crown ; 
 a piece of the sponge that was dipped in 
 vinegar; parts of His garments, and a fragment 
 of the manger in v^hich he was laid. Making 
 every allowance for bigotry and excess of ill- 
 directed faith, I cannot comprehend the feel- 
 ing that attaches holiness to some of these
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 337 
 
 relics : it is impossible to understand what 
 kind of sacredness that is, which belongs to 
 articles that have been the instruments of 
 insult to the Divine Being. Besides these 
 relics of our Saviour, there are several parts 
 of the garments of the Virgin; there are ten 
 entire skeletons of saints and martyrs ; the 
 body of one of the innocents, massacred by 
 command of Herod ; and upwards of a hun- 
 dred heads of saints, martyrs, and holy men ; 
 besides numerous other bones still distinguish- 
 able. 
 
 But the peculiar glory of the Escurial, and 
 its most wondrous relic, is the Santa Forma, 
 as it is called ; in reality, " the wafer," in 
 which the Deity has been pleased to manifest 
 himself in three streaks of blood; thus proving 
 the doctrine of transubstantiation. This relic 
 has been deemed worthy of a chapel and an 
 altar to itself. These are of extraordinary 
 beauty and richness ; and adorned with the 
 choicest workmanship: jaspers, marble, and 
 silver are the materials ; and bas reliefs^ in 
 white marble, relate the history of the Santa 
 Forma ; which is shortly this. It was origin- 
 
 VOL. I. z
 
 338 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 ally in the cathedral church of Gorcum in 
 Holland, and certain heretics (Zuinglianos) 
 entering the church, took this consecrated 
 host, threw it on the ground, trod upon the 
 it, and cracked it in three places. God, to 
 shew his divine displeasure, and at the same 
 time, as a consolation to the christians, mani- 
 fested himself in three streaks of blood, which 
 appeared at each of the cracks. One of the 
 heretics, struck with the miracle, and re- 
 penting of his crime, lifted the Santa Forma 
 from the ground, and deposited it, along with 
 a record of the miracle, in a neighbouring con- 
 vent of Franciscans, who kept and venerated 
 it long ; the delinquent, who abjured his 
 heresy, and who had taken the habit, being- 
 one of their number. From this convent it 
 was translated to Vienna, and then to Prague; 
 and there its peregrinations terminated : for 
 Philip II. being a better Catholic than the 
 Emperor Rodolph, prevailed upon the latter 
 to part with it, and deposited it in the Es- 
 curial ; where it has ever since remained. It 
 had a narrow escape from being again trodden 
 upon, during the French invasion : upon the 
 approach of the enemy it was hastily snatched
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 339 
 
 from the sacred depositary, and unthinkingly 
 hid in a wine butt, where it is said to have ac- 
 quired some new, and less miraculous stains : 
 and after the departure of the French, a solemn 
 festival was proclaimed on the 14th of October, 
 1814; upon which occasion, his present ma- 
 jesty, assisted by all his court, and by half the 
 friars of Castile, rescued the Santa Forma from 
 its inglorious concealment, and deposited it 
 again in the chapel which the piety of Charles 
 II. had erected for it. The Santa Forma is 
 not shewn to heretics ; but its history is re- 
 lated : and it was evident, by the manner of 
 the friar who related it to me, that he placed 
 implicit belief in the miraculous stains. 
 
 Besides the general relicary and the peculiar 
 chai)el for the Santa Forma, there is another 
 smaller relicary, called the Camarin, into 
 which Father Buendia conducted me. Here 
 I was shewn an earthen pitcher, one of those 
 which contained the water that Jesus turned 
 into wine ; and affixed to the pitcher, there is 
 a writing, narrating the manner in which the 
 vessel found its way into the Escurial. I was 
 also shewn three caps of Pope Pius V. ; and a 
 
 7. 2
 
 340 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 stone which was taken from his Holiness' 
 bladder ; besides several manuscripts written 
 by the hand of St. Teresa, and St. Augustin ; 
 and the ink-horn of the former saint. 
 
 I might still have been gratified by the sight 
 of more relics; but I was anxious to visit the 
 sacristy, which contains relics of another kind. 
 The sacristy itself, in its walls, roof, and floor, 
 equals in beauty, any part of the Escurial ; 
 but the beauty of jaspers and precious stones, 
 and the excellent workmanship of many rare 
 and beautiful woods, are unheeded, where 
 attractions are to be found so far excelling 
 them. It is in the sacristy of the Escurial, 
 where the choicest works of the most illustrious 
 painters of the great schools are preserved ; 
 and of these we may say, what can rarely be 
 said of any collection, that among the forty- 
 two pictures that adorn the sacristy, there is 
 not one that is not a chef (Tceuvre. Among 
 these, there are three of Raphael, one of them 
 known all over the world by the name of La 
 Perla ; two of Leonardo da Vinci ; six of 
 Titian, and many of Tintoretto, Guido, Ve- 
 ronese, and other eminent masters. La Perla 
 represents the Virgin embracing the infant
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 341 
 
 Jesus, with her right arm round his body, while 
 he rests his feet upon her knee ; the Virgin's 
 left hand lies upon the shoulder of Saint Anne, 
 who kneels at her daughter's side ; her elbow 
 resting upon her knee, and her head supported 
 by her hand. The child, St. John, offers fruits 
 to the infant Christ in his little garment of 
 camel-skin ; and Jesus accepting them, turns 
 at the same time his smiling face towards his 
 mother, who is looking at St. John. Such is 
 the subject of La Perla, a picture that would 
 have placed Raphael where he now stands 
 among the illustrious dead, even if he had never 
 painted the Transfiguration, — any critique upon 
 a painting of Raphael would be impertinent. 
 While I was occupied with the treasures of 
 the sacristy, a bell rang for prayers ; and as it 
 was contrary to the rules of the monastery to 
 leave the door of the sacristy open, I was 
 locked in, while Father Buendia went to his 
 devotions. This was precisely the most agree- 
 able thing that could have happened : a large 
 chair, which looked as old as the days of Philip 
 II., stood below the altar of the Santa Forma ; 
 and drawing it into the middle of the sacristy, 
 and sitting down, I spent the next half-hour
 
 342 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 luxuriously ; not as might have been ima- 
 gined, in admiration of the immortal works 
 around me ; but in a waking dream, that carried 
 me away from the Escurial, and back to the 
 days of boyhood, when throwing aside my 
 Horace, I used to seize an old book, which I 
 have never seen since then, called " Swin- 
 burne's Travels," and devour the descriptions 
 of the Escurial ; its immensity, its riches, its 
 monks, its tomb of the kings, — not its pictures, 
 for I was then ignorant of even the name of 
 Raphael, — but this knowledge came later, 
 and all was blended together in this delicious 
 reverie, which was in fact a vision of the Es- 
 curial, as imagination had pictured it in bygone 
 days. But the great key, entering the door, 
 annihilated twenty years, and brought me 
 where I was, seated in the great chair in the 
 sacristy of the Escurial ; and after another 
 glance at the pictures, I followed Father 
 Buendia to the old church and the cloister; 
 but in passing to these, we entered the Hall 
 of Recreation, or as it is called. La Sala 
 Prioral. Here the monks assemble^at cer- 
 tain hours, to converse, and enjoy each 
 other's society ; and for this pujpose, they
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 343 
 
 have made choice of the most comfortable 
 room in the monastery. Although in Spain, 
 and only the beginning of September, a stove 
 was lighted ; benches, and even some stuffed 
 chairs, were scattered here and there. The 
 windows look over the garden and fish-ponds, 
 from which, on meagre days, the worthy fathers 
 contrive to eke out a repast ; and the walls of 
 the hall are adorned by some most choice pic- 
 tures by Peregrini, Guercino, Titian, Guido ; 
 among others, a half-clothed Magdalen, by 
 Titian, — scarcely a suitable study for these 
 holy men ; and, ** Magdalen at the Feet of 
 Jesus:" ascribed to Correggio, but which, 
 Mengs, in his notices of the life and works of 
 Correggio, supposes to have been left imper- 
 fect by that master, and to have been finished 
 by another hand : but it is, at all events, a 
 charming picture. 
 
 From the Sala Prloral, we went to the Iglcsia 
 Viga, which is remarkable only on account of 
 its pictures ; among which, is one of Raphael : 
 and from the Iglesia Vieja, I was next con- 
 ducted through the cloisters, also adorned 
 with pictures, to the great Library. This is a 
 magnificent room ; the ceilings in fresco, by
 
 344 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 Peregrini and Carducho, represent the pro- 
 gress of the sciences ; the floor is of chequered 
 grey and white marble ; and the finest and 
 rarest woods encase the windows, the doors, 
 and the books. The library is more curious 
 than extensive ; it does not contain more than 
 24,000 volumes, but many of these are scarce; 
 and among others, they shew a copy of the 
 Apocalypse of St. John, with a commentary, 
 and illuminated borders, and the devotional 
 exercises of Charles V., &c. The day was 
 almost spent before I reached the library ; 
 the light streamed but dimly through the deep 
 windows ; and the portraits of Charles, and 
 his son, — the gloomy-minded founder of the 
 monastery, — frowned darkly from the walls. 
 It was too late to examine the Manuscript 
 Library; and making an appointment with 
 Father Buendia for the morning, I left the 
 Escurial for the Posada, where I had ordered 
 a bed, and a late dinner. I was offered both 
 refreshments and a bed, in the monastery ; 
 but having a better opinion of the dinner I had 
 ordered than of a supper in the refectory, (for 
 it chanced to be Friday), I forced an excuse 
 upon the reverend father.
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 345 
 
 Although it was ahiiost niglit within the 
 Escurial, I found day without. It was yet 
 too early to expect dinner at the Posada; and 
 therefore, skirting the small straggling village 
 of San Lorenzo, I climbed up among the defiles 
 and ridges of the sierra that forms the back- 
 ground to the monastery and its tributary 
 village. The sun had already set, and dusk 
 was creeping over the distant landscape ; and, 
 excepting the vast and magnificent building 
 below, there was scarcely a trace of human 
 existence, for a ridge of the sierra shut out 
 the little village of San Lorenzo : and the only 
 sound I heard, was the bell from the monas- 
 tery. To me, there is nothing poetic in a 
 convent bell ; it only reminds me of bigotry 
 and ignorance, absurd penance, or sinful hypo- 
 crisy. It was almost dark before I reached 
 the Posada, where I had the pleasure of pass- 
 ing an agreeable evening with M. Feder, 
 whom I have spoken of already, and must 
 always speak of, as a learned and an amiable 
 man. 
 
 Next morning, I again claimed the good 
 offices of Father Buendia, and was conducted 
 by him to "the Tomb of the Kings;" per-
 
 346 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 haps the most magnificent sepulchre in the 
 world. It is impossible to conceive any thing 
 more gorgeous than this mausoleum : the de- 
 scent is by a deep staircase, underneath the 
 great altar of the church ; the walls of the 
 staircase being entirely of blood-jasper, of the 
 utmost beauty and polish. The mausoleum 
 itself is circular ; the walls are of jasper, and 
 black marble : and in rows, one over another, 
 are ranged the coffins of the kings of Spain. 
 They are all here, these masters of a hemi- 
 sphere ! a little dust in these gorgeous urns, is 
 all that remains of the mighty kings whose 
 deeds fill volumes — of Charles, who kept the 
 world in a flame, and left it for a cloister, — of 
 Philip, for whose ambition and crimes it was 
 too narrow. Death certainly owns no other 
 palace like this. The queens of Spain are not 
 all here ; only those who have given birth to 
 an heir to the throne. There are eight kings, 
 and eight queens, on opposite sides of the 
 mausoleum ; and a splendid urn stands empty 
 and open, destined to receive the present in- 
 heritor of the throne, who, when he visits the 
 Escurial, never fails to enter his tomb, there to 
 receive, if not to profit by, a lesson upon the
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 347 
 
 duties of kings, and the common destinies of 
 all. A lamp, always burning, is suspended 
 from the centre of the mausoleum, giving just 
 sufficient light to make legible the names of 
 its owners, inscribed in gold letters upon a 
 bronze tablet. I did not enter the Pantheon 
 of the Infantas, which contains no fewer than 
 fifty- nine urns. 
 
 From the mausoleum, I was conducted to 
 the Manuscript library, which is far more 
 valuable than the other. Although, previous 
 to the conflagration in 1671, it contained many 
 more treasures than it does now, it is still one 
 of the most valuable manuscript libraries in 
 Europe. The number of manuscripts yet pre- 
 served there, exceeds 4000 ; nearly one half 
 of the whole being Arabic, and the rest in 
 Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and the vulgar tongues. 
 I shall name a very few of the most remark- 
 able. There are two copies of the Iliad, of 
 the tenth and twelfth centuries ; but these 
 are not scarce ; and indeed, a very great 
 number of the manuscripts are copies of origi- 
 nals preserved in the libraries of Italy. There 
 are many fine and ancient Bibles, particularly 
 in Greek ; and one Latin copy of the Gosi)els,
 
 348 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 of the eleventh century. There are two books 
 of ancient councils, in Gothic characters, and 
 illuminated ; the one of the year 976, called 
 the Codigo Vigilano, because written by a 
 monk called Vigilia; the other of the year 
 994, written by a priest named Velasco. A 
 very ancient Koran is also shewn ; and a work 
 of some value, written in six large volumes, as 
 it is said by the command of Philip II., upon 
 the Revenues and Statistics of Spain. But 
 the most ancient manuscript is one of poetry, 
 written in the Longobardic, and dated as far 
 back as the ninth century. The Arabic manu- 
 scripts are also many and curious ; and the 
 manner in which these came into the hands 
 of the Spaniards was accidental. Pedro de 
 Lara being at sea, met some vessels carrying 
 the equipage of the Moorish king Zidian : 
 these vessels he fought with, and took ; and 
 found among other precious things, more than 
 three thousand Arabic manuscripts. The 
 Moorish king, subsequently offered sixty 
 thousand ducats for their restitution ; but the 
 overture was rejected, and restitution was pro- 
 mised only on condition that the whole of the 
 Christian captives should be released ; but
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 349 
 
 this demand not being complied with, the 
 manuscripts were sent to the Escurial. 
 
 The monks of the Escurial live too much at 
 their ease to acquire habits of study. The 
 monks in the olden time were not altogether 
 useless ; for to their industry and perseverance 
 we owe the preservation and multiplication 
 of many of the most esteemed authors of anti- 
 quity : but the friars of the present day have 
 sadly degenerated ; they make no use of the 
 treasures which their convents contain ; and 
 of this truth, the monks of the Escurial afford 
 a lamentable example. A gentleman with 
 whom I am acquainted, and who passed the 
 whole of every day during three months in the 
 library of the Escurial, assured me that all 
 that time, not one friar ever entered to ask for, 
 or examine a book. I am acquainted with 
 another proof of the ignorance or idleness of 
 the monks of the Escurial. A literary society 
 in one of the German states, being desirous of 
 publishing the works of the elder Pliny, and 
 believing that some assistance might be ob- 
 tained from the library of the Escurial, applied 
 to the Spanish government upon the subject ; 
 and orders were accordingly given to the libra-
 
 350 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 rian of the Escurial, to search, and to report 
 upon the works of Pliny contained in the 
 library. An answer was given, that it con- 
 tained no complete or useful work of Pliny, — 
 but only an abbreviation. A literary gentle- 
 man, however, from the same German state, 
 having obtained access to the library for other 
 purposes, found two perfect copies of Pliny's 
 Natural History. It is scarcely possible to 
 suppose that the librarian could have been 
 ignorant of the existence of these ; and the 
 only alternative therefore is, that he denied 
 any knowledge of them, from the dread of 
 receiving some command that might interfere 
 with his love of idleness. 
 
 At present there are one hundred monks in 
 the monastery of the Escurial ; and from all 
 that I could learn, they have no great reason 
 to complain of their lot. The order of St. Ge- 
 ronimo, to which they belong, is not one of the 
 strict orders : it allows a good table and un- 
 interrupted rest ; and prescribes few fasts, and 
 probably no penance. Each monk has at least 
 two apartments, and a small kitchen where a 
 little refresco may be prepared at any time, 
 without troubling the cooks below. There are
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 351 
 
 many fine terraces round the building, and a 
 tolerably shady garden, where the fathers have 
 the benefit of air, without hard exercise ; and 
 in the fish ponds, there is an inexhaustible 
 source of amusement, in which the kino- when 
 he visits the Escurial, condescends to join 
 every day after dinner. I saw no monk, who 
 did not seem contented ; and although with 
 the opportunities which they enjoy, they are 
 both idle and ignorant, I found them tolerably 
 well informed upon common topics, and greatly 
 interested in the news of the day. It would 
 seem, however, that they have not much access 
 to know what passes in the world ; for one of 
 their number preferred a request to me, that 
 before leaving Madrid, I would write him a 
 letter containing the latest news from France, 
 and from the frontier : scarcely any one but a 
 monk dared have made such a request; but 
 the friars are a privileged class. 
 
 The palace adjoining the monastery, is 
 scarcely worth a visit after seeing the magnifi- 
 cence of the latter: any where else, it would 
 be a splendid edifice. I merely walked through 
 the apartments. Altogether, although the Es- 
 curial be scarcely entitled to the appellation
 
 352 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 of the ninth wonder of the world ; it is confess- 
 edly the most wonderful edifice in Europe, 
 whether in dimensions or riches. To give 
 some better idea of these, than a general de- 
 scription can convey, I shall add the following 
 short enumeration. 
 
 In the Escurial, there are fifty-one bells ; 
 forty-eight wine cellars ; eighty staircases ; 
 seventy-three fountains ; eight organs ; twelve 
 thousand windows and doors ; and eighteen 
 hundred and sixty rooms. There are fifteen hun- 
 dred and sixty oil paintings ; and the frescos, 
 if all brought together, would form a square of 
 eleven hundred feet. The circumference of 
 the building, is 4800 feet — nearly three quar- 
 ters of a mile. 
 
 From a book kept in the monastery, con- 
 taining an account of the sums expended on 
 the building, &c., I made the following ex- 
 tracts, which may be esteemed by some, as 
 curious. The mason-work of the monastery 
 cost 5,512,054 reals ; the marbles, porphyries, 
 and jasper employed on the church, cost 
 5,343,825 reals; the labour of placing each 
 square on the floor, thirteen reals ; the painting 
 of the church, including the frescos of Jordan,
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 353 
 
 291,270 reals; the organs 295,997 reals ; the 
 workmanship of the choir (the king having pre- 
 sented the wood) 206,200 reals; the two hun- 
 dred and sixteen volumes used in the choir, 
 493,284 reals ; the whole of the bronze railings 
 556,828 reals ; the wood, lead, bells and gilding 
 of the church, 3,200,000 reals ; the paintings of 
 the library, 199,822 reals ; the ornaments of the 
 sacristy, 4,400,000 reals ; the materials of the 
 mausoleum, 1,826,031 reals. This is but a 
 very small part of the cost of the edifice, 
 because here are none of the gold and silver 
 ornaments, urns, or precious stones ; none of 
 the bronze, except the railings ; none of the 
 oil paintings ; nor almost any part of the work- 
 manship. I have stated the cost in reals, as it 
 appears in the book ; but any of the sums 
 divided by 100, will give the value in pounds 
 sterling nearly, though not precisely. 
 
 After having seen all that merits observation 
 in the interior of the building, I walked over 
 the terraces and gardens, where I met many 
 of the holy fathers taking their evening prome- 
 nade, several with segars in their mouths ; and 
 then leaving the garden, 1 extended my walk 
 
 VOL. I. 2 a
 
 354 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 to a country house which the present kmg 
 built and adorned : there is nothing regal about 
 the place, excepting a picture of his majesty. 
 
 My intention being to pass the Sierra Gua- 
 darrama to visit St. Ildefonso and Segovia, I 
 inquired for a mule at the village where I 
 slept ; but the price demanded was so ex- 
 orbitant — no less than six dollars each day, 
 besides the maintenance of the guide — that I 
 resolved to save the expense altogether, by 
 being a pedestrian, and my own guide. This 
 determination, I however kept to myself, be- 
 cause it is never prudent in Spain, to pub- 
 lish an intention of making a solitary journey. 
 
 Next morning, I left the Escurial at the 
 earliest dawn; and following the only road I 
 saw leading to the North, I soon found myself 
 ascending among the ridges of the Sierra. 
 The sun rose when 1 had walked about an 
 hour. The morning was fresh, and even chill ; 
 but the sky was blue and cloudless, the sun- 
 shine bright, and the air bracing and elastic ; 
 the road, too, became more interesting as I 
 ascended higher, — entering into the heart of 
 the mountain, and abounding in those moun- 
 tain views, which have so many charms be-
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 355 
 
 yond the dull monotony of a plain. I did not 
 meet a single traveller during" the first three 
 hours ; and I passed three crosses, one of 
 them recording a murder committed so lately 
 as the year 1828, upon a merchant of Segovia. 
 About four leagues from the Escurial, I passed 
 a small house, situated in a little hollow, at a 
 short distance from the road : and althouirh 1 
 should have been glad to rest awhile, and take 
 what refreshment the house afforded, its situa- 
 tion was so solitary, and the scenery around 
 so desolate, that I judged it safer to continue 
 my journey. Shortly after passing this house, 
 I reached the Puerto de Fuenfria, the summit 
 of the Sierra; taking its name, "Pass of the 
 Cold Fountain," from some icy springs that 
 bubble near ; from one of which I took a long 
 and refreshing draught. The scenery here is 
 of the wildest description. The mountain is 
 full of deep cuts and ravines, most of them 
 the courses of winter torrents ; aged and 
 stunted pines hang upon their edges, and are 
 strewn upon the brown acclivities around ; 
 while bare, huge, misshapen rocks project 
 over the path, and often force it to skirt the 
 brink of giddy and undefended precipices. 
 2 A 2
 
 356 
 
 SPAIN IN 1830, 
 
 When the Pass lays open the view to the north 
 of the Sierra, the prospect is fine and extensive ; 
 but anxious to reach St. Ildefonso, I scarcely 
 paused to survey it ; and in less than two 
 hours more, I delivered my letter to Don 
 Mateo Frates, governor of the palace. 
 
 The palace of St. lldefonso, or as it is more 
 commonly called in Spain, La Granja, was 
 built by Philip V., who undoubtedly made a 
 better choice than his predecessor, the founder 
 of the Escurial ; for if a cool breeze is any 
 where to be found in Spain during the heat of 
 summer, it is at St. lldefonso that it must be 
 sought. It is placed in a spot where the 
 mountains fall back, leaving a recess sheltered 
 from the hot air of the south, and from much of 
 its sun ; but exposed to whatever breeze may be 
 wafted from the north. The immediate accli- 
 vity towards the south, is occupied by the 
 garden, which, although somewhat formal in 
 the immediate neighbourhood of the palace, is 
 full of shade and coolness. Almost every one 
 has heard of the waters of La Granja ; these 
 were politely oifered to be displayed for my 
 amusement; but artificial water- works have 
 no great charms for me ; and besides, when
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 357 
 
 we see the fountains, it is not difficult to fancy 
 the play of the waters. I have no doubt, how- 
 ever, that the effect is striking ; and during 
 the heats of summer, so many jets must pro- 
 duce an agreeable influence upon the sur- 
 rounding atmosphere. The fountains and falls 
 are innumerable ; one of them, Fame seated 
 on Pegasus, raises a jet to the height of one 
 hundred and thirty- two feet ; and in another 
 spot, called the Plazuela de las ocho Calles, 
 eight fountains unite, forming a beautiful and 
 chaste temple of the Ionic order, adorned by 
 columns of white marble. The expense of 
 constructing the garden of La Granja has been 
 enormous ; it has generally been computed 
 to amount to upwards of seven millions ster- 
 ling. 
 
 The principal front of the palace faces the 
 garden ; it is one hundred and eighty yards 
 long, and in every respect palace-like ; but it 
 struck me as being too large, too formal, and 
 too fine, to be in perfect keeping with the sur- 
 rounding scenery ; the wild defiles of the 
 Sierra Guadarrama required a different kind 
 of palace. The interior is in every thing regal ;
 
 358 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 and is adorned by some choice works of the 
 first masters ; though many which formerly 
 belonged to this palace have been removed to 
 the Madrid museum. 
 
 In speaking of St. Ildefonso, let me not 
 omit to mention the renowned manufactory of 
 mirrors ; which are, at all events, the largest, 
 if not the finest in the world. The mould in 
 which the largest are made, is thirteen feet 
 and a half one way, seven feet nine inches the 
 other, and six inches deep. Some of the 
 mirrors made at St. Ildefonso, have found 
 their way into most of the royal palaces of 
 Europe. 
 
 I supped luxuriously upon venison, and ac- 
 cepted a bed in the palace ; but before retiring 
 to it, I had the pleasure of partaking of a bot- 
 tle of Valde Penas from the king's cellar. This 
 is a wine of which no idea can be formed, 
 judging of it by the samples commonly found 
 either in the public or private houses of Ma- 
 drid. Like many other of the Spanish wines, 
 it requires age to mellow it ; and it has be- 
 sides most commonly acquired, less or more, 
 a peculiar flavour from the skins in which
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 359 
 
 it is brought from La Maiicha. The king's 
 wine is no doubt carried in some other 
 fashion. 
 
 Segovia is only two leagues from La Granja, 
 and I had intended to have been there to an 
 early breakfast; but whether it be that one 
 sleeps sounder in a palace than elsewhere, or 
 that Val de Penas is of a soporific quality, it 
 is certain, that in place of awaking as usual 
 before day-break, half the mountain was 
 bathed in sunbeams when I looked out of my 
 window. I found a good breakfast of coffee 
 and its adjuncts (a rare luxury in Spain) 
 waiting me below ; and I also found that a 
 horse and a servant were in readiness to facili- 
 tate my transport to Segovia. I would will- 
 ingly have dispensed with this kindness ; for 
 although I have no objection to a horse, 
 guides and attendants of every kind arc my 
 abhorrence ; but there was no escape, — and I 
 left La Granja mounted and escorted. 
 
 The road betwixt La Granja and Segovia, 
 is particularly pleasing : it lies along the ridges 
 of the Sierra, — ascending and descending, 
 and catching every moment chaiining views 
 both of mountain scenerv, and of a more cul-
 
 360 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 tivated and living landscape. The morning 
 was beautiful, even for Spain, v^here all the 
 mornings are beautiful ; and I went no faster 
 on my royal charger than if I had been on 
 foot, — often pausing to admire the surrounding 
 prospects : these did not rise into the sublime, 
 nor could they be classed with the beautiful 
 or the romantic ; but they were varied and 
 agreeable — soothing and exhilarating by turns : 
 deep silent valleys, running up into the moun- 
 tains, spotted with pine, and covered with the 
 enamel of beauteous heaths ; streams, glanc- 
 ing like liquid silver, or spreading over little 
 hollows, gleaming like mirrors set in a rugged 
 frame ; smooth knolls, grown over with aromatic 
 plants and flowering shrubs ; and herds of 
 gentle deer, raising their heads, advancing at 
 a short run, and then stopping to gaze at me 
 as I passed by. These deer, however, so 
 beautiful to look at, are a scourge to this part 
 of the country, which is in most parts sus- 
 ceptible of cultivation ; and which, but for the 
 license allowed these favourite animals, might 
 yield an abundant produce. 
 
 The first sight of the celebrated aqueduct 
 disappointed me ; because it merges imper-
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 361 
 
 ceptibly among the houses ; but if contem- 
 plated in its individual parts, and followed 
 throughout its range, it rises into that conse- 
 quence which has been universally accorded 
 to it. It contains no fewer than one hundred 
 and fifty-nine arches ; its length is seven 
 hundred and fifty yards; and the height, in 
 crossing the valley, is ninety-five feet. I will 
 not, however, avow an enthusiasm which I 
 did not feel. The celebrated aqueduct of 
 Segovia failed to make so strong an impression 
 upon me as the Pont de Garde, near Nismes. 
 This I must ever look upon as one of the most 
 majestic and striking relics of antiquity now 
 extant. 
 
 I regret that I was tempted to avail myself 
 of an opportunity of returning to Madrid, 
 which left me too little time to devote to 
 Segovia. I arrived in Segovia about mid-day, 
 and chanced to learn that digallero, on springs, 
 would leave Segovia next morning, at four 
 o'clock, and reach Madrid the same day. To 
 walk once from the Escurial to Segovia, was 
 rather desirable than otherwise, but a repeti- 
 tion of the walk would have been tedious ;
 
 362 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 and as no other conveyance was likely to leave 
 Segovia for some days, I agreed to be the 
 fifth passenger, and had therefore only a few 
 hours to devote to Segovia. But this time 
 sufficed for the aqueduct, the cathedral, and 
 the alcazar. The cathedral did not strike me 
 as being particularly interesting ; and with the 
 recollection which I now have before me, of 
 Toledo and Seville, the cathedral of Segovia 
 seems scarcely worth a notice. The Alcazar 
 pleased me more; but this too, after subse- 
 quently seeing the Alhambra of Granada, 
 appears insignificant. 
 
 Segovia is a decayed city, like most of the 
 other cities of Spain ; and if considered with 
 reference to its former opulence and conse- 
 quence, its decay is the more striking. Two 
 hundred years ago, the cloth manufactory of 
 Segovia gave employment to 34,000 hands, 
 and consumed nearly 25,000 quintals of wool ; 
 fifty years ago, these were reduced to a sixth 
 part; and now, the manufactory is in a state 
 of perfect abeyance, the trade having been 
 chiefly transferred to the kingdom of Valencia. 
 Ill this city, of twenty-five parishes, and con-
 
 SPAIN IN 1S30. 363 
 
 taining twenty-one convents, the inhabitants 
 scarcely reach ten thousand. 
 
 The Posada in Segovia, I found remarkably 
 bad ; and the posadero seemed resolved to 
 give at least a fictitious value to his articles, 
 by the high price which he set upon them. 
 As I was to leave Segovia at the early hour of 
 four, I called for la cuenta before going to bed ; 
 and to my astonishment, three dollars were 
 demanded for my stewed rabbit, and a room 
 so full of mosquitos that I spent half the night 
 in planning warfare, and the other in execut- 
 ing slaughter. I told him no one would travel 
 in his country, if all the innkeepers charged 
 travellers as he did, — such charges would ruin 
 any body. And now the secret of his exorbi- 
 tant demand came out. " Oh, but," said he, 
 *'poor travellers don't ride upon the king's 
 horses, escorted by the king's servants ;" and 
 so my royal bearer, and his royal attendant, 
 cost me two dollars. I paid my money, and 
 consoled myself with thinking that it was })ro- 
 bably the last time I might bear a resemblance 
 to majesty. 
 
 At the appointed hour I took my place in
 
 364 
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 the gallero, smarting with mosquito bites, 
 and glad to rest from the work of destruc- 
 tion ; and after a drive along a road which 
 I already knew, I found myself in my apart- 
 ment in the Calle de la Madelina a little after 
 dusk.
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 TOLEDO. 
 
 Journey from Madrid; Proofs of the backwardness of Spain; 
 Appearance of the Country; Spanish Mule-driving; a Venta; 
 First View of Toledo ; Toledo Recreations and Society ; 
 Remains of Former Grandeur, and Proofs of Present Decay ; 
 Picturesque Views; theTagus; Intricacy of Toledo; Bigotry 
 and Priestcraft; Reasons for the Prevalence of Religious 
 Bigotry in Toledo ; Proofs of Bigotry ; Aspect of the Popu- 
 lation; the Cathedral and its Riches; Scene in the Cathedral; 
 the Alcazar ; Historical Retrospect ; Praiseworthy Institu- 
 tions of the Archbishop Lorenzana; the University; Toledo 
 Sword Manufactory ; the Franciscan Convent ; Return to 
 Madrid. 
 
 A few weeks before I visited Toledo, a pub- 
 lie conveyance had been for the first time 
 established between that city and the capital. 
 This conveyance left Madrid every alternate 
 day, and partook of the double nature of a
 
 366 SPAIN IN 18;50. 
 
 waggon, and of a diligence : externally, it was 
 a waggon ; but seats within, and glass win- 
 dows, entitled it to the rank of a diligence. 
 I took my place in this vehicle, at four in the 
 morning, after having stumbled over more than 
 one person lying asleep on the pavement, in 
 groping my way through the streets from my 
 lodgings to the waggon office. 
 
 It is a striking commentary upon the back- 
 ward state of Spain, and the general want of 
 enterprise that distinguishes both the govern- 
 ment and the people, that there should be no 
 road from the capital, to the largest city lying 
 within a hundred miles of it — the ancient 
 metropolis of Spain; and yet such is the fact: 
 for although the conveyance I speak of makes 
 its way from Madrid to Toledo, a distance of 
 nearly sixty miles, in about fifteen hours, it 
 travels over any thing but a road, with the 
 exception of the first ten miles from Madrid : 
 after this, there is sometimes a visible track, 
 and sometimes none ; most commonly, we 
 passed over wide sands ; at other times over 
 ploughed fields, or meadows ; and it was not 
 until we arrived within half a league of Toledo, 
 that we again found a road.
 
 SPAIN IN 18;J0. 3G7 
 
 The country between Madrid and Toledo, 
 1 need scarcely say, is ill peopled and ill cul- 
 tivated ; for it is all a part of the same arid 
 plain that stretches on every side around the 
 capital ; and which is bounded on this side, 
 by the Tagus. The whole of the way to 
 Toledo, I passed through only four incon- 
 siderable villages ; and saw two others at a 
 distance. A great part of the land is uncul- 
 tivated, covered with furze and aromatic 
 plants; but here and there some corn land is 
 to be seen, and I noticed one or two ploughs 
 in the fields ; these were worked by two 
 mules and one man, and seemed only to 
 scratch the soil. The great curse of every 
 part of Castile, is want of water ; in this 
 journey of sixty miles, I passed only two in- 
 significant brooks, — so very insignificant, that 
 a child might have dammed up either of them 
 in a few minutes with stones and sand : in 
 fact, from the Douro to the Tagus, there is 
 not a stream ancle deep, unless when swoln 
 by sudden floods. 
 
 I w^as much amused in this journey, by the 
 manner of driving our diligence. We had 
 seven excellent mules, which carried us the
 
 368 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 whole way; and these were managed in the 
 true Spanish mode, which does not admit of 
 postilions. Two men sit in front ; one always 
 keeps his place, holding the reins, and guiding 
 the two nearest mules ; the other leaps from 
 his seat every few minutes, runs alongside the 
 mules, applies two or three lashes to each, 
 gets them into a gallop, and as they pass by, 
 he lays hold of the tail of the hindermost 
 mule, and whisks into his place, where he 
 remains until the laziness of the mules, or a 
 piece of level ground, again calls him into 
 activity. The sagacity of the mules struck 
 me as most extraordinary ; after being put 
 into a gallop, the three front mules were left 
 entirely to themselves ; and yet they unerr- 
 ingly discovered the best track; avoided the 
 greatest inequalities ; and made their turnings 
 with the utmost precision. 
 
 We stopped some time before mid-day at a 
 venta, to refresh the mules, the muleteers, and 
 the travellers ; who, besides myself, consisted 
 of three priests and one woman, the wife of a 
 tradesman in Toledo. This was one of those 
 ventas of which I had often heard, but had 
 not yet seen— where, in reply to the question,
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 369 
 
 '' what have you got to eat ?" you are answer- 
 ed, ''whatever you have brought with you." 
 For my part, I had brought nothing ; but the 
 clerigos had provided well against the assaults 
 of the flesh ; and a cold stew of various fowls 
 and bacon being produced by them, and 
 heated by the mistress of the venta, we made 
 a hearty and comfortable dinner ; and then 
 continued our journey. 
 
 Toledo is seen about a league before reach- 
 ing it; and, with the exception of Granada, 
 its situation is the most striking of any city 
 in Spain. Its fine irregular line of buildings 
 cover the summit and the upper part of a hill 
 of considerable elevation ; behind which, the 
 dark romantic range of the Toledo mountains 
 forms a majestic back-ground. Even at this 
 distance, Toledo is evidently no city of yester- 
 day ; for besides the innumerable towers of its 
 convents, churches, and stupendous cathedral 
 — the metropolitan of Spain — the outline is 
 broken by other buildings of a more grotesque, 
 or more massive form ; while here and there, 
 the still greater irregularity of the outline 
 points to ages too remote, to have left to 
 
 VOL. I. 2 b
 
 370 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 modern times any other legacy than their 
 ruins. Toledo was still illuminated by the 
 setting sun when I caught the first view of it ; 
 but before arriving under its walls, all was 
 dusky, excepting the summits of the moun- 
 tains behind ; these still wore the purple 
 light of evening ; and the meanderings of the 
 Tagus, flowing westward, were also visible 
 beneath those bright orange tints that are 
 peculiar to Spanish skies. 
 
 I had no sooner secured a bed in the posada, 
 than I went to deliver my letters ; these were, 
 one to a gentleman, an employee, holding a 
 situation in the finance ; the other to a pre- 
 bendary, librarian of the cathedral. I was 
 received with the greatest civility by both ; 
 and after taking chocolate with the former, I 
 accompanied him to the castle, to be present 
 at what was considered quite an event in 
 Toledo : this chanced to be the king's birth- 
 day ; and in honour of it, the band of royalist 
 volunteers paraded the principal streets by 
 torch light ; and so monotonous a thing is life 
 in Toledo, that this occurrence produced quite 
 a sensation. It was scarcely possible to force 
 one's way through the narrow streets, which
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 371 
 
 were filled with a dense mass of people, almost 
 entirely men ; for the ancient Spanish customs 
 still attach to Toledo too much, to sanction 
 there the liberty which foreign usage has con- 
 ferred upon the women in most of the other 
 Spanish towns. 
 
 I must not omit a trifling fact, that throws 
 some light upon the state of feeling in Tole- 
 do. I had purchased a grey hat in Paris, and 
 had worn it constantly in Spain ; and although 
 I had heard in Madrid that the wearers of 
 white hats were looked upon with suspicion, 
 I had never suffered any interruption or insult 
 in consequence, excepting now and then a 
 scrutinizing look from some royalist volunteer 
 or police agent. But the gentleman to whom 
 I was recommended in Toledo, would not per- 
 mit me to go into the street in a grey hat ; he 
 said he could not answer for my safety ; and 
 while I remained in Toledo, he was so kind as 
 to equip me with a small round, high-crowned 
 hat, almost the only kind worn by its inha- 
 bitants. 
 
 The same evening that I arrived in Toledo, 
 I was presented at a tertulia, which is the sole 
 2 B 2
 
 372 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 recreation of the inhabitants ; for there is no 
 public diversion of any kind : formerly there 
 was a theatre; but the canon, who was then at 
 the head of the university, obtained a royal 
 order to suppress it, and it has remained 
 closed ever since. Bull-fights even are for- 
 bidden in this priest-ridden city ; so that 
 unless processions of Saints and Virgins are 
 to be considered an amusement, the inhabit- 
 ants have positively no resource but in the 
 tertulia. Nowhere are Spanish customs seen 
 more pure than in Toledo ; and nowhere is 
 the monotony of the tertulia more striking. 
 The party assembled about nine, — there were 
 fifteen persons present, about one half of them 
 ladies. The sole amusement was talking, and 
 some of the party playing basto for a very low 
 stake ; and after a glass of agua fresca, the 
 party separated about eleven. In Toledo a 
 certain circle agrees to form a tertulia : one 
 house is selected, where it is to be held, — the 
 most central, perhaps, or the most conve- 
 nient; and the same individuals assemble at 
 the same house, and at the same hour, every 
 day throughout the year! This is Toledo 
 society.
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 373 
 
 The morning after my arrival in Toledo, I 
 rose early, anxious to see this ancient and 
 truly Spanish city ; and crossing the Plaza 
 Real, which, at the early hour of six, resounded 
 with the ringing of the blacksmith's hammers, 
 whose shops half monopolise the square, I 
 followed the widest street that presented it- 
 self; and after a steep descent, I found myself 
 at the eastern extremity of the town, and on 
 the bridge over the Tagus. It is impossible 
 to walk a step in Toledo, or to turn the eye in 
 any direction, without perceiving the remains 
 of former grandeur, and the proofs of present 
 decay : ruins are every where seen, —some, 
 the vestiges of empires past away, and whose 
 remains are crumbling into nothingness, — the 
 empires of Carthage and of Rome : other ves- 
 tiges,— those of an empire equally fallen, but 
 more visible, in the greater perfection of its 
 monuments, — the Empire of the Moors : and 
 still another class of ruins, — those more recent 
 emblems that record the decay of the Spanish 
 monarchy through the lapse of a hundred and 
 fifty years. Past magnificence and present 
 poverty are every where written in a hundred 
 forms, and in legible characters. But all this,
 
 374 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 although offering to the reflecting mind an 
 impressive example of the '* sic transit gloria 
 mundi," gives to Toledo much of its peculiar 
 interest in the eye of a stranger ; and adds to 
 the picturesque and striking character of the 
 views presented from every quarter. Few of 
 these are finer than the view of this remark- 
 able city and its environs, from the bridge 
 over the Tagus, where my morning walk con- 
 ducted me. 
 
 The Alcazar, that immense pile, once the 
 residence of Moors, and subsequently of the 
 kings of Spain, forms one corner of the city. 
 The irregular and picturesque line of buildings, 
 at least one half of them convents, each with 
 its tower, and terrace, and hanging garden, 
 stretches along the summit of the hill, towards 
 the West ; while strewing the sides of the 
 steep acclivity, and mingled with the convent 
 gardens, are seen the remains of the Roman 
 walls that once entirely inclosed the city, 
 and that even yet, are in many places nearly 
 perfect. Withdrawing the eye from Toledo, 
 and looking across the bridge, an elevated 
 rocky mount presents itself, crowned with the 
 ruins of a Moorish castle ; and leaning on the
 
 SPAIN IN i«;5o. 375 
 
 parapet, and looking towards the South, the 
 river is seen far below, flowing in a deep rocky- 
 channel, one of its banks being the hill upon 
 which the city stands, — and the other, the 
 North front of the Toledo mountains. The 
 peculiar situation of Toledo is best understood 
 from this point. The river Tagus, coming 
 from the westward, flows directly towards the 
 north-east corner of the city ; and in place of 
 continuing to flow in the same direction — by 
 which it would leave the city and its hill upon 
 the left, — it makes a sudden turn, sv/eeps 
 behind the city and its hill, and in front of the 
 Toledo mountains, — and after describing three 
 parts of a circle, it re-appears at the opposite 
 corner, and continues its course towards the 
 west. The course of the Tagus is singular ; 
 the Sierra de Albarracin, where it rises, is 
 no more than eighty miles from the Mediter- 
 ranean, in a straight line across Valencia ; but 
 the Tagus, taking an opposite direction, runs 
 a course of nearly six hundred miles to the 
 Atlantic, — traversing the interiorof Spain, pass- 
 ing into Portugal, and forming the glory and 
 the riches of its capital. It would be no diffi- 
 cult matter, to render the Tagus navigable
 
 376 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 from Toledo to the sea, a distance of between 
 four and five hundred miles ; the passage was 
 attempted in the winter of 1829, by a boat 
 from Toledo, and succeeded, the boat having 
 arrived safely at Lisbon ; but this could not 
 have been done at any other season ; because 
 in dry weather, the water is in many places 
 almost wholly diverted from its natural chan- 
 nel, for the use of the mills that have been 
 erected upon its banks. 
 
 I endeavoured to find my way from the 
 bridge to the posada by a different road, — but 
 this was an attempt of some difficulty. I 
 believe there is no town in Europe in which it 
 is so difficult to find ones way, as in Toledo : 
 the streets are innumerable ; few of them are 
 more than three yards wide; they are steep, 
 tortuous and short, constantly branching off 
 at acute angles, so that all idea of direction 
 is soon lost; and there are no open spaces from 
 which some prominent object may be taken 
 as a guide. A gentleman who had resided 
 fourteen years in Toledo, told me that he was 
 not acquainted with half of the streets ; and 
 that it was no unusual occurrence to lose him- 
 self, in endeavouring to find near cuts from one
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 377 
 
 place to another. Although I arrived at the 
 posada two hours later than I expected, I had 
 nothing to regret in the delay ; my mistakes 
 having carried me through parts of the town 
 which I might not otherwise have had an op- 
 portunity of seeing. 
 
 Walking through Toledo, there is a subject 
 of more melancholy reflection than that which 
 arises from the vestiges of former greatness; 
 I mean, the abundant proofs of bigotry and 
 ignorance that are gathered at every step. 
 There is no city of Spain so entirely given up 
 to the domination of the priests and friars, as 
 Toledo; because there is no other city in which 
 these form so large a portion of the population, 
 or where the riches of the religious bodies are 
 so preponderating. Toledo, it is believed, once 
 contained 200,000 inhabitants ; forty or fifty 
 years ago, it contained, according to tiie 
 writers of those days, about 30,000 ; at this 
 day, its inhabitants do not exceed IG or 17,000; 
 but throughout this progressive decay, the con- 
 vents and churches, the priests and friars, 
 have continued undiminished : the cathedral 
 is still served by its forty canons, and fifty 
 prebendaries, and fifty chaplains ; the thirty-
 
 378 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 eight parish churches and chapels, have still 
 their curates, and their assistants, and their 
 many dependents ; and the thirty-six convents 
 and monasteries, have yet their compliment of 
 friars and nuns. The revenues, indeed, of all 
 these religious bodies, have suffered some di- 
 minution during the last fifty years ; but this 
 diminution has been nothing in comparison 
 with the decrease in the resources of all the 
 other classes of inhabitants. The revenues of 
 the archbishop amounted fifty years ago, to 
 seven millions of reals, (70,000/. sterling); at 
 present they do not exceed four millions of 
 reals, (40,000/. sterling) : the incomes of the 
 canons amounted, at the former period, to at 
 least eighty thousand reals (or 800/. sterling) ; 
 now, they scarcely reach one half of this sum : 
 all these diminutions are the result of the fall 
 in the price of corn, in which their revenues 
 are computed. But the incomes of the curates 
 of the parishes are still more reduced, many of 
 the parishes having entirely fallen into decay : 
 there are some, in which there are not now 
 twenty inhabited houses ; so that the curates 
 of these, are in a state of absolute destitution. 
 The revenues of the convents have of course
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 379 
 
 suffered a diminution proportionate to that 
 which has affected the church. But notwith- 
 standing this decrease in the revenues of the 
 religious bodies, these are still sufficiently 
 great, to create an overwhelming interest in a 
 city whose inhabitants scarcely quadruple the 
 number of those who live by these revenues. 
 In fact the whole city, with the exception of 
 the government employees, lives by these re- 
 venues. Many are directly benefited by their 
 collection, their management, and by the hus- 
 bandry of the land that produces them ; while 
 their disbursement must necessarily benefit 
 every class of men who administer either to 
 the necessities, or the luxuries of life. But 
 besides the effect which self-interest has in 
 supporting the influence of priestcraft in To- 
 ledo, other reasons may be assigned for its 
 preponderance. 
 
 The geographical position of Toledo is highly 
 favourable to the success of this jugglery ; 
 for, with sufficient resources in the territory 
 that lies along the Tagus, and with no passable 
 road or navigation of any kind to other towns, 
 the inhabitants have scarcely any intercourse 
 with strangers, — none whatever with foreigners.
 
 380 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 The immense number of priests and friars, 
 also, who may all be considered spies upon 
 the lives of the inhabitants ; and the great and 
 secret influence of the archbishop, cannot fail 
 to act as obstacles to the progress of infor- 
 mation, both by reading and conversation : 
 and, indeed, there is in Toledo a species of 
 religious espionnage, which is, in fact, a rem- 
 nant of the Inquisition : certain friars call 
 every Monday morning, at every house, to 
 receive the certificates of confession which 
 have been given to the inmates, if they have 
 confessed the day before. And I must not 
 omit to mention, as another cause of the pre- 
 ponderance of priestly influence in Toledo, 
 the greater correctness exhibited in the lives 
 of the religious orders in this city, than in the 
 other cities of Spain ; and the larger alms 
 given by the convents. With the exception 
 of some whispers respecting the canons and 
 prebendaries, who were said to be remarkable 
 for the number of infant nephews, nieces, and 
 cousins, whom they had humanely taken 
 under their fatherly protection, I heard not 
 one insinuation against any other of the reli- 
 gious orders.
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 381 
 
 The great respect, or rather veneration, in 
 which the religious bodies, — especially the 
 friars, — are held in Toledo, as well as many- 
 other proofs of the bigotry of the inhabitants, 
 are every where visible. A Franciscan friar, 
 or any monk belonging to one of the poor and 
 self-denying orders, receives some obeisance 
 from every one, as he passes along the street ; 
 even the portly canon or prebendary, who 
 bears about with him the evidences of self- 
 indulgence in place of self-denial, receives 
 some token of respect : every shop is provided 
 with a saint in a niche, to bless its gains ; and 
 upon every second or third door, a paper is 
 seen with these words printed upon it, — 
 Maria Santa Purissima, sin Pecado concebida. 
 In the respect too which is paid by the inhabit- 
 ants to religious processions, abundant proof 
 is afforded of the superstition that still clings 
 to the people of Toledo. I happened to be in 
 the neighbourhood of the Carmelite convent 
 when the procession of St. Theresa issued 
 from it. This is the patron saint of the con- 
 vent, and her image was carried through the 
 streets, followed by a multitude of friars : it 
 is considered a mark of devotion, to carry a
 
 382 
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 lighted candle upon such occasions ; and 1 
 noticed many persons bearing candles, who, 
 by their dress and general appearance, must 
 have belonged to the middle classes. In the 
 open court in front of the convent, there were 
 not less than 2,000 persons collected ; and 
 when the image was carried past, I did not 
 see a single individual in any other position 
 than upon his knees. 
 
 Another time, walking in the neighbourhood 
 of the city, on the road, or rather track, 
 across the mountains, I observed two uni- 
 versity students, seventeen or eighteen years 
 of age, busily employed in collecting stones, 
 and laying them upon a cross erected by the 
 wayside in commemoration of a murder, — and 
 with each stone muttering a prayer. I did 
 not, at that time, understand the meaning of 
 this strange occupation ; but I afterwards 
 learned, that in virtue of some ancient papal 
 authority, a certain indulgence is granted for 
 every stone laid on the cross of a murdered 
 man, if accompanied by a prayer. 
 
 The general aspect of the population of 
 Toledo is intensely Spanish ; there is no ad- 
 mixture of foreign, or even of modern innova-
 
 SPAIN IN 18.30. 383 
 
 tion, to be seen. Men of all ranks wear the 
 cloak ; and the small round, high-crowned, 
 Spanish hat, is worn not only by the pea- 
 santry, but almost universally, by persons of 
 all classes. Among the women, no colours 
 are to be seen ; black is the universal dress ; 
 and scarcely any one enters a church unveiled. 
 Largely as the friars enter into the street 
 population of Madrid, they enter far more 
 largely into that of Toledo. In Madrid they 
 are spread over a greater surface. In Toledo, 
 the only lounge is the Plaza Real ; and there, 
 at certain hours, particularly about two 
 o'clock, it seems almost like a convent hall of 
 recreation, and a sacristy of a cathedral united ; 
 for canons, and prebendaries, and curates, and 
 twenty different orders of friars, are seen 
 standing in groups, strolling under the piazzas, 
 or seated upon benches, refreshing themselves 
 with melons or grapes. There cannot be a 
 more perfect realization of the conception of 
 *' fat, contented ignorance," than the Plaza 
 Real of Toledo presents every day after din- 
 ner. Not many poor are to be seen among 
 the population of Toledo ; it has now dwindled 
 down to that point, at which the wants of the
 
 384 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 church, the university, and the convents, can 
 sustain it : beyond this number there are few ; 
 and those few are supported by church and 
 convent alms : the only beggars I saw, were 
 three or four women, who sat at the gate of 
 the cathedral. 
 
 I was not long in Toledo before visiting its 
 cathedral, which has no rival but the cathedral 
 of Seville, in its claims to be the greatest and 
 the most magnificent of Gothic temples. All 
 the cathedrals I had ever before seen, shrunk 
 into insignificance when I entered the cathe- 
 dral of Toledo. The following are the dimen- 
 sions of this majestic pile. The interior of the 
 church is four hundred and eight feet long, 
 and two hundred and six feet wide ; and the 
 height of the aisles is one hundred and sixty 
 feet. The columns that run along the aisles 
 are forty-five feet round : there are sixty- 
 eight painted windows; and surrounding the 
 choir, and the Altar Major, there are one 
 hundred and fifty-six marble and porphyry 
 pillars. I was not able to see the Precioci- 
 dades the first day I went to the cathedral : 
 to be so specially favoured, a separate order 
 was required ; and I returned accordingly the
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 385 
 
 following morning by appointment. I do not 
 mean to enumerate the different articles that 
 compose the riches of the cathedral of Toledo 
 — the richest in the world — but I shall men- 
 tion a very few of the most remarkable. I saw 
 the Virgin's mantle, — one mass of precious 
 stones, especially pearls, of which there must 
 have been thousands, if not millions : I saw 
 many images of pure gold, studded with pre- 
 cious stones : I saw the Virgin's crown, also 
 of pure gold, but entirely covered with the 
 largest and most brilliant jewels, — sapphires, 
 emeralds, rubies, and diamonds; and sur- 
 mounted by an emerald of most extraordinary 
 size and beauty ; the image which upon high 
 days is arrayed in all this finery, is of silver. 
 There is another room, called the custodla, in 
 which I saw innumerable urns of pure gold, 
 most of them studded with precious stones ; 
 and which contain relics ; these I did not ask 
 to see, but I was informed that there are few 
 saints in the calendar, of whom this the relicary 
 of Toledo does not contain something. The 
 value of the gold and silver might be easily 
 ascertained; but the value of jewels is more 
 VOL. 1. 2 c
 
 386 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 capricious : I was told, however, that every 
 article is inventoried and valued, in a book 
 kept for that purpose; and although my in- 
 formant did not state to me the precise amount 
 noted in the book, he said it exceeded forty 
 millions of ducats (10,000,000/. sterling) : 
 whether the value of the relics be included 
 in this estimate, I cannot tell. This is a 
 melancholy waste of property ; and when, in 
 connexion with this, we view the deplorable 
 condition of Spain, we naturally inquire whe- 
 ther the judicious employment of this wealth 
 could materially better that condition. Un- 
 doubtedly it might accomplish much ; and 
 had the whole inert wealth of Spain been 
 directed a hundred years ago into useful chan- 
 nels, Spain would at this day have been a 
 more enlightened and a more flourishing coun- 
 try ; but Spain could never have been made 
 one continued garden, as some writers have 
 supposed ; because the wealth of the world 
 could never charge Castilian skies with rain- 
 clouds ; force springs to bubble from sandy 
 deserts ; or clothe with soil, the rocky Sierras 
 that half cover the Peninsula. 
 
 The wealth of the cathedral of Toledo had
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 387 
 
 a narrow escape from the rapacity of the 
 French : upon their approach, the archbishop 
 — not the present, but the last archbishop — 
 carried away the whole of the portable articles 
 to Cadiz, and thus saved them : the heavier 
 articles remained in their places; and the 
 French when they took possession of Toledo, 
 asked one fourth part of their value ; but a 
 much less sum was offered, and accepted, 
 viz. 90 arrobas, or 2250 lbs. of silver — a mere 
 trifle, scarcely equalling the value of one of 
 the precious stones. 
 
 But the preciocidades, and marbles, and 
 porphyries, and paintings, are not, in my 
 eyes, the most interesting features of the ca- 
 thedral of Toledo: its immensity, its grandeur, 
 are its glories. The lofty and majestic aisles 
 — the massive and far-stretching columns of a 
 temple like this, seem almost to shadow forth 
 the imperishable nature of the religion whose 
 sanctuary they adorn and uphold. The longer 
 we contemplate the vastness and majesty 
 around, the mind is more and more filled with 
 awe, and lifted from the insignificance of life 
 to a sense of the greatness and solemn gran- 
 2c 2
 
 388 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 deur of eternity ; we are filled with enthusiasm 
 and admiration, — enthusiasm the more lofty, 
 because it is mingled with religion ; and 
 admiration the more profound, since it is 
 mixed with astonishment, that so frail a crea- 
 ture as man should be able to perpetuate his 
 memory for ever. While I remained in To- 
 ledo, I spent a part of every day in the cathe- 
 dral ; and every evening, about sunset, I 
 strolled through the aisles. These visits will 
 not soon be forgotten, for it is but rarely that 
 life gathers such subjects of remembrance. 
 The last evening I remained in Toledo, I 
 walked into the cathedral sometime after sun- 
 set, — it was the latest visit I had made to it : 
 the interior was all wrapped in deep dusk ; — 
 the lofty aisles stretched darkly beyond, only 
 shewn by a solitary lamp burning before the 
 shrine of some inferior saint, — its ineffectual 
 light dimly falling athwart the gloom ; the 
 painted windows had ceased to throw their 
 gorgeous hues within, — but a speckled and 
 faintly-coloured gleam fell upon the upper part 
 of the columns. Two candles burnt before the 
 Altar Major ; and in the distance, at the far- 
 thest extremity of the church, a bright red
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 389 
 
 blaze flashed across the aisle, and between the 
 massive pillars, — throwing their broad shadows 
 across the marble-chequered floor of the 
 church : this was the chapel of the miraculous 
 image, lighted up with an infinity of tapers, — 
 and the only sound to be heard, save my own 
 footstep, was the distant hum of prayer from 
 the many devotees prostrated before her shrine. 
 Here and there, as I walked through the 
 aisles, I saw a solitary kneeler at the altar of a 
 favourite saint ; and at some of the remotest 
 and obscurest spots, a cloaked caballero was 
 waiting for good or for evil. 
 
 I dedicated my second morning in Toledo 
 to the Alcazar, one of the most striking objects 
 in the city, from almost M'hatever quarter it is 
 viewed. This massive fabric was once the re- 
 sidence of the Moorish kings, and more lately 
 of the Castilian sovereigns. It was in the 
 reign of Charles V. that the present south and 
 north fronts were erected, the former by Her- 
 rera. The whole building is now^ in a state of 
 decay, — these magnificent fronts arc falling 
 into ruin; and the inside of the edifice is no 
 longer habitable ; one wing only, which is 
 still entire, is used as a prison. When Toledo
 
 390 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 ceased to be the metropolis of Spain, the Al- 
 cazar was converted into a workhouse, and 
 more lately it was employed as a silk manu- 
 factory. The archbishop undertook the estab- 
 lishment of this from humane motives, but 
 the undertaking proved a failure ; and it is 
 probable that the Alcazar will now be de- 
 livered over to the hand of time. 
 
 Among other parts of the Alcazar, I visited 
 the vaults, which are of immense extent, and 
 open to the public, but are put to no use what- 
 ever : in one of the vaults, a party of gipsies 
 had made their quarters ; they had lighted a 
 large fire, around which some lay sleeping; 
 and one woman was employed in cooking. 
 The grotesque and ragged figures of the gip- 
 sies, and the high vault illuminated by the red 
 flare, reminded me of the strong lights, and 
 picturesque groups of the Spanish painters. 
 
 Standing in front of the Alcazar, with the 
 terrace which overlooks the city and the sur- 
 rounding country — with ruins of Roman walls, 
 and Moorish castles at my feet — and with the 
 palace of three races of kings behind ; it was 
 impossible to avoid a retrospect of the past 
 history of this remarkable city. More than
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 391 
 
 two centuries before the birth of Christ, Toledo 
 was added by Hannibal to the empire of the 
 Carthagenians ; and after being subsequently 
 a part of the Roman empire, it was wrested 
 from the dominion of Rome, by Eurico, king 
 of the Goths, in the year 467. It continued 
 subject to the Gothic line nearly two hundred 
 and fifty years ; when the Moors, after having 
 subdued the greater part of Spain, and reduced 
 most of the principal cities, invested Toledo, 
 and captured it in 714. In the year 1085, 
 after Toledo had remained under the sove- 
 reignty of the Moors between three and four 
 hundred years, Alonzo VI., and Rodrigo Diaz 
 — the Cid, expelled the Moors from its walls; 
 and from that period, until the expulsion of 
 the Moors from Spain, Toledo was alternately 
 a stronghold of the Castilians, and of the 
 Moors. And, even after the settlement of 
 Spain, it became the head of an insurrection, 
 which convulsed Castile during twenty-two 
 years; whose object was, to restrict the privi- 
 leges of the nobles, and, in fact, to re-model 
 in many respects the constitution of Castile: 
 but, in the year 1522, Toledo submitted to the 
 crown ; and since that period, its history has
 
 392 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 been only remarkable as recording in succes- 
 sive steps of decay, the gradual decline of the 
 Spanish monarchy. 
 
 But, although Toledo is chiefly interesting, 
 for its monuments of past glory and prosperity, 
 it is not without some excellent and flourish- 
 ing institutions even at this day. All of this 
 kind that Toledo possesses, is the work of the 
 late Archbishop Lorenzana, a man of very 
 opposite character from the prelate who, at 
 present wields the sceptre of the church. 
 Lorenzana was an able man, and an excellent 
 ecclesiastic ; and gave practical evidence of 
 his goodness in the many excellent institutions 
 which he founded. Among these, I was par- 
 ticularly pleased with the lunatic asylum, — a 
 noble edifice, and perfect in all its arrange- 
 ments. The spectacles revealed in a mad- 
 house, are never agreeable ; but they are 
 sometimes interesting, and here, there were 
 several of this character. 1 was conducted to 
 the cell of one person, whose insanity arose 
 from erroneous views of religion. The walls 
 were entirely covered with drawings in chalk, 
 executed with great spirit, and representing 
 funerals, tombs, death heads, devils, religious
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 393 
 
 processions, priests, and ceremonies. Another, 
 certainly a most interesting object, I saw in 
 the large hall, where the inoffensive maniacs 
 are permitted to be at large ; this was a 
 middle-aged woman, seated upon the ledge of 
 the window, her eyes intently fixed upon the 
 sky ; she was a native of a village on the coast 
 of Murcia, which had been destroyed by the 
 earthquake the autumn before : she had been 
 at a neighbouring hamlet selling dates ; and 
 on her return to her village, she had seen her 
 home, and with it, her children, swallowed 
 up : she had never spoken from that hour, and 
 all day long she sat on the window ledge of 
 this hall gazing upon the sky ; and every day 
 the strength of two persons was required to 
 take her from the window to dinner. I shall 
 only mention one other individual, whose case 
 is interesting, as throwing light upon Spanish 
 morals and justice. This was also a woman, 
 but in her perfect senses ; she had lived with 
 her aunt, who was housekeeper to a canon in 
 Toledo; and the canon had seduced her. 
 Instigated by revenge, or hatred, she after- 
 wards cut his throat during the night ; and 
 the public authorities, unwilling to expose
 
 394 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 the affair, by bringing her to trial, ascribed 
 the act to a fit of madness, and sent her to 
 the asylum. 
 
 The handsome edifice now occupied by the 
 university, is another act of Lorenzana. The 
 University of Toledo dates its origin from the 
 time of the Moors ; and was revived after their 
 expulsion, in the year 1529. At present, it 
 is chiefly celebrated as a law university ; the 
 number of students on its books, at the time 
 I visited Toledo, was rather more than seven 
 hundred ; and I was informed that nine-tenths 
 of these were law students, and that, of the 
 remaining tenth, only eight were students of 
 the theological classes. When speaking of 
 the education of members of the liberal pro- 
 fessions, I detailed the course of study re- 
 quired of the law student in this university. 
 
 Lorenzana also established a college for 
 girls, chiefly the children of officers and em- 
 ployees ; here they are well educated in every 
 useful and ornamental branch of education — 
 and here they may remain all their lives, at 
 the charge of government, if they neither 
 marry, nor choose to go into a convent. By 
 a fundamental rule laid down by the founder,
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 395 
 
 a small dowry is given to every one who mar- 
 ries, but nothing is given to carry into a con- 
 vent. Formerly, there used to be tertulias 
 here every evening, at which the students of 
 the university were welcome visitors ; but the 
 entree of the colegio is now forbidden to all 
 students, even to those who reside in Toledo 
 with their families. When I visited this in- 
 stitution, there were twenty-seven young 
 ladies: ten had been married the year before; 
 and 1 understand, very few disappoint the in- 
 tentions of the founder by going into con- 
 vents. 
 
 From all antiquity the Spaniards have been 
 celebrated for the manufacture of steel arms ; 
 and a *' Toledo blade" long has been, and still 
 is, an expression implying excellence. The 
 celebrated sword manufactory, to which I 
 walked one afternoon, lies about three quarters 
 of a league from the city, close to the river, 
 which is required for working the machinery. 
 It is a building of extraordinary extent, com- 
 prising within it not only the forges, work- 
 shops, and depositories of arms ; but also 
 accommodations of every kind for those em- 
 ployed in the manufactory, who, in former
 
 396 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 times, were extremely numerous. I visited 
 every part of the establishment, and saw the 
 progress of the manufactory throughout all its 
 stages. The flexibility and excellent temper of 
 the blades are surprising ; there are two trials 
 which each blade must undergo before it be 
 pronounced sound, — the trial of flexibility, 
 and the trial of temper. In the former it is 
 thrust against a plate on the wall, and bent 
 into an arc, at least three parts of a circle. In 
 the second, it is struck edgeways upon a 
 leaden table, with the whole force which can 
 be given by a powerful man, holding it with 
 both hands. The blades are polished upon a 
 wheel of walnut wood ; and when finished, are 
 certainly beautiful specimens of the art. 
 
 The manufactory once employed many hun- 
 dred hands ; but it has long been on the de- 
 cline ; and at present, only fifty workmen are 
 required ; these finish about eight thousand 
 swords in the year. They work by piece, 
 and make about one hundred reals per week 
 (20-y.), and some of the most industrious work- 
 men, twenty-four reals more. Before the 
 separation of the colonies, twenty-five more 
 workmen were employed. They generally 
 
 I
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 397 
 
 keep a stock three years in advance ; but 
 owing to the recent and unexpected equip- 
 ment of two regiments of guards, the number 
 of swords when I walked through the maga- 
 zine, was only twenty thousand. 
 
 Returning to the city from the manufactory, 
 I visited the Franciscan convent; once an 
 immense pile, but now partly in ruins, — the 
 effect of war. It is still however a fine 
 building, and of great extent ; and the alms 
 of the devout have been so liberally bestowed, 
 that I found them busily employed in raising 
 a new and magnificent edifice upon the ruins 
 of that which had been destroyed. Finding 
 the gate of the convent open, I walked in, and 
 ascending a stair, reached the dormitory of 
 the monks without any one questioning me. 
 The Franciscans do not earn their reputation 
 for self-denying sanctity, without working for 
 it. Judging by the cells which I saw in this 
 convent, I may say, that if their comforts by 
 day, are no greater than those provided for 
 night, their lives are truly lives of penance 
 and mortification. Near to the Franciscan 
 convent are the remains of a Roman amphi- 
 theatre ; but even these remains are fast dis- 
 appearing.
 
 398 SPAIN IN 1830. 
 
 I had spent five days in Toledo greatly to 
 my satisfaction. From both of the gentlemen 
 to whom I had carried introductions, I re- 
 ceived constant civilities : with the one, 
 I drank chocolate every evening, and found 
 in his son an admirable cicerone, — in himself, 
 an intelligent companion, — and in his wife 
 and daughter, obliging and delightful triflers. 
 From the other (the prebendary), I received 
 the unusual compliment of being invited to 
 dinner, — a dinner, as Dr. Johnson would have 
 said, such as was fit to invite a man to eat. 
 The chief dish was a roasted ham, which I had 
 never before seen, — but which I beg to recom- 
 mend to the attention of all who are not above 
 the enjoyment of dining well. This is not an 
 unusual dish in Spain, when it is intended to 
 treat a guest well. I had afterwards, at Va- 
 lencia, the pleasure of having my recollection 
 of the prebendary's dinner agreeably refreshed. 
 
 I had now gratified my curiosity at Toledo, 
 and proposed returning to Madrid by the same 
 conveyance that had brought me ; but I found 
 that it was all engaged by churchmen ; and 
 that another extra conveyance was also engaged 
 by them : a canon had died, and half the clergy
 
 SPAIN IN 1830. 399 
 
 of Toledo were going to Madrid to sue for his 
 place. I obtained a seat in a galera, in which 
 there were five priests, and I was much 
 amused with the freedom and good humour 
 with which they spoke of their pretensions 
 and hopes ; and upon this occasion, these 
 were more than usually uncertain, because no 
 one knew with whom the patronage lay. The 
 appointment of canons to the cathedral of 
 Toledo is shared between the king and the 
 archbishop ; seven months in the year belong 
 to the king, and five to the archbishop. This 
 was the first canon who had died during the 
 seven months that belong to the king ; but the 
 patronage of the last appointment, about two 
 months before, which had belonged to the 
 archbishop, had been ceded by him to the king 
 for some particular reason, in the understand- 
 ing however that the first vacancy, during 
 the next seven months, should be filled up by 
 the archbishop ; but the question was, whether 
 his majesty would recollect his royal promise. 
 For my part, I heartily wished he might ; for 
 among the five candidates who were my com- 
 panions, one only seemed to stand in need of 
 a better served table than he was accustomed
 
 400 SPAIN IN 18:50. 
 
 to, — and he, as the muleteer told me, was a 
 distant relation of the archbishop ; but perhaps 
 it was as likely that the archbishop might 
 forget his relation, as that the king might 
 forget his promise. 
 
 Either our mules were less sagacious, or 
 our drivers less expert than those entrusted 
 with the care of the galera that had brought 
 me to Toledo ; for, descending a steep sand- 
 bank, about two leagues from the city, the 
 conversation of the clerigos was suddenly and 
 disagreeably interrupted by the vehicle being 
 thrown over. The sand, however, was so 
 deep that no one sustained any injury ; and 
 after the little delay occasioned by putting the 
 galera upright, the journey and the conversa- 
 tion were resumed together, and we reached 
 Madrid without any farther hindrance. 
 
 END OF VOL. I. 
 
 Printed by S. Manning & Co., London-lionse-yard, St. Paul's 
 
 
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