Part 2

This is the representation of a Spaniard. Though the colouring is high, it is a copy from nature, and the shades might have been heightened had he witnessed the conduct of numbers of the monastic orders during the late convulsions of Spain. There are, indeed, few examples of such infamous want of principle as was exhibited by many of them on the king’s return. Those who had gone about preaching the rights of man, proclaiming the wisdom and exalting the blessings of the new constitution; exhorting their hearers, often with a vehemence little becoming their situation, to live and die for its preservation, and hurling their bitterest anathemas against those who dared to question the wisdom of a single article,—when the king refused to sign that constitution, became the eulogists of every act of tyranny, the persecutors of the _liberales_, and the chosen friends of Ferdinand. {11b} They have had their reward: and though a few of them have occupied the vacant sees, and have been caressed and recompensed with no sparing hand, the finger of hatred and of scorn points them out to the execration of betrayed and suffering millions, while their names will go down to posterity, accompanied with reproaches, curses and infamy. If those be forgiven who have gone on in one consistent career of servitude and degradation; who have betrayed no cause of liberty—for they are by habit and by election slaves; who have sacrificed no manly principles—for manly principles they had none;—still no charity can wash away the stains of those traitors to freedom, to humanity, to Spain, who so atrociously deserted the banners of their country’s welfare, to range themselves around the standards of a profligate and unexampled tyranny.

The most notorious of those, however, who co-operated to establish that fatal and ferocious despotism which now degrades and oppresses Spain, have already become its victims. In their sorrow and suffering and exile, let the unshaken friends of constitutional liberty, who are scattered over Europe, console themselves with remembering that their personal fate is no more severe than that of the base tools of a wretched monarch, who have nothing to accompany their wanderings but sadness, shame and self-reproach, dark and barren prospects, and desolate remembrances; while _those_ shall receive from all around them, the smiles and the praises of the wise and good. They may look back on the “bread” of virtue which they have “cast on the waters,” and forward in the confident hope that they “shall find it again after many days:” but they who sacrificed their country to their cold-hearted and selfish avarice, have wholly erred in their calculations. Their country is fallen indeed, but they, too, have been buried in its ruins. Ferdinand, who has just as much of gratitude as of any other virtue, {12} has already trampled on the miserable tools of his early tyranny. It were well if those who “put their trust in princes,” would study the many impressive lessons which the reign of the Spanish tyrant affords.

It is consolatory to turn from the profligacy and vice so often prominent amidst extraordinary political revolutions, to the spirit of truth and liberty which they always elicit; and Spain has had a most triumphant list of patriots. Their names must not be recorded: for, to receive the tribute of affection and gratitude from any hater of a tyrant, would be sufficient to subject them to his merciless ferocity. How wretched that country where no meed of applause may follow the track of talent or of virtue—where knowledge and the love of freedom are pursued and persecuted as if they were curses and crimes! Otherwise, with what delight should I speak of some who, buried in the obscurity of the cloister, or retiring into solitude from the noisy crowd, sigh in secret and silence over the wretched fate of the land of their birth, their admirable powers of body and mind fettered and frozen by the hand of despotism! All around them is slavery and ignorance; to them remain alone the joy of holding converse with the wise and the good of departed time, and the ecstatic hope that their country will one day burst from its death-like slumbers, and spring forth “into liberty and life and light.”

And let those illustrious exiles, the martyrs of truth and freedom, who have been driven by an ungrateful and cruel tyrant from their homes and their country, and doomed “to wander through this miserable world,” take heart; for a brighter and better day is about to dawn upon Spain. I have expressed a hope, it should rather be a conviction, that this period cannot linger long. If the extreme of evil brings with it its own remedy; if human endurance will only support a certain weight of despotism; if “there is a spirit in man;” if there is a strength in virtue or in liberty—the intolerable fetters _must_ be broken.

¿Que es esto, Autor eterno Del triste mundo? tu sublime nombre Que en el se ultraja á moderar no alcanzas? —¿ á infelices venganzas Y sangre y muerte has destinado el hombre? ¿A tantas desventuras Ningnu termino pones? ¿ó el odioso Monstruo por siempre triunfará orgulloso?

_Melendez_.

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The object, for which the foregoing observations were written, made it necessary to exclude some particulars, which perhaps deserve record.

A correct idea of the state of learning in Spain might be formed from the general decline of the public _colegios_ and universities, and the almost universal ignorance of those to whom the important business of education is intrusted. At Alcalá de Henares, where there were formerly four or five thousand students, there are now less than three hundred, and the number is yearly declining. A similar decay may be observed elsewhere. I found every thing in a melancholy state of derangement and dilapidation at Bergara, though this, I believe, is now the only public school which has been able to maintain itself. The philosophical and mathematical instruments had been destroyed by rust, or rendered useless by violence, and every thing connected with instruction appeared conducted as if the dreadful apprehension that _too much_ wisdom might be communicated, were constantly present to the _enlightened_ directors.

There are few objects more touching, more humiliating, than those scenes sacred once to liberty and to literature, and associated with the names of the noblest and “the wisest of our race;” but now become the fortresses of ignorance, profligacy and despotism. Who would not sigh over Cordoba?

When I remember what thou wert of old, Birth-place of Senecas;—nurse of arms and arts; When to thy schools from earth’s remotest parts The nations crowded—while thy sons unroll’d Thy chronicles of wisdom;—when I see The spot Averröes lov’d, and tread the sod Maimonides and Abenezra trod; Or seek the umbrage of some rev’rend tree, Beneath whose shade Mena or Cespedes At noon-tide mus’d:—when I remember these Or other hallow’d names, and see thee _now_ Shrouded in ignorance and slavery:— O Cordoba! my spirit weeps o’er thee, And burning blushes kindle on my brow. {13}

While the majority of the most distinguished writers of Spain have been expatriated, it may be supposed literature is at a very low ebb there. Melendez and Estála have died in exile,—while Moratin and Llorente will probably never again revisit their native land. Marina, Quintana, Argüelles, Gallego, and other estimable men, occupy the hopeless dungeons to which tyranny has consigned them; while this island, in particular, has had the honour of welcoming and of sheltering many a generous patriot and many an enlightened scholar, whose virtues and talents are lost to a country which has so much reason to deplore their removal.

I trust, however, that a work which has been so long a desideratum, viz. a History of Spain under the dominion of the Moors, compiled from Arabic documents, will, ere long, be published, by Don José Antonio Conde, the learned Orientalist, whose erudition and diligent research promise a most valuable and interesting narration.

The Spanish Academy are now printing, at Madrid, a new edition of Don Quixote, in five volumes, which will be prefaced by a Life of Cervantes, by Navarrete. This piece of biography will be peculiarly gratifying, as many documents connected with the history of Cervantes have lately been discovered, especially the records of the proceedings against him, before his imprisonment. {14a}

Herrera’s celebrated work on Agriculture is also being printed by the Academy. The biographical notices are written by Don Mariano Lagasca, whose name is a sufficient pledge for their excellence.

The Spanish Drama had been in a progressive state of decay from the death of Candamo, till Moratin’s {14b} attempts to introduce the regularity and unity of the Parisian theatre were crowned with complete success. It is a different, and will be considered as a lower order of merit, by all who place Nature and Shakespeare above Art and the French Drama. If, however, Calderon and Lope, Moreto and Montalvan, Solis and Candamo, seldom occupy the Spanish stage, it is because the national taste, or the national indifference, has chosen to sanction or permit the puerile trifles imported from the other side of the Pyrenees, to occupy the seats which might be so much more honourably filled by native genius. An active controversy is going on as to the respective merits of the French and Spanish theatres; but it does not seem to excite much interest beyond the immediate circle of combatants. A new dramatic writer (Gorostiza {15}) has lately appeared, and his first effort, “Indulgencia para todos,” in spite of some improbabilities in the story, and some vulgarisms in the style, gives fair hopes for the future.

By way of conclusion, I would remark, that ultra-royalism and bigotry may receive from the present wretchedness of Spain a _salutary_ and _corrective_ lesson. They may there see the unalloyed triumph of their principles, and study the consequences in the degradation, the disquietude and the wretchedness of a once renowned and illustrious nation. They have there a king reigning in “all the glory” of uncontrolled majesty, and a state-religion undisturbed by heretics or schismatics;—there is the dull death-like silence of abhorred submission, unbroken by any hated shouts of liberty—“the prostration of the understanding and the will,” that neither dares nor wishes to inquire.

As to the character of Ferdinand, it has been greatly misunderstood or greatly misrepresented. It has been well said of him, that he has all the crimes and none of the merits of his ancestors. He appears to care little about the church or the clergy, except inasmuch as he can make them the instruments of civil despotism. {16} His habits are gross and licentious; yet he is inaccessible to any sentiment of benevolence or generosity.—He never forgave a fancied enemy, and perhaps he never possessed a real friend.—From his very childhood his untameable and barbarous propensities made him the object of fear and dread; and adversity (that touchstone of character) has served only to excite and heighten the dark ferocity of his disposition. What, indeed, could be expected from an ingrate, who rewarded those that replaced in his worthless hand the sceptre he had cast away, with persecution and exile, imprisonment and death?

Was it for this through seven long years of war We bore the miserable wants of woes Pour’d on our naked heads by barb’rous foes, While thou a patient captive—absent far, Nor heard’st our cries, nor saw’st the bloody star That o’er our helpless, hapless country rose? Did we not break the intolerable bar Forged by the master-tyrant? Interpose To rescue—not our country—but mankind? Did we not break thy prison-doors, unbind Thy fetters, and with shouts of joy that rent The very arches of the firmament Receive thee?—And is this our destiny? Insults and slavery, and a wretch like thee!

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G. SMALLFIELD, Printer, Hackney.

FOOTNOTES.

{3a} Antillon—I cannot mention this illustrious name without a tribute of admiration and gratitude. A life devoted to virtue and literature, an unwearied struggle in the cause of civil and religious liberty, rewarded by the fatal blow of a hired assassin, leaves behind it an impress on the hearts of the generous and the good which will not and cannot be erased.

{3b} It cannot be denied that the seclusion of the convent is so friendly to contemplation and research, that, literature has been, and still is, greatly indebted to it. A glance at the columns of Nich. Antonio’s Biographical Dictionary will give striking proof of this.

{3c} There are many convents in which no book could be found but the service of mass or the rules of the order. In others, there are excellent libraries, of whose value friars have no idea whatever. In the convent of San Miguel de los Reyes, near Valencia, I examined some of the most interesting MSS. in existence, which are in charge of a brotherhood of unlearned Geronomites. The librarian refused to shew me a celebrated MS. of the Roman de la Rose, “because” (he said) “it was the work of a heretic;” though he added, he had written some verses in it to frighten any inquirer who might accidentally open it. He had been recommending _the burning_ a noble illuminated MS. of the “Divina Commedia,” apparently contemporary with Dante, as “the wretch had dared to send even Popes to hell.” Ancient copies of Virgil, Livy and others, are in some danger, should our zealous friar stumble on their history, and learn that they never went to mass.

{3d} Montalvan.

Es Purgatorio— Toda dicha, comparada Con la de un frayle, cifrada Desde el coro al refectorio.

The whole description is admirable, and I am tempted to introduce it here.

Friend, thou art right! A world like this Hath nothing equal to the bliss Enjoyed by yonder lazy friar, Between refectory and choir! The morning pass’d in sacred song, (The task is short—the triumph long!) Why should our portly friar repine? Enough for him—good man! to see His cellar stor’d with rosy wine, His table pil’d with luxury. Come now, come with me, and partake Our friar’s _poor_ and _modest_ board: Meek sufferer—for Jesus’ sake! Self-sacrific’d—to please the Lord!! And is this rich and gay domain His place of penury and pain? That table _his_, where rang’d in state I see so many jovial brothers, Each with his fingers in his plate, And his eyes fix’d upon another’s? O ’tis indeed a lovely sight To see thus earth and heav’n unite; And what an enviable union Of church and kitchen in communion! While, hark! a voice at intervals, The _pious_ grace devoutly bawls Gratias tibi, Domine! While up and down their arms are moving Like engines in a factory: Thus most indisputably proving How calm and meek and patiently These pious souls submit to all The _sorrow_, _suff’ring_ and _privation_ Which may an earthly saint befal: O unexampled resignation!!

Principe Perseguido.

{4a} Much was apprehended from the recalled Jesuits: they came—not the learned, the illustrious fathers of former days, but a handful of ignorant, helpless old men, incapable of good, and, I trust, incapable of evil. Father Juan Andres died in Rome in 1817.

{4b} They enacted this under the pretence that all young men were wanted for the defence of the country. Even the friars were obliged to be silent against such a plea.

{4c} Nor are there wanting instances of friars atoning on the scaffold for crimes of the deepest dye; and I could mention examples of fraud, violence and murder committed since the king’s return by individuals among them, whose monstrous atrocity it would be difficult to parallel.

{5a} Romerias. That these acts of devotion are always attended with shameful profligacy is sufficiently known. Even Calderon bears testimony to their danger:

— Todos los concursos De varias romerias, Tal vez en zelo empiezan Y acaban en delicia; El verse unos con otros Conmuevese á la alegria, La alegria al banquete El banquete á la risa, La risa al bayle, al juego A la vaya, á la grita Escollos en que siempre La devocion peligra.

A Maria el Corazon.

So, indeed, says the old proverb, “Quien muchos romerias anda tarde ó nunca se santifica.”

{5b} The Roman Catholic Church has made a glorious league with the fine arts, each of which has been made subservient to its purposes, and has maintained its mighty influence. Poetry, painting and music can never pay the immense debt they owe to the gorgeous machinery of the Romish ritual.

{5c} Perhaps I may be allowed to introduce a few specimens of the style of the Romanceros. For instance, their praises of the Virgin:

La reyna de los cielos Emperatriz soberana Fuente de amor y dulzura Rio de bondad y de gracia Pielago de perfecciones Tranquilo mar de gracias Iris de serenidades Lucero de la mañana Del cielo norte seguro.

San Onofre.

Sagrada Virgen Maria Antorcha del cielo empireo Hixa del eterno Padre, Madre del supremo bixo Del sacro espiritu esposa.

Jayme del Castillo.

Hermosisima Maria Preciosisima açucena Que con tu divina gracia Nos libertais de la pena, Florida y hermosa rosa Palma, cipres, virgen bella Lirio, olivo, torre hermosa De encumbrada fortaleza Cielos, sol y luna hermosa Fuente llena de clemencia Que con tu divina gracia Triunfos y lauros aumentas: Gran Señora del Carmelo Suplicote, sacra reyna Que abogada y protectira Con el rey de gracias seas.

Judio de Toledo.

Great, however, as is their devotion, it is less than their bombast.

Paren en sus movimientos Ayre, fuego, tierra y ondas Sol, luna, estrellas, luceros Los planetas y la Aurora Mientras mi pluma remonta Su vuelo al mas sacro asunto De la estacion dichosa Quando vino la Cruz de Grao.

Cruz de Grao.

Remonte el vuelo mi pluma Hasta la region mas alta Del viento donde lucida Brille, dando á aquesta plana Y principio al suceso Mas admirable de que narra En sus anales el tiempo Y las historias pasadas.

Jayme de Aragon.

{6a} The Carmelites will have it that Elias (whom Thomas Waldenses calls the first virgin among men, as Mary is among women), dedicated a temple to “the mother of God” on Mount Carmel, nine hundred years before her birth. Those who wish to be acquainted with the wonderful miracles wrought by the “Virgen del Carmen,” may consult an immense list published by Friar Juan Serrer, most of which are certified by notaries, priests, magistrates and friars.

{6b} El bendito Escapulario Que al infierno lo amedrenta.

Romance.

{6c} It may, however, be noticed, that great numbers are drawn away from the religious services of the regular clergy, by the greater parade with which the friars attract their devotees to the convent chapel.

{6d} Spain is a striking example of the influence of the habit of confession on public morals. It has there, no doubt, given the full reins to licentiousness.

{7a} Feijoo, a Benedictine monk, says that his order has fifteen thousand canonized saints.

{7b} Of the numerous banditti, for which Spain has been always distinguished, there is, perhaps, not an individual who neglects any of those ceremonies which are considered binding on all faithful Catholics.

— These murderous bands In holy water wash their hands; They never miss a mass—they wear A rosary and scapulaire: They damn all heretics, and say Their pious Aves twice-a-day; They bend at every virgin’s altar; And can such saints deserve a halter?

{7c} The absurdity of introducing such an expression into a constitutional code could not be unnoticed by the illustrious body of deputies, to whom the Cortes had confided its arrangement. It is believed their object was to remove any suspicion as to their thorough orthodoxy, in order that they might effect hereafter some plans of ecclesiastical reformation.

{7d} Torture has been abolished in Spain for many years. However, that monster in the form of man, Elio, the captain-general of Valencia, has dared to employ it; and when I was in that capital I was informed, (and the fact has had abundant confirmation,) that it had been applied a few days before to no less than 147 individuals, whose cries and shrieks were heard by all the inhabitants of Murviedro, where they were confined. This tiger might allege, indeed, the example of his royal master, who caused numbers to be tortured in Madrid, after the last conspiracy there.

{8a} Don Gonzalez Carbajal, a poet of no common merit, whose verses have been well compared with those of Fr. Luis de Leon, is now publishing a metrical version of the Psalms. The MS. was sent to the inquisitorial censors, who replied, that, though they saw nothing absolutely objectionable in the work, they deemed it very extraordinary and very suspicious that no allusion was made in it to the Sumo Pontifice!

{8b} I will mention one of a thousand instances of ignorance which I have individually witnessed. As I did not choose to expose myself to be annoyed by inquisitors, I travelled without any English books, except a small collection of hymns. They pounced upon it at Miranda del Ebro, where there is a rigid examination: there was some dispute whether or not it should be condemned, when some word like the name of a Spanish town, caught their eye: “O, ’tis a book of roads,” said our learned scrutineer, and he returned it to me.

{8c} Of the “different virgins” who divide the adoration of the devout in Spain, (each individual choosing his favourite,) it would be difficult to say which has the pre-eminence in general estimation. I believe “our Lady of Montserrat,” in Catalonia, and “our Lady of the Pillar,” of Zaragoza, have amassed for their guardian friars the largest piles of wealth.

{8d} As an instance of the fraud, the falsehood and the folly of those who sway the minds of the lower classes, I would quote, from among many examples, the “Centinela contra Judios,” a book of great popularity, introduced by several pages of inquisitorial praises. It gives the following account of the crimes and punishments of the twelve tribes:

“The tribe of Judah treacherously delivered up our Lord, and thirty of them die by treason every year.

“The tribe of Reuben seized our Lord in the garden, and therefore the curse of barrenness is on all they sow or plant, and no green thing can flourish over their graves.

“The tribe of Gad put on the crown of thorns, and on every 25th of March, their bodies are covered with blood from deep and painful wounds.

“Those of Asher buffeted Jesus, and their right hand is always nearly a palm shorter than the left.

“Those of Naphthali jested with Christ about a herd of swine, since when they are all born with tusks, like wild boars.

“The tribe of Manasseh cried out, ‘His blood be on us and on our children,’ and at every new moon they are tormented by bloody sores.

“The tribe of Simeon nailed our Lord to the cross, and on the 25th of March, four deep and dreadful wounds are inflicted on their hands and feet.

“Those of Levi spat on the Saviour, and the wind always blows back their saliva in their faces, so that they are habitually covered with filth.

“The tribe of Issachar scourged Christ, and on the 25th of March blood streams forth from their shoulders.