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LIFE AND WRITINGS

MIGUEL DE CERVANTES.

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THE

MIGUEL DE CERVANTES SAAVEDliA.

WITH

iLiterarg anti fBststoriral £IIustrations

AUTHENTIC DOCUMENTS SUPPLIED BY SPANISH BIOGRAPHERS AND OTHER EDITORS OF HIS WORKS.

BY THOMAS ROSCOE, ESQ.

LONDON: PRINTED FOR THOMAS TEGG, 73, CHEAPSIDE.

•BCCCXXXIX.

LONDON :

BRADBURY AND F.VANS, PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

PACK

Ancient and noble family of Cervantes — Its origin — Mili- tary services — Birth and baptism of Cervantes — Want of dates — Neglect of his con temporaries — His education — Early poetic taste — His preceptors — Anecdotes — Fondness for the drama — Early opinions of him — Juvenile essays — Studies at Sdrauutea — Dramatic representations at Alcala and Madrid — Introduction to Cardinal Aquaviva — Accompanies him to Rome — Description of his tour — Residence in Rome — Enters the Spanish army — Sails with the fleet — Battle of Lepanto — His heroic conduct — Receives three wounds — Is taken to Medina — Eulogised by Don John of Austria — Recovers and rejoins the army — In the regiment of Figueroa — Goes upon new expeditions — His naval service described by him- self I

CHAPTER II.

Sails with the expedition from Palermo — Attack of Tunis — Flight of the Moors — Gallant conduct of Cervantes — Re- turn of Don John to Italy — Cervantes winters with his regi- ment at Cerdena — Sails with Marcello Doria to Genoa — Proceeds with his regiment to Sicily — Visits the principal cities of Italy — Descriptions in his writings — Studies the Italian poets — The use he made of them — His delicate satire — Envied and depreciated — Gains the esteem of his commanders — Distinguishes himself — Obtains leave to re- turn to Spain — Sets sail with his brother Rodrigo — Attacked and captured by an Algerine squadron — Brave defence — Carried to Algiers — Cruel treatment — Forms a plan to

vi CONTENTS.

PAGE

escape — Abandoned by his guide — Is re-cnptured — His second attempt — Adventures and sufferings — Takes the re- sponsibility upon himself — Threatened by the Dey — Curious anecdotes — A Spanish renegade — Conduct of Cervantes — Renews his attempt to escape . . . .If!

CHAPTER III.

Cervantes communicates his design to other captives — His plan is matured — Betrayed to the Dey — Blanco de Paz — Mag- nanimous conduct of Cervantes — Refuses to abandon his fellow-captives — Is brought before the Dey — Threatened •with death — Refuses to name his coadjutors — Treated with extreme rigour — His plotting genius dreaded by the Dey — Sufferings of the captives — Dearth in Algiers — The Duke de Sesa interests himself for Cervantes — Solicitude and efforts of his relatives — Petition to Philip II. — It is granted — Renewed attempts to obtain the amount of his ransom — Society of the Redemption — Father Gill — Cervantes placed on board a vessel bound for Constantinople — Is ransomed — And set at liberty — Compassion for his fellow-captives — Noble example — Religious duties — And resignation — His numerous frieuds — Documents and certificates of witnesses — Interesting depositions — Cervantes sails for Spain . 37

CHAPTKR IV.

.Cervantes returns to the army — Supposed to re-enter his old "regiment — Campaign of Portugal — Sails from Lisbon — Ex- pedition toTerceira — Junction of the Spanish fleets — Battle and victory off Terceira — Serves with his brother Rodrigo in the new attack — Gallant exploit — Conquest of the neigh- bouring islands; — Addresses complimentary lines to the famous Santa Cruz — Long services of Cervantes under his flag — Reception in Portugal — His interesting descriptions of the country — Liaison with a Portuguese lady — His natural daughter — Residence in Mostagan^Sent with letters from the Governor to King Philip — Garrison duty — Composition of his Galatea — Description of the heroine — Taken from real life — Critical opinions — Analysis of it — Anecdotes — Marriage of Cervantes — Resides at Esquivias — Literary occupations — Compositions — Formation of Academies — Be- cc.nics a member — Residence at the Court . 52

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER V.

PAGF

Dramatic compositions of Cervantes — Introduces moral and allegorical personages — Number of his plays — Reform of the Spanish Theatre — Prepares the way for Lope cle Vega — His embarrassing situation — Is made a Commissioner of the Commissariat Department — Removes to Seville — His inade- quate income — Sends a memorial to the King — Favourably entertained — Singular allusion to his blighted prospects — His great exertions and perseverance — Frequent journeys — In- teresting incidents — His satiric vein — Applied to moral uses — Origin of his amusing Episode in Don Quixote — Diffi- culties encountered in his enjoyment — Solemn festival — Monks of Saragossa — Literary contest — Enters the lists — Gains the first prize — Returns to Seville. . . .67

CHAPTER VI.

Early dramatic efforts — Opinions of Cervantes — Progress of the art in Spain — Curious retrospect — Lope de Rueda — His dramatic equipments — A travelling stage — Spanish authors and actors — A canon of Toledo— A censorship — Ideas of Cervantes — Strictures of M. Sismondi — Extracts — Speci- mens translated — His dramatic genius — How to be esti- mated— His dramas — The Numantia — Description and analysis — Specimens — Peculiar characteristics — Elevated character — Grand sentiment — Eloquent and powerful ap- peals— Its progress, development, and final struggles — Devoted patriotism — Genius and conduct of Scipio — Re- duces the city by famine — Its destruction by the inhabitants — Self-sacrifices — Its fall — Effects on a Spanish audience — Its classical character — Old Greek spirit — Concentred in- terest and unity . . . . .81

CHAPTER VII.

Other dramatic works — Life in Algiers — Circumstances in which it originated — Los Banos de Argel — Various adven- tures— Allegorical personages — Analysis — Specimens and translations — The slave-market — Pathetic and startling' scenes — Society of the Redemption — The drama — Opinions of Cervantes — His judgment — Extensive reading — Famili-

" CONTENTS.

PACK

arity with and imitation of the Ancients — Noble qualities of the drama as conceived by Cervantes — Freedom from affectation and conventional gallantry — Unable to establish a reform — Prevailing taste of the day — Triumphant — Lope de Vega and Cervantes both yield toil . .104

CUAPTER VIII.

Attack of Cadiz by the English — Calls forth the satirical genius of Cervantes — His happy irony — Story of the Espanola Inylesa — New difficulties, owing to the treachery of an acquaintance — Compromised with the agents of government — Called to Madrid — Residence there — Death of Philip II. — Grand solemnities — Strange commotion, and battle of the priests — Celebrated by Cervantes in a burlesque sonnet — Idiom of the country people — Residence in Seville — Agent to people of rank — Familiar acquaintance with the customs and manners of the people — Origin of his novels — Their character and object — Andalusian tone of his wit and satire — Mixing with the people — Foundation of his Don Quixote — His commission in La Mancha — Doubts enter- tained— Visit to Valladolid — Supposed imprisonment — Tra- dition, anecdotes, and reflections — Composition of Don Quixote — Its reception — Criticisms and discussions — Models — His ideas of romance on new principles . .115

CHAPTER IX.

Transitory effects of the death of Philip II. — Reflections upon arbitrary government — Its fatal influence on the fortunes of Cervantes — The victim of evil times and circumstance — ' of a despotic court — Don Quixote — Its cool recpetion — Gradual progress — Rapid sale and universal fame — Opinions of M. Sismondi — Requisites for its perusal — Object of the work — Its spirit, plot, characters — Ancient and modern models — Mixed nature — Real views of Cervantes — To en- tertain, reform, and instruct — Specimens — Anedotes — Ori- ginal idea — Power of imagination — Its vivid representations — Lasting impressions — Vigour of description — Vast know- ledge and learning — Variety of the episodes — Their charm and pathos — Powerful contrasts — Dignity ,riclincss — Beauty and exquisite polish of style . . . . 1 39

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER X.

PAGE

Astonishing success of his new work — Envy and malignity of his contemporaries — Lope de Vega — Attempts made to excite enmity between them — Calumnies and falsehoods employed — Birth of Philip IV. — Count de Lerma's embassy to Eng- land— Splendid banquets — Singular fatality — Depositions of Cervantes and his family relative to the affair — Informa- tion of his residence and family thus obtained — Anecdotes — The -works of Hurtado de Mendoza — Academical meetings — His connexions and friendships — Ungrateful return — Heartlessness of men of rank — Academy of the Selvage — Its members — Poems composed by Cervantes. . .156

CHAPTER XI.

Cervantes devotes himself to literary compositions — Corrects his former productions, and prepares them for the press — HJB novels and tales — Interwoven with his great work — Boccaccio — How far imitated by Cervantes — Why entitled Exemplares — Noble objects he had in view — Tales of witchcraft, and diablerie — Dangerous test of merit — Curi- ous instance of hallucination — Various characters of the novels — How natural and well-supported — Examination of their merits — Accused of not being the author of them — Forms a new era in the popular fiction of Spain — Imitated by Lope de Vega — Richness and beauty of the language . 173

CHAPTER XII.

Continuation of the Novelas Exemplares — Opinions — Ana- lysis— Specimens and translations — La Gitanilla — Charac- ters— Peculiarities of the Gitanos — Sketches — Peculiarities of climate — El Amante Liberal — Characters and adven- tures— Historical allusions — Power of the Corsairs — Singu- lar historic incidents — Story of Rinconete and Cortadillo — Characteristics of vagabond life — Religion of thieves — Regu- lar establishment — Singular priesthood — The Spanish-Eng- lish lady — Admirable pictures of the country — Customs and manners of the people . . . . . 1 87

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XIII.

PACK

Characteristics of novel writing — Its former and present pecu- liarities— The test of time — Increased popularity of Cer- vantes— High opinion expressed by his rivals — Tacit admis- sion of Cervantes' merit by Lope de Vega — Opposed to a vicious popularity, or vulgar fame — Extended the same high sentiment to the drama — His views of the drama — State of the Spanish stage — Its extravagance — Bad taste — And de- pravity— Example — -Base proceedings of the Licentiate Avellaneda — Violent party spirit excited — Moderation and magnanimity of Cervantes — Extreme bitterness and enmity of his rival — Mystery in which it is enveloped — Silence of his contemporaries on the subject — Improvement of the Spanish language by Cervantes . . . .198

CHAPTER XIV.

Literary productions — The Viaye al Parnaso — Complains of the neglect of his friends — of men of rank — the court — the country for M-hich he bled — The Adjunta al Parnaso — Fresh disappointments — Injustice of the Spanish theatre — He composes new plays — Maligned and persecuted — Re- vises his comedies — Dedicates them to the Count de Lemos— Their cold reception — Characteristics of the drama of that period — Examination of the various subjects treated by Cer- vantes— His contemporary, Lope de Vega — " Justus Poeti- cas " — Second part of Don Quixote — Humorous picture of his rival — Pleasant dialogue — Delicate feeling of Cervantes — Contrasted with his rival — His style — Charged with Italianisms by his enemies— His purity and harmony of style — His works translated and published in other countries . 212

CHAPTER XV.

Popularity of Don Quixote — Neglect of men of letters — Curious anecdote — Compliment to Cervantes — Numerous editions of Don Quixote — Fame of the author — Ariosto — Tasso — Critical remarks — Violence and injustice of other writers — Monsieur Sorel — A bold English critic — El Escu- dero Obregon — Character of its author — His crafty and cavilling spirit towards Cervantes — Want of consistency and merit in hs own work . 231

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XVI.

PAGE

New romance of Cervantes — Unpublished during his life — His own estimate of it — By native critics — By foreigners — Bold and imaginative character — Strange ideas of the North — Wonderful adventures — The marvellous — Grand extra- vagances— Humorous incidents — New method of travelling — Specimens of diablerie — Numerous episodes — Ironical treatment of his own story — Effect of age, and influence of Catholic priests — Superstitious feelings productive of into- lerance— Injustice towards the Moriscoes — Bad effects of their banishment — Touching lament — Adventures of the hero and heroine — Odd notions of heroic morality . 243

CHAPTER XV11.

Envy and ingratitude of Figueroa — Unjust and unprovoked attacks upon Cervantes — Strange conduct of the Argeu- solas — Try to poison the minds of his patrons — Noble cha- racter of the Count de Lemos — Of Sandoval y Rojas — Their m uniticence — Protect Cervantes — Interesting facts — Parti- culars relating to the second part of Don Quixote — Analysis — Episodes — The hero — Character of Sancho — Dedication to the Count — Persiles and Sigismunda — Observations and analysis — Illness of Cervantes — Tries a change of air — Amusing ad ventures — Becomes worse — Fondness for litera- ture to the last — Corrects his works — Writes to his patron — His noble expressions — His death — Summary of his character and merits . . . .254

APPENDIX . . . . .275

THE

LIFE AND WRITINGS

OK

MIGUEL DE CERVANTES.

CHAPTER I.

Ancient and noble family of Cervanles — Its origin — Military ser- vices— Birth and baptism of Cervantes — Want of dates — Neglect of his contemporaries — His education — Early poetic taste — His preceptors — Anecdotes — Fondness for the drama — Early opinions of him — Juvenile essays — Studies at Salamanca — Dramatic re- presentations at Alcala and Madrid — Introduction to Cardinal Aquaviva — Accompanies him to Rome — Descriptions of his tour — Residence in Rome — Enters the Spanish army — Sails with the fleet — Battle of Lepanto — His heroic conduct — Receives three wounds — Is taken to Messina — Eulogised by Don John of Austria — Recovers and rejoins the army — In the regiment of Figueroa — Goes upon new expeditions — His naval service de- scribed by himself.

THE noble family of the Cervantes was, it appears, first settled in Galicia, from whence it removed to Castile, spreading through that province its numer- ous branches. Its origin was adorned by the most memorable actions and signal victories for which it received the distinguished approbation of its sove- reigns ; and it figures in the pages of Spanish history for more than five centuries with such splendour, that

2 LIFE AND WRITINGS

if we may believe the learned marquess of Mondejar, it has no occasion to envy the most august houses of Europe.

Some descendants of this numerous race accom- panied the King Don Fernando in his conquest of Baeza and Seville, and shared in the spoils of that expedition ; and others of the name, who emulated the actions of their ancestors, were amongst the con- querors of the new world, where they established themselves and flourished. Another kindred branch are descended from Juan de Cervantes, a man of dis- tinction and corregidor of Ossuna, where he acquired by his noble qualities the respect of the natives of that place. He had a son, Rodrigo de Cervantes, who intermarried in the year 1540 with Donna Leo- nora de Cortinos, a lady 'of noble birth, and a native, as it appears, of the town of Barrajos. The issue of this marriage were Donna Andrea and Donna Ltmisu Roderigo and Miguel. Miguel de Cervantes, who was the younger son of this noble but reduced family, was born in Alcala de Henares,1 and baptised in the parish church of Santa Maria la Mayor on the ninth day of October, 1547 ; a fact which is now most satisfactorily established, and which consequently for ever destroys the pretensions of Madrid, Seville, Lu- cena, Toledo, Esquerios, Alcazar de San Juan and Consuegra, which cities had long contended for the honour of giving birth to so illustrious a person. But there is still, unfortunately, room for them to contest the honour of possessing his tomb ; the traveller and the pilgrim of the world know not yet where to pay their devotions to the relics of Cervantes — more sacred for the nobleness and greatness of his character. One of the virtuous few who season human kind, and redeem humanity in our eyes, he showed us that

OF CERVANTES. 3

the life of an author is not necessarily confined to the influence of his works ; that his actions are not bounded l>y his writings, though these have been thought to constitute the most valuable of his actions ; and that the man ought never to be lost sight of in the author or the artist. It is that which adorns through all time the names of Da Vinci, of Michael Angelo, of Camoens, of Dante, 3Iilton, and Cervantes, which gives them clearness, distinctness, and identity through the mists of time, stamping upon them that true- nobility of imperishable mind, which must pre- serve them fresh and immortal in the memory of posterity. Cervantes was illustrious as a man, before he was known as a writer ; he was signalised by his courage, his virtues, and his trials, long before he wrote his best book. His own life was a series of adventures sufficient to interest us without his fame ; possessing the same charm, the same moral force, which surprises and delights us in his works. It was impossible for contemporary biography to describe a man whose high qualities were not appreciated, whose character was not understood ; and it is for this reason that we have to lament the want of those full and rich materials which the writers of Spain were then so industriously engaged in collecting to illustrate the lives of their kings, and the annals of their inquisitions. It seems most probable, however, that Cervantes received the first rudiments of his education in his native place, and amongst his own kindred; more particularly as at this time Alcalu was celebrated for its cultivation of science and literature, and was also the resort of many distinguished men.2 Neverthe- less, nothing can with certainty be averred on this point ; and all that we know is, that from his most tender years Cervantes manifested a decided iuelina-

B2

4 LIFE AND WRITINGS

tion to poetry and to works of invention and imitation, and a lively curiosity which led him to read the idle ballads of the streets. He discovered, too, an affection for the theatre, where he attended the re- presentations of the pieces of the celebrated poet and noted performer Lope de Rueda, although his tender years did not then permit him fully to appreciate the quality of his verses. He however retained them in his memory to a more mature age, when he bestowed on them their due meed of praise.

Some authors, as D. Nicolas Antonio, believe that Cervantes joined in the representation of these pieces in Seville, of which city Lope de Rueda was a native, and have even inferred that he was himself born in that city:3 but allowing that this eminent performer was present with his company in Segovia in 1558, on occasion of the solemn festival which was held there on the removal of divine worship from the old to the new cathedral, where the resort of persons was the greatest ever known in Castile, all Spain assist- ing at it, as Colmenares assures us ; and knowing equally well that during three years Lope and his company continued their performances at Madrid and other cities of Castile (where he saw the famous Antonio Perez before he became secretary to Philip II.), it seems most natural to conclude that Cer- vantes, though only eleven years of age, might be present at these plays in Segovia, or Madrid, or in the neighbouring town of Alcala, where Rueda per- formed on occcasion of other festivities and solem- nities until the year 1567, in which he died.

We know with greater certainty that Cervantes studied grammar and the belles-lettres with the learned Juan Lopez de Hoyos, a respectable ecclesiastic, and a native of Madrid. This person being charged with

OF CERVANTES. 5

the arrangement of the histories, allegories, emblems and inscriptions, which were directed to be placed in the church of the Descalzas Reales in celebration of the magnificent obsequies of the Queen Donna Isabel de Valois in that town, on the 24th day of October 1568, employed his scholars in these compositions. Some of these were in Latin and others in Castilian. Amongst these scholars Cervantes was one of the most distinguished, as is recorded by the same Juan Lopez, in the account he published of the last illness, death, and funeral of the princess, speaking of him repeatedly as " his most favourite and much loved scholar," and inserting with especial mention of his name a sonnet and four redondillos, in which in striking language he apostrophises the deceased queen in a Castilian couplet, describing the suddenness with which she was snatched away by death, and an elegy in tercetos, finely conceived and composed in an ele- gant style (in the opinion of his master), and dedi- cated to the cardinal D. Diego de Espinosa, president of the council and inquisitor-general. *

The common opinion has been, that it was at Ma- drid that Cervantes prosecuted his studies with Juan Lopez ; but considering that Lopez did not obtain the chair of grammar and belles-lettres in that city until the 29th of January, 1568, when Cervantes was already more than twenty years of age, it is most natural to conclude that his instructions were ante- rior to this period, and that either as a private master, or out of Madrid, he had taught his celebrated scho- lar, so far as to call him with propriety his disciple, after he had been only eight months presiding in the before-mentioned chair — a conjecture that admits of entire confirmation, it being certain that Cervantes, as he has himself informed us, studied two years

6 LIFE AND WRITINGS

in Salamanca and matriculated in that university, and resided in the Calle de los Moros. 5

From this arose the accuracy with which he painted the customs and peculiar manners of that city ; as is particularly evident from the Second Part of Don Quixote, and in the Tale of the Licenciado Vidriera, and the Tla Fingida. At all events the singular expressions of his master Lopez, and the fact of his having selected Cervantes from amongst his other scholars to write the above-mentioned elegy, prove how much he surpassed all his contemporaries in genius. 6

The applause which attended these first essays, the example of the poets of the day, and his frequenting the theatre, tended to confirm his passion for the drama (which became remodelled in his hands), and excited him to the composition of his Fileria, a sort of pastoral poem, and of some sonnets, rhymes, and romances, which he mentions in his Viage al Par- nasso. These productions placed him in the first rank of the poets of Spain, before the period of his cap- tivity in Algiers.7

The death of the queen occurred on the third of October, 1568. When her obsequies were cele- brated at the end of that month, Cervantes was in Madrid. At that time there came from Rome Julio Aquaviva of Aragon, son of the duke of Atri, sent by Pope Pius V. to condole with Philip II. on the death of the Prince Don Carlos, who died on the 24th July preceding ; and probably to require some apology to the ecclesiastics, to whom it is believed lii< ministers at Milan had given some offence. Both these commissions must have been far from agree- able, if not offensive, to the king at this conjuncture. The mysterious cause of the imprisonment of the

OF CERVANTES. 7

prince, the severity of his father in refusing to lend an ear to the many applications made in his favour by several cities and by sovereign princes, the prohi- bition that no one should express condolement to him upon this event, as was announced to the nuncio of the pope, the premature death of the prince in prison, and the recent and melancholy decease of the queen ; were appalling events, which excited public curiosity, and led to much discussion amongst the people, always prone to suspicion and to question the actions of their rulers.

All these circumstances rendered the first commis- sion of the legate odious and ill-timed. The second commission was no less so, from the king obstinately defending what he deemed his rights, against the pretensions of the Roman court to the Spanish domi- nions in Italy. In confirmation of this displeasure a passport was expedited to the legate of his holiness, from Aranjuez, on the 2nd day of December of the same year, 1568, to return to Italy by Aragon and Valencia before the expiration of sixty days.

In consequence of this proceeding he was doubtless created cardinal in Rome on the 17th of May, 1570. On the occasion of the ambassador of Spain at that court, D. Juan de Zuniga, annoxmcing to Philip II. the arrival of Aquaviva,8 he stated among ether matters, that that prelate was highly esteemed for his love of letters ; and Mateo Alcman doubtless refers to him, when he says he lived in the palace of a certain dignitary of the Church, sent by Pius V. to negotiate with Philip on affairs of the Church, adding that this legate was greatly attached to men of learn- ing, and extended his friendship to them, entertaining them familiarly at his table, carrying them in his carriage when he went into public, honouring them

LIFE AND WRITINGS

in every possible way, and delighting to discuss with them questions of politics, science, and letters.

As Cervantes informs us that he served in Rome as a chamberlain, it may be presumed, when we consider the character of Aquaviva as a patron of letters, that finding himself in Madrid when the funeral of the queen took place, and at the time that Cer- vantes dedicated his elegy to the Cardinal Espinosa, this nobleman might be struck by his genius and penetration ; and probably compassionating his narrow fortune, admitted him into his family, and invited him to accompany him to Italy, a journey which the young Spanish nobility frequently took at that time with a view of embracing the service of the pope and the cardinals, as was the case with Don Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, Don Francisco Pacheco, and others,9 They thus prosecuted their studies in Rome, and occasionally obtained through this chan- nel the most wealthy and elevated dignities in the Church. Sometimes, too, they might have been in- stigated by a desire to see the world, and to try their fortune in arms, a path which if less strewed with riches, was still the road to fame and renown at this palmy epoch of the Spanish empire. 10

Such might be the motives which influenced Cer- vantes to leave his native country for a time. We henceforth find him describing in the countries through which he travelled not only the varied and enchant- ing varieties of scenery, but also the peculiar customs of the inhabitants. He beheld with admiration the rich and beautiful city of Valencia, its delightful sub- urbs, the charms and engaging manners of its women, and its graceful language, with which the Portu- guese alone can compete for sweetness and agreeable- ness. On the principality of Catalonia he made more

OF CERVANTES.

extensive and particular observations, as appears from many of his notes, describing and justly censuring the levies and bands of soldiers which the principal gentry employed in the gratification of their private revenge, remarking the severity of punishments, and noticing the most distinguished families of the country, their party, their influence, and manners ; now describing the well-known road of Barcelona so dangerous for shipping, and the city, as the school of chivalry, the queen of all beautiful cities, the pride of Spain, the dread of her neighbouring enemies, the paragon of loyalty, the protectress of strangers, and faithful in her friendships ; and finally summing up the character of the Catalonians by saying, that they are passionate and warlike, peaceful and agreeable, and in bravery and honour exceeded by no people in the universe. With equal felicity he describes the route to Italy, through the southern provinces of France, affording grounds for surmise that he had made that journey on this occasion with Monsignor Aquaviva ; for as we find some of these descriptions in the Galatea, which was the first work he pub- lished after his captivity and his service in Portugal and the Terceira islands, we may infer that it could be only at that time he had an opportunity of ac- quiring an accurate knowledge of the geography, history, and manners of the principality and of those countries, which he displays in his works at a more advanced period of life.

Cervantes must have remained only a short time in this domestic service, as he enrolled himself in the following year as a common soldier in the Spanish army11 then stationed in Italy; embracing thence- forth a nobler profession, and one more consonant to his birth and connexions ; since the exercise of

10 LIFE AND WRITINGS

arms (to use his own expression), although it raises all persons, yet more particularly becomes those that are noble-minded and well born. It was not long before he found a theatre on which he might display his martial spirit. The Grand Turk, Selim II., breaking the treaty which he had formed with the republic of Venice, suddenly invaded, at a time of profound peace, the island of Cyprus. The Vene- tians on this event implored assistance from the various princes of Christendom, particularly from the Pontiff, Pius V. That pontiff, with the greatest alacrity, placed his galleys under the command of Marc Antonio Colonna, duke of Paliano, and uniting writh those of Spain and Venice, they assembled in the winter of 1570 in the Levant, to check the pro- gress of the enemy ; but in consequence of the dis- sensions and indecision of the confederate commanders, the Turks were enabled to take Nicosia by assault, and extend their conquests ; and the combined fleet allowing the favourable season to escape for the suc- couring of Cyprus, was diminished by tempests, and compelled to retire to their respective ports. Among the forty-nine galleys, which tinder the command of Juan Andrea Doria assembled at Otranto with Colonna, agreeably to the orders of Philip II., were included twenty of the squadron of Naples, sent by the marquess of Santa Cruz, and the whole had been reinforced by five thousand Spanish soldiers and two thousand Italians.

Among these troops was the company of the famous Captain Diego de Urbina, a native of Gua- dalajara, which belonged to the regiment of Don Miguel de Moncada, and in this company it was that Miguel de Cervantes volunteered as a common sol- dier.12 In this station he made the campaign of the

OF CERVANTi:-. 11

summer Tinder the orders of Colonna, embarking pro- bably in one of the galleys of the squadron from Na- ples, in which city, on its return, he spent the winter, whilst the armament was repairing and refitting for the service of the following year.

The Roman court, far from being dismayed by its late misfortunes, now formed with nndiminished zeal a confederacy of the principal powers of Europe against the Turks, concluding on the 20th day of May, 1571, the famotis league between his holiness the pope, the King of Spain, and the republic of Venice, and naming as generalissimo of the united force by land and sea, Don Juan of Austria, natural son of Charles V. The enlistment of troops, the supplies of ammunition and provisions, and the means of war, were forwarded by religious zeal ; and the spirit of military glory which displayed itself, was further excited by the presence of a numerous army, and its illustrious commanders.

Don Juan of Austria had scarcely received his ap- pointment of generalissimo, when he proceeded with the utmost despatch to Madrid, and uniting in Bar- celona the distinguished regiments of Don Lope de Figueroa and of Don Miguel de Moncada, which had given signal proofs of their valour and military skill in the war of Granada, he set sail with them from that part for Italy, and arrived at Genoa on the 26th day of June with forty-seven galleys. Moncada was commissioned to rouse the Venetians to co-operate with spirit in an enterprise which they had them- selves provoked ; encouraging them with the pro- spect of a happy result, which the dissensions of the former year had prevented. During this time those two regiments were completed at Naples by soldiers who were serving in the fleet ; and it was then that

12 LIFE AND WRITINGS

the company of Urbina, in which Cervantes served, was united to the regiment to which it belonged. The united land and sea forces of the allied powers then assembled at Messina, and diligently prepared themselves for the campaign ; and the troops were distributed in the several ships of war, placing in the galleys of Juan Andrea Doria, then in the service of Spain, two old companies, two others of the regiment of Moncada, that of Urbina and that of Rodrigo de Mora, each composed of two hundred men.

By this arrangement Cervantes, with his captain and company, were allotted to the galley the Marquesa de Juau Andrea, commanded by Francisco Sancto Pietro ; and as on going to sea on the 15th of Sep- tember, with the intention of engaging the Ottoman fleet, the combined force was formed into three divisions, — the Marquesa was assigned to the third squadron, which formed the left wing of the battle, the command of which was given to Augustin Barba- ligo, purveyor-general of Venice. After succouring Corfu, and seeking the fleet of the enemy, they dis- covered it on the morning of the 7th of October, towards the entrance of Lepanto. Being compelled from his situation to engage immediately, Barbarigo began the attack a little after mid-day; and the battle soon becoming general and obstinate, terminated at night with the most glorious victory that the Christian arms everachieved.13 Cervantes being at this moment sick of the ague, his captain and comrades endea- voured to dissuade him from taking a part in the approaching action, and advised him to remain in quiet in the cabin of his ship, but, warmed with military ardour, he indignantly asked, What would be thought of him, if he should desert his post at such a time ? and declared that he should prefer death

OF CERVANTES. 13

bravely fighting for God and his King, to preserving life on such ignoble terms. He then earnestly en- treated his captain to place him in the hottest part of the battle ; and the captain indulging him, gave him a post in his vessel, with twelve soldiers, where they fought with such heroism, that the Christians in his galley killed five hundred Turks, slew the gover- nor of Alexandria, and captured the royal standard of Egypt.

In this fierce contest Cervantes received three arquebuss wounds, two in the breast, and the other in the left hand, which remained maimed and lame ever afterwards. By his bravery and valour, how- ever, he contributed to the glory of that day, the 7th of October, 1571, a day for ever memorable for the signal victory gained by the Christian powers over the Turks. Of his share in this action he made honourable boast during the rest of his life, showing in proof of his distinguished bravery the scars of his wounds received in " the most memorable of all occasions past, present, and to come" — " wounds that show like stars, lighting us on our way to heaven and to fame." He thus chose rather to share the dangers and glories of this day with loss of limb, than to excuse himself from illness, " since it is better for a soldier to be found dead on the field of battle, than to save his life by an abandonment of duty."

On the night which succeeded to this glorious day, the victorious fleet retired to the port of Pi'tela, to attend to the repair of the ships, and to minister to the wants and comforts of the men. The bad state of Cervantes' health at this time retarded the healing of his wounds, but he had the honourable satisfaction of being visited on the following day by Don Juan of Austria, who came to thank the soldiers for their

14 LIFE AXD WRITINGS

valour, succouring the wounded, and bestowing on such as had distinguished themselves three escudos each, above their ordinary pay. This prince was desirous of improving the advantages of his victory by blocking up the Turks fn the Dardanelles, and possessing himself of the castles of Lepanto and Santa 31 aria, wintering for this object in Corfu with the Venetians ; but the very advanced season of the year, the want of victuals, and also of men, the number of sick and wounded, and the commands of his brother, compelled him to return to Messina, where he arrived on the 31st of October, and was received with every demonstration of joy so glorious a triumph deserved, as were soon afterwards Marc Antonio Colonna in Rome, and the marquis of Santa Cruz at Naples. A hospital was prepared in Messina for the reception of the wounded, where Cervantes disembarked with his comrades. The condition of these meritorious men immediately attracted the attention of Don Juan of Austria, who not only generously gave thirty thousand ducats for their relief, but frequently visited them himself, and reiterated his thanks to those who had distinguished themselves in the late action. He moreover directed Gregorio Lopez, the surgeon-general of the army, and the king's physician (who had been physician to Charles V.), to attend personally to the cure of the wounded ; and these brave men, so worthy of their general's regard, were thus treated with the most tender care. The greater part of them were soon restored to health, and were able to take a share in the public and solemn rejoicings with which the city of Messina celebrated this memorable victory, making its grate- ful acknowledgments to the young champion who had achieved it. »

OF CERVANTES. 15

The prince remained in Sicily agreeably to the wishes of his brother; and, to provide for the better order of the fleet, he sent a portion of it to various parts of Italy for the winter ; he also despatched some foreign ships and troops, and assigned a station to the Spaniards in Naples and Sicily, ordering to the southern part of that island the regiment of Moncada. It seems certain that Cervantes remained at Messina for the healing of his wounds, for Don Juan of Austria sent to succour him there on the 1 5th and 24th of January, and on the 9th and 17th of March, 1572, remitting him money for the pay of the fleet, and for secret and extraordinary expenses, in consideration of his services, and to complete the cure of his wounds. His health being re-established, Cervantes received three additional escudos monthly, in the regiment of Don Lope de Figueroa, and in the company which had signalised itself, which was doubtless that of Ponce de Leon. It was in- tended to complete the regiment of Moncada with four thousand men from the garrison of Naples ; but although Don Juan of Austria proposed this, and gave Moncada leave tp go to Spain, it seems certain that the object was given up, and that the general continued his services in the following year.

This signal success animated the confederate powers for fresh enterprise, and the court of Rome occupied itself forthwith in making arrangements with the other powers for another campaign, and by fervent exhortations of its legates induced the Christian powers to enter into a new confederacy. Selim, on his part, increased his fleet, and engaged the king of France to divert the attention of Philip II., by attack in g his dominions in Flanders and Italy, and he also succeeded in separating the Venetians from

16 LIFE AND WRITINGS

the league. Don Juan of Austria was now ordered to assist the allies with his forces, and to remain in Sicily to protect the coasts of that island. The operations for the spring of 1572 were impeded, amongst other things, by differences between the courts of Rome and Florence, and the death of Pius V.

At length Colonna departed for the Levant on the 6th day of June, and Don Juan of Austria rendered him effectual assistance by his ships loaded with victuals and ammunition, and with the thirty- six galleys of the marquis of Santa Cruz, which transported a large body of troops to Corfu. Among these was the Spanish infantry regiment of Moncada, and two companies of that of Don Lope de Figueroa, which were embarked from the southern side of Sicily. At this island the Roman commander assembled and reviewed all the forces under his command. He then embarked them, and pursued the Turkish fleet, which avoided a general action, and availed itself of every opportunity of escaping into port. The apprehensions of Philip were now allayed by the success of his arms in Flanders, and paying less attention to the views of the French court, and satisfied of the friendly intentions of the new pon- tiff, he ordered his brother to the Levant, leaving John Andrea Doria in Sicily with forty galleys, and a correspondent number of troops.

In order to unite the fleet of the allies, the gene- ralissimo directed his course on the 9th of August to Corfu, where he found neither Colonna, nor any tidings of him. Displeased with this event, which deprived him of the best part of the season, he desired him to make all haste, and join him on the last day of the month. He then prepared his ships, and took to sea on the 8th day of September, with the in-

OF CERVANTES. 17

tention of advantageously1 attacking the Turks, whose force was divided between Xavarino and Modon. lie would have surprised them in this situation on the morning of the 16th, if a mistake of the pilot in the roadstead had not given them time to avoid the danger, and unite their force in the latter port, where they fortified themselves. Don John of Austria here wished to attack them, but was prevented by the counsels and opposition of his generals, and con- sented at last to join the Venetians in their attack on Xavarino, though it was an enterprise from which much was not to be expected. He was not deceived in this surmise, for although under the command of Alessandro Farnese, they were compelled to abandon the enterprise after the lapse of some days, and to embark the troops and artillery under favour of the uight, and under the protection of the fleet.

Spite of these disappointments, Don John was de- sirous of attacking the enemy in harbour, as they refused to give him battle in the open sea ; but, surrendering his own opinion to that of others, and seeing the season so far advanced, he decided on the allies retiring to their several homes, and he himself en- tered Messina with the Spanish fleet at the beginning of November. They took measures for passing the winter here, and disembarked the Spanish regiments of Naples and Sicily. They appointed quarters to the regiment of Don Lope de Figueroa, which was in the pay of the fleet, and then filling up that of Moneada, they re-formed and completed it with the soldiers of the former regiment. We may conclude from this narrative, that whilst Moneada wintered in the southern part of Sicily, Cervantes remained in Messina for the cure of his wounds, until the end of April, 1572, when he passed into the regiment of

18 LIFE AND WRITINGS

Don Lope de Figueroa, which was at Corfu on board the galleys of the Marquis of Santa Cruz, and that he was in the battle of the Levant when Colonna com- manded, and in the enterprise of Navarino, since he afterwards joined the prince generalissimo. This he states in his memorial, and several circumstances strengthen the supposition ; and to this may be added the minute description, in his tale of the Cautivo, of the events of this battle, and the well-founded assertion, in his dedication of the Galatea, that he had followed for several years the standard of Marc Antonio Colonna.

CHAPTER II.

Sails with the expedition from Palermo — Attnck of Tunis — Flight of the Moors — Gallant conduct of Cervantes — Return of Don John to Italy — Cervantes winters with his regiment • at Cerdefia — Sails with Marcello Doria to OJenon — Proceeds with his regiment to Sicily — Visits the principal cities of Italy — Descriptions in his writings — Studies the Italian poets — The use he made of them — Hi* delicate satire — Envied and depre- ciated— Gains the esteem of his commanders — Distinguishes himself — Obtains leave to return to Spain — Sets sail with his brother Rodrigo — Attacked and captured by an Algcrine squad- ron— Brave defence — Carried to Algiers — Cruel treatment — Forms a plan to escape — Abandoned by his guide — Is re-captured — His second attempt — Adventures and sufferings — Takes the responsibility on himself — Threatened by the Dey — Curious anecdotes — A Spanish renegade— Conduct of Cervantes — Re- news his attempt to escape.

THE winter was passed in making active prepa- rations. In the spring of 1572, at which time Philip II. intended to repair to Corfu with three hundred galleys of his own, the Venetians, for the purpose of dissimulation, prepared at the same time a large

OP CERVANTES. 19

force of foot soldiers for their ships, as they were secretly negotiating a peace with Constantinople through the French ambassador. This treaty was finally concluded at the end of March, and they then separated themselves from the league. This so far disgusted the confederates, that they deter- mined to abandon the Levant, and turn their forces against Algiers, and the Prince Don John decided upon sailing against Tunis, — an enterprise which Philip II. adopted, though for causes very different to those of his brother. Philip flattered himself with obtaining the sovereignty of Algiers, agreeably to the promise of the Pope and the wishes of his own court ; whilst Don John's object was to de- throne Aluch-Ali, to restore Muley Mahomet, and to dismantle the fortresses : thus getting rid of the Christian tribute, and depriving the corsairs of this their favourite stronghold.

The whole spring passed away in these prepa- rations, and it was now the 24th of September when the expedition, with twenty thousand soldiers, set sail from Palermo, and with these the regiment in which Cervantes served. The whole force disembarked at the Goleta, on the 8th and 9th of October ; and as the Turks in the garrison and the Moors in Tunis hastily abandoned the city and the fortress, Don John of Austria ordered the Marquis of Santa Cruz to take possession of them with the prudence and caution which circumstances dictated. For this purpose he removed from the garrison of the Goleta two thou- sand five hundred veteran troops, which he replaced by as many new soldiers, among which were four companies of the regiment of Figueroa, who, to use the expression of Vanderhamen, " made the earth tremble with their muskets ;" and as all were well c2

20 LIFE AND WRITINGS

acquainted with the country, and commanded by a brave and experienced captain, they disembarked with amazing despatch and success.

Instead of demolishing the fortifications, agreeably to the orders of the King, and the advice of the Duke de Sesa and Marcello Doria, Don John endeavoured to assure his conquest, constructing in the Estaho a fort capable of containing eight thousand men in garrison, and occupying Yiserta, which surrendered of its own accord. This being sufficiently matured, he left a considerable number of troops for the defence of these places, returned to Sicily at the beginning of November, and made his arrangements for the winter season, giving orders for the refreshment of his men and the repair of the fleet. He then sent to Cerdena the four companies commanded by Figueroa, that they might at the same time attend to the de- fence of that island, and extend their aid to the other garrisons in Africa when requisite. Cervantes not only states in his memorial that he was in the expe- dition to Tunis, — a fact confirmed by several of his fellow-soldiers, who asserted that they had seen him serving there, and commended his bravery, — but that he was also one of the division who sallied forth with the Marquis de Santa Cruz from the garrison of the Goleta to take possession of Tunis and its castle. Cervantes himself, and his father, have left us a notice of his services on both these occasions ; and this is confirmed by the extreme accuracy with which, in the before-mentioned novel, he has related the success- ful events of this day.

Don John of Austria had received permission to return to Spain, and he solicited in Rome, by means of his secretary, Juan de Escovedo, the mediation of the Pope to obtain from the King the sovereignty of

OF CERVANTES. 21

Tunis. But on his journey he found at Gaeta fresh orders to pass into Lombardy, and there to await the pacification of the troubles which had broken out at Genoa. Directing his course to the port of Especia at the close of April, 1574, he there found Doria, who with fourteen galleys had brought from Cerdena the Spanish infantry of Figueroa, which he conducted to the coast of Genoa to await the immediate orders of that prince.

The latter complained of the delay which had occurred in his absence with regard to the armaments in Naples and Sicily, when he learnt that in the month of July the Turks had arrived with numerous forces to reconquer Tunis and the Goleta. To prevent this misfortune he despatched succour to the viceroys of these states, under the command of Don Juan de Cardona and Don Bernardino de Velasco, with which, and the abandonment of Viserta, they managed to preserve their fortresses for some time, though attacked by a powerful army. Don John was now aware of the error of not dismantling these places in the previous year ; and believing he could, notwithstanding, remedy the evils he apprehended, he embarked at Especia with the infantry of Don Garcia de Mendoza, that of Figueroa, and some Italian troops, and sailed for Naples and Messina, where he put in order some vessels that had been there repaired.

Impatient of the delay which this misfortune had occasioned, he resolved to embark and conduct in per- son the requisite assistance, and for this purpose he reinforced his ships with the best soldiers from the regiments of Don Pedro de Padillar and Don Lope de Figueroa. He then put to sea, resolved to succour thebesiegedat all risks ; but the storms and hurricanes rendered his efforts fruitless, having been nigh perish-

22 LIFE AND WRITINGS

ing, and obliged to save himself by taking refuge in the ports of Sicily.

In the meanwhile the Goleta, which had been hitherto considered impregnable, was taken by assault after a long siege, and a well-sustained and vigorous defence, as was also Tunis after twenty days, the victors entering over the ruins of the ramparts, which were thrown down by the violence of the mines, and the fortress oftheEstaho was in consequence reduced to capitulation. This unfortunate intelligence reached Don John when he had repaired his ships, and was persisting in his intentions, and about to set sail from Trepana. Extremely chagrined to see his exertions fruitless, his hopes destroyed, and his reputation compromised, he returned to Naples on the 29th of September, leaving at Palermo, in the charge of the Duke of Sesa, the care of the armada, and the regiment of Figueroa, with the intention not only of protecting the coast of that kingdom, but also to recruit the losses he had sustained in his troops. For this purpose the Duke judged it best to fix his abode at the maritime towns, and to strengthen the army of Sicily.

This division was in the interim commanded by Don Martin de Argote, Don Lope de Figueroa having obtained leave to go to Spain for the re- establishment of his health. He prosecuted hia journey at the same time as Don John of Austria, who solicited of his brother on this occasion the appointment of Lieutenant of all Italy, with the treatment of an infante of Castile ; but Philip II., suspicious of his views, and jealous of his own repu- tation, always endeavoured to limit or thwart his pretensions, and thus conceded the first request, but delayed the other to a future period. The prince then

OF CERVANTES. 23

returned to Naples in June, 1575, to occupy himself in the preparations of the fleet at Genoa, it having been reported that the Turks were this summer intending to visit the Mediterranean with a large force.

From the course of these events we may conclude that from the end of 1573 to the beginning of May of the following year, Cervantes was with his regiment in garrison, and passed the winter in the island of Cerdena, and that from thence he sailed to Genoa in theships of Marcello Doria, to await in Lombardy the orders of Don John of Austria, who, at the beginning of August, when he sailed from Spain, took with him that regiment to Naples and Majorca, and reinforced with his best soldiers the ships with which he had intended to succour the Goleta ; that after that oc- currence Cervantes waited with the same regiment in Sicily the orders of the Duke of Sesa, when he incor- porated his regiment with the forces of that country in the absence of his master of the camp ; and that the prince Don John, on his return to Naples on the 18th of June, 1575, gave leave a little time afterwards to Cervantes to return to his native country, after so long an absence, and so long continued meritorious services.

In the course of these various campaigns Cervantes had an opportunity of visiting most of the magnifi- cent and delightful cities of Italy and Sicily, as Genoa, Lucca, Florence, Rome, Naples, Palermo, Messina, Ancona, Venice, Ferrara, Parma, Piacenza and Milan, of which he has left us such enchanting descriptions in his writings. Italy had now been for more than a century the centre of the arts, and of that literature, the inestimable remains of which had been saved by the Greeks who had fled from the East on the taking

24 LIFE AND WRITINGS

of Constantinople. The Spaniards, who were then in possession of many of the states of Italy, either from the union of the sovereign houses of Arragon and Castile, or from the memorable conquests of the " grand captain" and other illustrious commanders, maintained a frequent communication with the Italians ; and the natives of Spain frequently visited Rome, in the prospect of obtaining benefices or ecclesiastical dignities, or in order to receive their education in the University of Bologna, founded exclusively for the Spaniards by the illustrious cardinal Albornoz. Some were on service with the military that formed the garrisons in various places, or with the armies employed there on service ; some followed the career of jurisprudence, or political life, and repaired to seek office or employment under the patronage of the viceroys. On the other hand, many Italians, anxious to visit the Spanish coast, and to pay their respects to their sovereign, or in the pursuit of wealth and prosecution of their commercial pursuits, were made denizens of Spain ; and in this way the beneficial influence of Italy was felt.

It was thus that Christobal de Mesa, having for his tutor during six years the famous Torquato Tasso, finished with him the education he had commenced in Spain under Pacheco, Medina, and Brocense ; and thus Francisco de Figueroa, Andrez Rey de Artieda, called Artemidoro, and Christobal de Viruez, who served in the country, acquired that refinement of taste, that elegance and amenity, peculiar to the schools of Dante and Petrarca. It was hence that Bartolomeo de Argensola, the Dr. Mira de Amescua, and Suavez de Figueroa, learned to adorn their native tongue with new graces ; and it was hence that Cer- vantes, applying himself to the study of the Italian

OF CERVANTES. . 25

poets and writers, and devoting himself to an inter- course with them for more than six years, acquired that store of learning and erudition, of which he has availed himself so lavishly in his writings.

It must be confessed that his language is some- times redolent of the climate of Italy, but we may at the same time observe that many of the most classical authors of Spain, at this time, enriched the Castilian tongue from the same quarter, and that many passages which were taken by the poets from Ariosto, were introduced with all the grace and beauty of original compositions ; but he did not on this account lose sight of the classical writers of antiquity, whose works he constantly studied, as the models and examples of true taste in literature, as may be seen in the imitations he has left us of Apuleius, Heliodorus, and of Horace and Virgil, without too servilely following their footsteps. On the contrary he boldly emulates their flight, striking out new paths in the world of imagination, and discovering mines of the richest genius. These he seized on for his own fame and the instruction and delight of mankind, possess- ing an elevation of mind and energy of character which he derived rather from his intercourse with learned men, and an intimate knowledge of the world, more than from the barren perusal of books, or the abstract and subtle studies of the schools.

But these eminent qualities were viewed with in- difference at a time when, for persons who made any claim to distinction, it was requisite to obtain the honours of a university, or to pass through the studies which were denominated the higher faculties. Such an education, with many abuses inherent in these studies, as well as the contention for literary rank and emolument, could not escape the delicate satire of

26 LIFE AND WRITINGS

Cervantes and other eminent writers of that age. Many of his rivals, too, vain of their pompous titles, gained at so little cost, looked down on him with affected contempt, and depreciated him as deficient in such qualifications, applying to him the epithet of " a dull genius," as mentioned by the historian Don Tomas Tamayo de Vargas ; having before bestowed it on the Marquis of Santillana, on Don Inigo Lopez de Mendoza, on Philip de Comines, on Don Antonio Hurtado de Mendoza, onRodrigo Mendez de Silva, and others who did not stand in need of university distinctions, to be mentioned with commendation by one of the most eminent authors of Spain, as Don Alonso Nunez de Castro.

Such was the eventful life of Cervantes " whilst fighting," to use his own language, " under the con- quering banners of that thunderbolt of war, Charleg V." But finding that his distinguished services met with no corresponding remuneration, and suffering from the effects of his wounds and fatigues, he ob- tained leave of Don John of Austria to go to Spain to solicit the recompense he so justly merited. For this purpose the Prince gave him the warmest letters of recommendation to the King, entreating his ma- jesty to confer on him a company in the regiments then raising in Spain for service in Italy, as a reward for his bravery, his signal and acknowledged services. Don Carlos de Aragon, Duke of Sesa and Terranova, and Viceroy of Sicily, also wrote to the King and to his ministers in the strongest language, in favour of a soldier as unfortunate as meritorious, who had ob- tained by his gallantry and pleasing manners the esteem of his commanders and fellow-soldiers.

Having thus prepared for his departure, and with hopes so flattering and well-founded, Cervantes embarked at

OP CERVANTES. 27

Naples in a Spanish galley called " el Sol" in com- pany with his brother Rodrigo de Cervantes, who had also served in the past campaigns, with Pero Diez Carillo de Quesada, governor of the Golcta, and afterwards general of artillery, and also with several officers of high rank and distinction, at that time returning to their native country.

But whilst at sea on the 26th day of September, 1575, they were met by a squadron from Algiers, under the command of Arnauti Mami, and the Span- ish galley was immediately attacked by three of the corsair ships, particularly by one of twenty-two oars commanded by the captain Dali Mami, a Greek renegade, who was named El Cojo. After sustaining a combat, as obstinate as unequal, in which Cervantes distinguished himself by his valour, they were com- pelled to surrender to a superior force, and were car- ried to Algiers in triumph, all being made slaves that were found in the vessel. Cervantes himself fell to the share of the captain Dali Mami, who gained a valu- able prize in his captive. It is highly probable that he alludes to this event in the fifth book of the Galatea, when he describes the combat sustained by the ship which carried Timbrio to Spain from Italy with the same Arnauti Mami, who was the com- mander of the squadron which captured him. '*

When Dali Mami, the master of Cervantes, disco- vered the letters of recommendation which he carried from Don John of Austria and the Duke of Sesa, he imagined him to be one of the principal noblemen of Spain, and a person of the first quality and dis- tinction, and hoping to realize a large sum of money by his ransom,15 for his greater security he loaded him with irons, and placed a guard over him, and by a course of severe and cruel treatment endeavoured

28 LIFE AND WRITINGS

to compel him to interest bis relatives and friends in his redemption.

Such was the custom of these barbarians, and such the artifices which their avarice and covetousness sug- gested to tbem to augment the ransom, and to induce their wretched captives to solicit their friends and country for their release ; or to force them by their sufferings to abandon their faith, and enter upon a dissolute course of life : for tbose who turned rene- gados were invested with commands and dignities, and were even raised above the natives of the country, on whom they wreaked their revenge and private resentments,

But Cervantes rejected all their offers with disdain, and, inspired with a generous ardour, nobly resolved to attempt his own liberation and that of many of his fellow-sufferers, particularly Don Francisco de Menescs, who was captain in the Goleta, Don Bel- tran del Salto y de Castilla, taken prisoner in that fortress, the ensigns Rios and Gabriel de Castaiieda, the sergeant Navarrete, a gentleman of the name of Osorio, and many more. With this object he took a Moor into his confidence, to serve them as a guide, and to conduct them by land to Oran, not aware that before this he had betrayed some Spanish cap- tives. On commencing their journey they were on the first day abandoned by the Moor, and were com- pelled to retrace their steps to Algiers. Here they were subjected afresh to the cruel usage of their masters and owners ; in particular Cervantes, who for this attempt at escape was loaded with heavier chains, and consigned to a more severe confinement. Besides the two attempts which he made, and which liaedo relates in his history, Cervantes makes mention of two others in his play of the " Trato dc Argel," in which

OF CERVANTES. 29

he has doubtless copied from life some of the events and accidents of this first and unfortunate attempt to escape from captivity.

About this time in the year 1576 some friends of Cervantes, his fellow-captives, obtained their free- dom, and amongst others the ensign Gabriel de Cas- taheda, by whom he wrote to his relations represent- ing his own deplorable situation, and that of his brother. This was more than sufficient to excite the compassion and paternal regard of a father, in en- deavouring to procure the means of liberation for his unfortunate sons, both gallant soldiers ; and Rodrigo de Cervantes for this purpose mortgaged the whole patri- mony of his family, his own estate, and the marriage portions of his two daughters, thus reducing himself almost to a state of destitution.

When Cervantes received this supply, he endea- voured to negotiate his redemption -with Dali Mami, but this man had formed so high an opinion of the consequence of Cervantes that his avarice became insatiable ; and the sum offered appeared in his eyes contemptible,16 and he refused therefore to enter into fresh negotiations. All prospect of his own release having thus vanished, Cervantes treated for and effected the liberation of his brother Rodrigo, in Au- gust 1577, enjoining him as soon as he reached Spain to despatch from Valencia, or from Majorca or Ivica, an armed vessel, which might approach the coast of Algiers upon an appointed signal, and thus liberate and convey Cervantes himself and the other Christian captives to Spain. In order to enter on this plan with more security and confidence, Don Antonio de Toledo, of the house of the dukes of Alba, and Fran- cisco de Valencia, a native of Zamora, both knights of the order of S. Juan, and at this time captives in

30 LIFE AMD WRITINGS

Algiers, gave letters to the viceroys of that province and those islands, intreating them to assist in de- spatching the vessel, and to aid in every way this daring enterprise.

Cervantes had now for some time meditated on the plan of escape, and the means of bringing it to a favourable result. To the east of Algiers, about three miles distant from the sea, the Alcalde Azan, a Greek renegado, possessed a garden, which wag cultivated by a Christian slave called Juan, a native of Navarre. This man, at the request of Cervantes, had concealed in a cave in the most retired part of the garden several Christian captives ; in February, 1577, others were added to them ; so that at the time Rodrigo Cervantes departed to Spain there were fourteen or fifteen captives concealed in this place, all gentlemen of rank, the chief part Spaniards, and three from Majorca. One cannot imagine how Cer- vantes, without being detected by his master, could establish this little subterranean republic, providing for the subsistence of the inmates, and securing them against discovery; but the truth of the incidents, and the long time during which he supported his friends, are proofs of his great sagacity and judgment. By the hopes of sharing in their liberation, he engaged the same gardener to serve as a sentinel and guard, so that no one could approach the garden unknown to them, and he also secured the services of another captive called El Dorador (the gilder), a native of Melilla, who when young had abandoned his faith, but to which he was now restored. Cervantes cm- ployed this man to purchase victuals, and to convey them secretly to the cave, from which no one ever ven- tured out, except under cover of the night. Cervantes, having now assembled all the Christian captives

OF CERVANTES. 31

•whose delivery he was attempting, in order to be nearer the place of their embarkation, fled from the house of his master. lie took leave of his friend and confidant D. Antonio de Sosa, entreating him to follow, which he was not able to do from his infirmi- ties, and then took refuge in the same cave with his friends, on the 20th of September of this year.

A brigantine was now with all possible haste de- spatched from the coast of Valencia, or, as P. Haedo relates, from Majorca, under the command of one Viana, who had himself escaped from slavery, and who was a brave and active sailor, and well ac- quainted with the coast of Barbary. He set sail at the latter end of September, and arrived at Algiers on the 28th day of the same month ; keeping at a distance from the shore for fear of a discovery. He lay-to at night at the nearest point of land to the garden, and despatched a messenger to inform the Christian captives of his arrival. At this moment some Moors happened to be near in a fishing-boat, or in the road, and descried the Christian bark in the twilight, and gave the alarm with so much noise and tumult, that the persons who had come in the boat threw themselves into the sea ; and although a little time afterwards they again attempted to ap- proach the coast, they were not less frustrated, and they unfortunately fell into the hands of the Moors. The enterprise thus became entirely disconcerted.17

Cervantes, meanwhile, and his companions, had borne with resignation the privations and sufferings arising from the dampness and darkness of their abode ; consoling one another with the pleasing pro-, spect of regaining their liberty, which, as one of the most precious gifts of Heaven, could alone recompense them for so many sufferings ; " and for which, as for

32 LIFE AND WRITINGS

our honour," said Cervantes, " we ought to risk life itself, slavery being the greatest evil that can fall to the lot of man."

But fortune, who counteracted all their plans, at last deprived them of any further hope, in a manner the most extraordinary and unlocked for. The Spaniard, El Dorador, to whom Cervantes had en- trusted the completion of his enterprise, proved a consummate hypocrite, and now resolved to abjure the Christian faith ; and with this design he presented himself on the last day of September before the Dey, Azan, manifesting his vile intention, and in order to ingratiate himself he communicated the secret of the concealment of the captives, the situation of the cave, and the ingenuity Cervantes had displayed in the whole affair. The Dey, overjoyed at this informa- tion, and seeing a most favourable opportunity of gratifying his avarice by " appropriating these slaves to himself," agreeably to the custom of Algiers, imme- diately directed the commander of his guard to take with him eight or ten Turks on horseback, and twenty-four foot soldiers with their firelocks and cutlasses, and some with lances, and to repair to the garden of the Alcalde Azan, the infonner serving them as a guide, and there to secure the Christian captives in the garden. This armed troop instantly departed, and soon afterwards entered the garden and surrounded the cave. In midst of the consternation caused by this event, Cervantes had onlytimeto entreat his companions in adversity to throw all the blamo of the attempt on him, hoping by this generous pro- ceeding to save his friends.

Whilst the Turks and Moorish soldiers were secur- ing the captives whom they there found concealed, Cervantes, commanding the attention of the troops,

OF CERVANTES. 33

declared with the utmost coolness that none of those unhappy men were to blame in the affair, for that he himself had persuaded them to fly and conceal them- selves ; and then he narrated his whole plan. The Turks, surprised at this noble and chivalrous confes- sion, by which he might risk his life, or subject him- self to the most cruel treatment, despatched a mes- senger on horseback, to inform the Dey of \vhat had passed, and what Cervantes had represented. The Dey returned for answer that all the captives except Cervantes should be incarcerated in the Bath, and that Cervantes should be conducted to the presence of the Dey. They then manacled him, and con- ducted him on foot, while in the course of his march he suffered from the soldiers and mob of Algiers every possible insult and indignity.

He was then carried before Azan, the Dey, before whom he underwent a rigid examination. The Dey at first used every degree of flattery and cunning which his interest suggested, and afterwards the most dreadful threats of torments and death that cruelty could invent, in order to induce him to dis- cover who were the real contrivers of this affair. The Dey was strongly persuaded that one of the principal was the R. P. Fr. Jorze Olivar, commen- dador of Valencia, of the order of Merced, and agent for the crown of Aragon for the redemption of slaves in Algiers, either because the Dorador had asserted that he had favoured the escape of the captives, or because his avarice sought for the pretext of an oc- casion to criminate this ecclesiastic, and force from him a considerable sum of money.18 The Padre Olivar the same day informed Don Antonio de Sosa, an ecclesiastic of gr<?at reputation for piety and learn- ing, that he was made prisoner, and thrown into D

34 LIFE AND WRITINGS

chains, and that he had sent him the vestments and ornaments, sacred vessels and other things for the service of the Church, fearing that the Turks might seize and profane them. But Cervantes, unterrined by all their threats, and deaf to all seductions and flattery, persisted in his asseveration that he alone was culpable, without compromising directly or indi- rectly any of his associates. The Dey, wearied by his constancy and unable to elicit further information, was contented with appropriating to himself all the captives, among others Cervantes, whom he ordered to be confined in his bath, loading him with chains and fetters with the intention of punishing him.

The Dorador being apprehensive that the infamy of the discovery might be imputed to him, repaired to the house of the Alcalde Mahomet in order to see Don Antonio de Sosa, and with many feigned and plausible statements attempted to excuse himself lest his reputation should suffer among the Christians, but neither Don Sosa nor any one else could exculpate him, when he had so openly betrayed the captives in the cave. He soon afterwards relapsed into Ma- hometism, and under the name of Mauri lived in Algiers until the 30th of September, 1 580, on which day he died in a wretched condition ; just completing three years from the time in which he perpetrated his execrable treachery. The Alcalde Azan, on his part, as soon as he heard of the affair of the cave, re- paired instantly to the Dey, and earnestly entreated him to surrender the fugitives into the hands of justice, and to place the gardener at his disposal. The latter request was granted, and he cruelly put him to death with his own hands on the third of October of that year. The same fate would have awaited Cervantes and his companions, if avarice in the heart of the

OP CERVANTES. 35

Dey had not resisted his sanguinary intentions, as he hoped himself to obtain the benefit of the ransom of these captives, as in their character of criminals he considered himself entitled to their persons ; some of them however he returned to their former master.-, and if Cervantes was one of these, as the P. Haedo relates, he could have remained only a very short time in the hands of Dali Mami, since the Dey. either fearing his plots, or expecting to obtain a great ransom from him, bought him from his master for five hundred escudos.

Azan Basha was suspicious and malignant, and so cruel a tyrant to his slaves that his treatment of them was that of a demon. We are horror-struck at the history of his life and atrocities, given by P. Haedo ; and Cervantes himself, in speaking of the sufferings which the captives of Azan, who were about two thousand, endured in his rigorous custody, savs — " Although we were almost constantly suffering from hunger and nakedness, nothing gave us so much pain as to witness, at every moment, the unheard of cruel- tics which our master inflicted on the Christians. He was every day hanging one, impaling another, mutilating a third, and this frequently without the slightest provocation, so that the Turks confessed that his object seemed to be to establish his character as a butcher of the human race." Considering Cer- vantes now as his own individual property, he kept him confined with the greatest rigour in his dungeon from the end of 1577. But Cervantes, always plot- ting to escape from this miserable situation, contrived to despatch a Moor with letters addressed to the governor of Oran, Don Martin de Cordova, and other persons of influence resident there, entreating them to send some confidential persons as spies, with wkoih 'it -2

36 LIFE AND WRITINGS

he and three other gentlemen captives might contrive a plan for escaping from the hands of the Dey. The Moor departed on his mission, but on entering Oran he had the misfortune to fall into the hands of some other Moors, who intercepted the letters he carried, and conducted him back to Algiers.19 The Dey, on recognizing the seal and name of Cervantes, com- manded the poor Moor to be impaled alive, who died without making any further discovery. He at the same time ordered Cervantes to receive two thousand strokes of the bastinado, but this sentence was re- mitted at the urgent request of some persons who interested themselves for him : a singular mark of condescension and favour in the barbarian, for at the same moment he caused three Spanish captives, who on various occasions had attempted to escape to Oran, and who had been apprehended by the natives of the country, to be impaled alive in his presence.

These repeated misfortunes, and the chance of even suffering a cruel death, could not abate the courage of Cervantes, nor repress his ardent endeavours to procure liberty for himself and his fellow-sufferers, in whose fate he took so strong an interest. There happened to be at Algiers in the month of September, 1679, a renegado Spaniard, who was known in Gra- nada, of which city he was a native, as the licentiate Giron. On his conversion to Mahometism he had assumed the name of Abderrama. Cervantes was given to understand that this unhappy man had re- pented of his crime, and was desirous of being re- stored to his religion and his country. He assured himself of his character and his sincerity through some captives, his countrymen, and he implored him to return to the bosom of the Catholic Church, offering to assist him in his design. Through this man he

OF CERVANTES. 37

negotiated with two Valentian merchants, called Onofrio Exarque and Baltasar de Torres, resident in Algiers, for a sum of money for the purchase of an' armed vessel; and Exarque having supplied 1500 dollars, Giron completed in his name the purchase of a brigantine of twelve oars, and prepared her for sea, all under the secret orders of Cervantes himself.

CHAPTER III.

Cervantes communicates his design to other captives — His plan is matured — Betrayed to the Dey — Blanco de Paz — Magnanimous conduct of Cervantes — Refuses to abandon his fellow- captives — Is brought before the Dev — Threatened with death — Refuges to name his coadjutors — Treated with extreme rigour — His plot- ting genius dreaded by the Dey — Sufferings of the captives — Dearth in Algiers — The Duke de Sesa interests himself for Cer- vantes— Solicitude and efforts of his relatives — Petition to Philip II — It is granted — Renewed attempts to obtain the amount of bis ransom — Society of the Redemption — Father Gil — Cervantes placed on board a vessel bound for Constantinople — Is ransomed — And set at liberty — Compassion for his fellow-captives — Xoble example — Religious duties — And resignation — His numerous friends — Documents and certificates of witnesses — Interesting depositions — Cervantes sails for Spain.

CERVANTES had, in the mean time, communicated his secret to sixty of the principal captives, and enjoined them to hold themselves in readiness to embark for Spain ; and the moment of departure was just at hand when an ill-affected person discovered the whole plan to the Dey Azan, and thus frus- trated the attempt. In fact, Don Juan Blanco de Paz, native of the city of Montemolin, near Lerena, forgetting his religious profession of the order of St. Domingo, in Santesteban de Salamanca, through displeasure or envy of Cervantes and some of his

38 LIFE AND WRITINGS

companions, betrayed to the Dey this project of flight and embarkation, receiving a base and paltry reward for his detestable perfidy.20

The Dey chose on this occasion to dissemble his knowledge of the attempt, thinking it better to take the captives in the fact, in order that he might punish them with more show of reason and justice ; but the captives suspecting that the Dey was acquainted •with their designs, were struck with apprehension, particularly Onofrio Exarque, who was afraid of losing his property, his liberty, and his life, fearing that Cervantes might be forced by torture to dis- cover the whole affair, and his accomplices in it. To avoid this, he entreated Cervantes most earnestly to embark for Spain in a ship then about to sail, and engaged to satisfy the amount of his ransom ; but Cervantes, who saw through his alarm and distrust, and how disgraceful it would be to flee from present danger, and abandon his companions to their fate, not only refused the offer, but with his characteristic magnanimity tranquillised the fears of the merchant, declaring that no tortures, nor even death itself, should force him to criminate any of his companions, but that he would rather accuse himself to save them ; and that he wished to acquaint them with this determination, that they might divest themselves of all apprehension.

Cervantes, after having fled from his master, had placed himself tinder the protection of a former friend, Diego Castellano, until it was known in what way the Dey might proceed. In the course of a few days public proclamation was made for the discovery of Cervantes, and prohibiting any one concealing him under pain of death.*1 Fearing now to compromise the safety of his friend, he resolved of his own free-

OP CERVANTES. 39

will to surrender himself, confiding for this purpose in a renegado, a native of Murcia, called Morato Raez Maltrapillo, an intimate friend of the Dey, through whose means and intercession he hoped to surmount this fresh affliction.

Azan Aga, as soon as he appeared in his presence, ln-gan to inquire into the particulars of the late at- tempt of himself and his companions ; and to terrify him the more he ordered a halter to be placed round his neck and his hands to be tied behind his back, as if it were intended to hang him forthwith. Cer- vantes, notwithstanding, behaved with the greatest composure, and not only did not accuse any one, but openly confessed that he alone had concerted the whole affair with four gentlemen who had since escaped, but of the remainder, that none of them knew anything of the scheme till the moment of its attempted execution. His replies to the interroga- tories of the Dey were so ingenious and discreet, that if they did not wholly justify him, they at any rate tempered the anger of Azan Aga, who satisfied himself with banishing the renegado Giron to the kingdom of Fez, and with ordering Cervantes to be incarcerated in the prison of the Moors, in his own palace, where he lay five months in chains, strictly guarded, and treated with the utmost rigour ; at the •-nine time that, for his noble conduct (to us^the expression of the ensign Luis de Pedrora, one of the witnesses.) he acquired fame, and honour, and glory among all Christians.

In fact, the perseverance and sagacity, with which Cervantes had concerted and conducted these various enterprises, and the courage and constancy with which he had several times run the risk of his life by a cruel death from torture or from fire, had gained

40 LIFE AND WRITINGS

him such a character, and made him so much dreaded in the eyes of the Algerines, that Azan Aga himself began to fear lest he should attempt to possess him- self of Algiers. And indeed the previous example of the valiant Spaniards who had before attempted this enterprise, and the formidable number of twenty- five thousand captives who might be united in the execution of such a plan, strengthened Cervantes in the idea of possessing himself of that city, with the intention of delivering it up to his sovereign, Philip II., making it a part of the Spanish monarchy, well persuaded of its importance, and remembering the many unsuccessful attempts that had been made to reduce it by the bravest Spanish captains of that age ; and from the manner in which he had conceived this great enterprise, it is highly probable he would have succeeded, if the base ingratitude and malevolence of some of the conspirators had not entirely frustrated his plans, and exposed him again as a victim to their atrocious perfidy.

The designs of Cervantes were for a long period the subject of conversation among the Algerines, and P. Haedo says they are deserving of a particular history. The close custody, therefore, in which Cer- vantes was held by the Dey, was not merely pecu- liar to his situation, but was a wise precaution for his «vn safety, and that of the state ; and on this account he was accustomed to say, that as long as the " lame Spaniard" was well watched, he considered his city, his slaves, and his ships all safe.

Cervantes himself states that Azan Aga treated him with a degree of moderation and temper which he never extended to his other captives. When speaking of the cruelties that he exercised on the Christian slaves, he says — "There was only one whom

OP CERVANTES. 41

he treated well, and this was a Spanish soldier, one Saavedra, whose many plots for obtaining his liberty will long live in the memory of those people. This man he never struck or ordered to be punished, nor gave him a bad word ; and yet for many things which he did, we all feared that lie would have been impaled alive, and he many times thought so himself."28

Towards the latter part of his captivity, Cervantes, in addition to his own sufferings, had to witness the general dearth that afflicted the city of Algiers. The cruel remorseless despotism of Azan Aga from his first entering on the government, had enforced a monopoly of all com and provisions, and the price of all things was regulated only by his unbounded avarice, the result of which was a scarcity and famine; while pestilence was spread abroad and filled the streets of this unhappy city with the dead and dying ; and although the captives were preserved alive by the care of their friends, yet they were not exempt from the privations attendant upon a scarcity in a city with so large a population, and so wretchedly governed as Algiers. At this moment, too, the for- midable preparations which Philip II. was making with so much secrecy and activity for the conquest of Portugal, struck the people of Algiers with a sudden panic, for they imagined this force was intended to be directed against that city.

They in consequence laboured incessantly to repair and strengthen the fortifications, employing the un- fortunate captives day and night in this service, from whom they carefully concealed their apprehensions, and loaded them with fresh cruelties in proportion to the dread of their own imagined danger, till the en- trance of the Spanish army into Portugal discovered to them the true object of the expedition.

42 LIFE AND WRITINGS

Whilst Cervantes was exercising his ingenuity in these various attempts for his escape from captivity, his liberation was endeavoured to be effected at Madrid by his parents, through the ordinary mode of ransom. The requisite amount was, however, want- ing, as their little property had been exhausted in redeeming their eldest son in 1577. This son, Rod- rigo de Cervantes, as soon as he arrived in Spain, presented to an alcalde of the court a judicial state- ment, not only of the rank, circumstances and services of his son Miguel, but also of his own poverty, and absolute inability to ransom him.

He likewise presented, on the 17th of March 1578, a petition of six heads, and at the same time four witnesses, who having known his son during his military service, and also in his captivity, could add their testimony in support of his petition. These were the ensigns Mateo de Santesteban, a native of Tudela, in Navarre, and Gabriel de Castaiieda, of the town of Salaya in the mountains of Santander, the serjeant Antonio Godinez de Monsalve, a native of and living near Madrid, and Don Beltran de Salto y de Castilla, residing in that court. These persons attested the truth of the statements in the petition, and deposed to Cervantes being the legitimate son of Rodrigo de Cervantes, and of Donna Leonora de Cor- tinas ; o"f the age of thirty, more or less, to judge from his appearance ; that he had been captured by Dali Mami, though he was then in the hands of Azan Aga ; and that his father was a gentleman by birth, but had sold all his property in order to redeem his eldest son.

The Duke de Sesa, who had been viceroy in Sicily, happening at this time to reside in Madrid, the re- lations of Cervantes applied in his name for a certifi-

OF CERVANTES. 43

cate of his meritorious services in Italy, and in various expeditions, as he had lost his letters of re- commendation to the king, on the occasion of his being made captive. The duke, well satisfied of the truth of this statement, immediately granted him a still stronger certificate, under his seal, and signed by his secretary, with the date of the 25th of July of the same year, in which he narrated the services of Cer- vantes, and concluded that he was deserving of the king's favour and regard. The anxious solicitude of his parents and friends had now procured the requisite testimonials, but Rodrigo de Cervantes, the father, about this time died, without having the con- solation of seeing his son restored to his arms, and some delay also occurred in transmitting the papers. At this juncture there were despatched as ambassadors to Algiers, for the redemption of captives, by Philip II. and his council, and the superiors of the order of the Must Holy Trinity, the R. P. Fr. Juan Gil, procura- tor-general of that order, and brother of redemption for the crown of Castile, and the P. Fr. Antonio de la Bella, minister of the house of Baeza, to wrhom, on the 31st of July, 1579, Dona Leonor de Cortinas, now a widow, and Donna Andrea de Cervantes, her daughter, inhabitants of Alcala, and then residing at Madrid, presented themselves, and placed in their hands three hundred ducats, two hundred and fifty from the former, and fifty from the latter, to aid in redeeming their son and brother.

Donna Leonor de Cortinas, in order to increase this sum, renewed the application which had been begiin by her husband, and presented to the king a petition, supported by the judicial information and certificate from the Duke de Sesa, praying that his majesty, in consideration of the meritorious services

44 LIFE AND WRITINGS

of her son, and in compassion to their impoverished circumstances, would grant an aid for his ransom. The king listened graciously to this petition, and, on the 17th of January, 1580, granted Donna Leonor permission to export from the kingdom of Valencia merchandise not prohibited, to the amount of ten thousand ducats, the profits to be derived from which might be sent for the ransom of her son ; but such was the ill-fortune of the family that this favour was of no avail, the profits not realising more than sixty ducats. In the meanwhile the fathers of redemption had proceeded on their voyage to Algiers, where they arrived on the 29th of May, 1580, the day of the Most Holy Trinity, and began to treat immediately for the redemption of the captives. The difficulty which they experienced in ransoming Cervantes de- layed them some time, for the Dey insisted on receiving for him a thousand pieces, thus doubling the price of his purchase ; and threatening that if they should not advance this sum, he would carry him with him to Constantinople. For Azan's term of go- vernment.having now expired, and Jafer Basha being appointed his successor by the Grand Turk, he was now on the eve of departing for that capital with four barks belonging to himself and his chaya or major- domo, armed with his own slaves and renegadoes, and carrying with them a convoy of seven other vessels on their return to Turkey. Cervantes was already on board, loaded with chains and fetters, when the Padre Gil, compassionating his situation, and fearing that he might lose for ever the opportu- nity of recovering his liberty, did not rest until he succeeded in redeeming him for five hundred pieces of gold of Spain, raising this amount from the mer- chants, and applying towards it a sum from the

OF CERVANTES. 45

redemption fund and particular charities, to make up the requisite payment. The bargain being concluded, and the officers of the galley being gratified by nine dollars for their fees, Cervantes was disembarked on the 19th of September, at the very moment that Azan Aga set sail for Constantinople.

On his restoration to liberty, it was the first object of Cervantes to justify his conduct and place his re- putation beyond the reach of calumny and malignity, previous to his presenting himself in Spain. It was highly desirable, in order to support his pretensions towards some remuneration for his services and long sufferings, to confirm and substantiate the proofs of the many bold attempts he had made to obtain his freedom. With this view he appeared before the Padre Gil on the 10th day of October, 1580, suppli- cating him, as there was no person in Algiers authorised to administer justice among the Christians, and as he there represented his majesty as apostolic delegate of the supreme pontiff, that he would receive the declaration of witnesses before the notary Pedro de Ribera, in the way of interrogations. This favour was conceded, and eleven of the principal and best qualified Christians to be found were examined as to the truth of twenty-four clauses, which comprehended not only all the events and occurrences of the past years, as has been narrated, but a justification of the conduct, public and private, of Cervantes, and an account of the artifices of his enemies during that period to discredit and injure his character.

Ever since Juan Blanco de Paz had betrayed to the Dey the project of the armed brigantine chartered in the name of the renegade Giron, he was so abhorred by the captives, that he would have been assassinated by them, except for the interference of Don Antonio

46 LIFE AND WRITINGS

de Sosa. This infamous traitor, thus stung and irritated, directed his enmity and resentment against the merchants Exarque and Torres, and Cervantes, openly denying his correspondence with the latter. He carried his malevolence to such an extreme, that in order to discredit Cervantes, and destroy his future prospects, he attempted to raise some criminal accu- sations against him, engaging*witnesses by bribes and promises of their enfranchisement, and terrifying others from the truth of their statements by threats.

With this malevolent intention, he gave out that he was appointed a commissary of the Holy Office, with a commission from the king for the exercise of all its functions, and he even pretended to require the fathers of redemption of Spain and Portugal, Don Sosa and other ecclesiastics, to yield him obedience; but on their requiring him to exhibit his commission, his not being able to produce it, was an additional reason for convincing them of his duplicity, and they reprehended him strongly for his infamous conduct. Under these circumstances Cervantes saw the absolute necessity of placing his character in such a light before the king and his council, as to defeat the calumnious misrepresentations of his enemies. This was easily aceomplished, for the investigation made before the Padre Gil afforded the most entire justification ; and, as in a picture the lights acquire additional lustre from the darkness of the shadows, so the noble con- duct of Cervantes shone with more brilliancy amidst the cowardly machinations of his detractors.

Tl\e attention of Cervantes at all times to the alle- viation of the sufferings of his fellow-captives was uniform and persevering. Themasters of the Christian slaves, after they had finished their domestic duties, compelled them to labour at the public works in the

OF CEKVANTES. 47

city, ill order that they might possess themselves of their wa^es, and snatch from them their wretched pittance. They often treated them with such cruelty that they became totally incapacitated for work, and were compelled to support themselves by asking charity from door to door. Cervantes, moved with compassion at the unhappy lot of these persons, bent all his energies to their relief, contributing to their support, and endeavouring to emancipate them from the tyranny and cruel treatment of their owner!?. This was the testimony afforded by some of the wit- nesses in Algiers, who praised his benevolent and Christian attempts, and his generosity in distributing amongst them the little means he possessed to alle- viate their distress, and to pay their wages ; and in this way satisfy the cruel avarice of their tyrants.23

It appears, moreover, from most unquestionable testimony, that Cervantes was during this period most punctual and exact in all the religious duties of a catholic Christian, and that the fervour of his zeal, and his knowledge of the grounds of his faith, assisted many times in defending his religion at the risk of his life ; and in imparting the same spirit to the timid and the disheartened, he prevented them from aban- doning their faith. His magnanimity of mind, his pleasing manners, his frank address, his fine genius, and his discretion, gained him numerous friends, who all acknowledged his good qualities, while his benefi- cence and kindness rendered him an equal favourite with the many. It was thus that during his captivity he retained all the respect due to his merits, and maintained a friendly intercourse with persons of the highest station and condition; and the fathers of redemption, duly appreciating his talents and good conduct, not only treated him with great respect, but

48 LIFE AND WRITINGS

frequently consulted with him on affairs of the first importance.

Among the many testimonials given as above mentioned, that of Don Diego de Benavides, a native of Baeza, is the most remarkable. Having arriA^ed as a captive from Constantinople at Algiers, he peti- tioned some of the most influential Christians there, naming among the first of these Cervantes, an upright, noble and valiant cavalier, of cultivated manners, and extremely attached to his friends. He sought his acquaintance, and, fortunately succeeding, found in him a father and mother, and being arrived in that

* O

country, and having no one to apply to, Cervantes, who had then been recently ransomed, not only gene- rously furnished him with clothes and money, but carried him to his house, lodged him there, and placed him at his table, and bestowed on him every degree of hospitality and kindness until their de- parture together for Spain. The ensign Louis de Pedrosa, a native of Ossuna, declared that though there might be in Algiers cavaliers as noble as Cervantes, yet there were none that manifested such kindness to the captives as he had done, and that he gained universal esteem by his affability and goodness. The Carmelite Frate Feliciano Enriquez, a native Of Ypres, relates that having vindicated thereputation of Cervantes from a calumny, he became his attached friend, as were all the other captives, who admired his Christian and eminent virtues. The same P. Fr. Juan Gil, after confirming the circumstantial evi- dence of the witnesses, says that he considered Cer- vantes highly honourable, that he had served the king for many years, and that, more particularly for his conduct in his captivity, he was richly de- serving of his majesty's regard ; intimating at the

OF CERVANTES. 49

same time, that he had given him his confidence and esteem, which he should not have done if he had not possessed the many virtues which common report awarded him. Don Antonio de Sosa, who from his close confinement could not join in the petition, when the papers were shown to him wrote with his own hand, on the 24th of the same month of October, a narrative, in which, after confirming and amplify- ing with much judgment the facts it contained, and mentioning, amongst other matters, that he had for the space of four years maintained the strictest friendship with Cervantes, that he had always con- sulted him in his affairs, and even on the verse he had composed, and that he had never observed in him any vice or folly, and that if such had been the case, he should not have formed an intimacy with him, as he says — " It is well known that persons of my rank and profession hold intercourse only with vir- tuous and honourable men."

AVhat a contrast this portrait of Cervantes offers to that of his enemy, Juan Blanco de Paz ! Neg- lecting his religious duties, he neither assisted at the services of the church, nor at its prayers and orations, nor visited the sick captives in the hospital ; in- triguing and quarrelsome, he induced many by false promises to inform against the Christians, particularly Cervantes ; and he had the audacity to maltreat with his own sacrilegious hands two priests. He betrayed the project of the frigate, and attempted to fix the infamy of the crime on Don Domingo Be- cerra, a captive of the Dey, who repelled the charge, and proved this calumniator to have been the only person concerned in that infamous affair. But let us avert our eyes from crimes to which our unbridled E

50 LIFE AND WRITINGS

passions lead us, when we abandon the strict paths of truth and of virtue !

When we reflect on these circumstances, it is not surprising that Cervantes during the whole of his life attached so much importance to the numerous attempts at escape which he had made at Algiers, and to the privations and persecutions he suffered from that cause, having frequently mentioned such events, and having alluded to them in almost all his works, events which until the present time have never been fully elucidated for want of documents ; nor ought it to surprise us that he felt such a lively gratitude to the Fathers of Redemption, and to that sacred and charitable institution, on which he passes a deserving eulogium in his ^tale of the " Espanola Inglesa."

Haedo asserts that the imprisonment of Cervantes was one of the most severe that ever occurred in Algiers; and he himself says, many years after- wards, " that in this school he learnt to bear adversity with submission." But no reverse of fortune could damp the flame of .genius in the heart of Cervantes, nor extinguish his passion for letters. It appears that he composed at that time some verses addressed to the sacred objects of his devotion ; and it i.s highly probable that he wrote at that period some of \\isCcmedias, since we know that on certain festivals the Christian captives amused themselves in repre- senting various dramas, and reciting favourite passages from the Spanish poets. Cervantes himself states this fact in the Baftos de Argel, (the Prison of Algiers), where he inserts a fragment in verse from one of the pastorals of Lope de Rueda, which it is believed was represented by the captives. But, above all, an inti-

OF CERVANTES. 51

mate knowledge of the customs and manners of the Moors could not escape his observing and inquisitive mind, and it was this that enabled him to portray that country with such a delicate pencil, and with so much truth in many of his delightful compositions. As soon as Cervantes had concluded this business entirely to his own satisfaction, he had his papers authenticated by Pedro de Ribera, the apostolic notary, and certified by Padre Gil on the 12th of October, with the intention, in case of necessity, of presenting them to the council of his majesty, and to solicit the king's favour ; and he took his departure from Spain with some others of his companions who obtained their freedom at the end of the same year, 1580, u in the anticipation," to use his own words, " of one of the greatest pleasures in life — the arriving safe and well in one's native land, after a long and cruel captivity." " For," as he says on another occasion, " there is on earth no transport equal to that of recovering liberty long lost."-5

52 LIFE AND WRITINGS

CHAPTER IV.

Cervantes returns to the army — Supposed to re-enter his old regi- ment— Campaign of Portugal — Sails from Lisbon — Expedition to Terceira — Junction of the Spanish fleets— Battle and victory off Terceira — Serves with his brother Rndiigo in the new attack — Gallant exploit — Conquest of the neighbouring islands — Ad- dresses complimentary lines to the famous Santa Cruz — Long seivices of Cervantes under his flag — Rcceptieu in Portugal— His interesting descriptions of the country — Liaison with a Por- tuguese lady — His natural daughter — Residence in Mostagan — Sent with letters from the Governor to King Philip — Garrison duty — Composition of his Galatea — Description of the heroine — Taken from real life — Critical opinions — Analysis of it — Anec- dotes— Marriage of Cervantes — Resides at Esquivias — Literary occupations — Compositions — Formation of academies — Becomes a member — Residence at the court.

AT the time Cervantes arrived in Spain, Philip II. was in Badajos, slowly recovering from a severe illness, and the affliction consequent on the loss of his queen, Anne of Austria, and occupied with the conquest of Portugal ; and the way. being prepared for him by the great duke of Alva, and his brave captain, Sancho Davila, he entered the city of Tomar on the 5th day of December, and there assembled the cortes in the middle of April of the following year. The Castilian army remained in that kingdom for the purpose of preserving the public tranquillity, for repressing partial disturbances, and to estab- lish the authority of the king, and prepare for the reduction of the island of Terceira. Rodrigo Cer- vantes, continuing his military career, was now serving in this army, and Cervantes himself, when lie arrived from Algiers, found that no more likely

OF CERVANTES. 53

means presented themselves of forwarding his views at court, than engaging to serve with the army in Portugal. It may therefore be presumed with great probability, that he there attached himself to his old regiment, still under the command of the master of the camp, Don Lope de Figueroa. This regiment was composed of veterans, who had distinguished themselves in the wars of the Levant and Flanders, and were long accustomed to conquest. We thus find (Yrvantes embarking, in the summer of 1581, on board the fleet in which his old commander sailed from Lisbon with his regiment to aid Don Pedro Valdes, who had been sent with a squadron to attempt the reduction of the island of Terceira, and to protect the ships trading with the Indies. Don Lope de Figueroa, on going to sea, fell in with the ships of Portugal returning from the East Indies, and furnishing them with supplies, directed them to Lisbon, where they arrived in safety. He then met with general Valdes, smarting under the failure of an attempt to land at Terceira, and the two com- manders, not being able to agree in opinion, separated, and returned at the same time to Portugal. It was there that Philip II. ordered to be assembled in the following year the various squadrons which were pre- paring in the other maritime provinces, for the purpose of thwarting the intrigues of the courts of France and England, which secretly and insidiously supported the pretensions of Don Antonio, prior of Ocrato, to the crown of Portugal, incited disaffection in the Terceira isles, and attempted to intercept the treasures which the galleons were bringing home from the Spanish colonies. A French fleet had already set sail with this object, and Philip II. having appointed to the command of the Spanish fleet the most distinguished

54 LIFE AND WRITINGS

seaman of his age, Don Alvaro de Bazan, marquis of Santa Cruz, ordered him to set sail, after embarking a large military force, composed in part of the veteran regiments of infantry under the charge of the masters of the camp, Don Lope de Figueroa, and Don Francisco de Bobadilla, the whole of which force the king passed in review in the vicinity of Lisbon, on the 29th of June, 1582.

The fleet sailed from thence on the 10th of tho following month; on the 21st they discovered the island of San Miguel, and on the 25th they saw the enemy to leeward, near the island of Terceira. A partial engagement immediately occurred, which soon became general, and \vas continued until the next day with the utmost obstinacy, as the French, from the superiority of their force, felt confident of success. The galleon San Mateo, the admiral's ship, in which Don Lope de Figueroa had embarked, and, it is most probable, Cervantes with him, distinguished herself in this action, for she was attacked at the same time by several French ships, and defended herself valorously for two hours, boarding some, charging others with the pike, spite of being set on fire five different times during the action. Her situation was so critical that the marquis de Santa Cruz was obliged to bring tho whole squadron to her assistance. By this man- oeuvre, the ships in the rear were enabled to enter into the contest, having at the head of the line the valiant commander, Yillavicion, Miguel de Oquesado, and others, who aided by their commander, not only suc- ceeded in liberating the galleon San Mateo, but destroyed or captured the greater part of the enemy's ships, put the remainder to flight, and obtained with a force so inferior, one of those splendid victories which give renown to nations, and confer immortality

OP CERVANTES. 55

on the names of the commanders. The Spanish fleet, after having remained some days at the island of San Miguel, to repair its losses, and reconnoitering Ter- ceira, arrived at Lisbon on the 10th of September. Cervantes informs us of his having joined in this ex- pedition with his brother Rodrigo, but does not go into a narrative of events.

Both brothers served, as well, in the attack on Ter- ceira of the following year, which was a consequence of the former one, for the support which the partisans of Don Antonio reckoned on in the islands having failed, the reduction of Terceira was rendered more practicable. With this view, Philip II., when he re- turned to Castile on the 4th of February, 1583, left another fleet ready in Lisbon, under the same Don Alvaro de Bazan. Among the numerous and choice infantry on board were twenty companies of the regiment of Figucroa, consisting of three thousand seven hundred veteran soldiers. The marquis set sail from Lisbon on the 23rd of June, and disembarked his forces at Terceira ; the men displaying the greatest valour and courage, though the surf at this time of the year was running very high. The ensign, Francisco de la Rua, distinguished himself in this action ; for the vessel in which he was on board being driven on shore, he intrepidly threw himself with his com- pany into the sea, and was followed by the captain, Luis de Guevara and Rodrigo de Cervantes, for which noble action he was afterwards rewarded by the marquis of Santa Cruz. This heroic example so encouraged the other soldiers that they all swam to the shore, and collecting together in the highest spirits, without scaling ladders or opening trenches, they gallantly planted the standard of Castile upon the walls. They engaged and defeated the Portu-

56 LIFE AND WRITINGS

guese troops and their auxiliaries with the same suc- cess, took all the forts and castles, and compelled the French force to capitulate. In this manner, not only Terceira, but the other islands in its neighbour- hood, though of inferior importance, were conquered . With this signal success the marquis of Santa Cruz terminated his expedition, and returned to Cadiz. which he entered on the 15th of September, in the midst of the applause and acclamations of his coun- trymen.

Cervantes, who had been an eye-witness in the Levant, as well as in other quarters, of the memorable actions of this heroic commander of the Spanish fleet, obeying his orders as a soldier, and admiring his noble qualities as a man, could not refuse to his glory the praises which were dictated by his admiration and his gratitude. A sonnet which he composed on this occasion, was published some years afterwards by the licentiate Cristobel Mosquera de Figueroa, in his relation of the battle of the Azores. AVc also find in the first part of Don Quixote some remarkable allusions, when speaking of the capture of the galley which was commanded by a son of Barbarossa, he concludes by saying, — " She was taken by the ad- miral's ship, la Loba, commanded by that man of war, that father of his soldiers, the valorous and in- vincible captain, Don Alonso de Bazan, marquis of Santa Cruz," — a just and sincere eulogium, and due to the memory of that great commander as a tribute of gratitude and respect from a veteran soldier who had served so many years under his flag.

The circumstances of Cervantes which detained him in Portugal for the prosecution of his claims, led him also to a more intimate acquaintance with the coimtry, and the manners and customs of the inhabitants, by

OF CERVANTES. 57

whom he was hospitably received, and appreciated in a way worthy of his distinguished merits. His mien, which still retained all the buoyancy and vigour of youth, his generous and susceptible heart, ami his lively ami warm imagination, led him to cul- tivate the softer passion, and to describe its many joys and sufferings in his poetry and writings. He tells U9 that all the inhabitants of Lisbon are agreeable, courteous, and liberal ; are willing worshippers at the shrine of beauty ; and that the loveliness of the women enchants all beholders; he pronounces the Portuguese tongue to be soft and agreeable, and calls Lisbon a noble and renowned city, and the country itself " another land of promise."

It was probably at this period that he formed an intimacy with a Portuguese lady (we must here allow for the times in which he lived), who bore him a natural daughter called Donna Isabel de Saavedra, who shared the fortunes of her father, and resided with him and his wife when they were established in Valladolid, during the residence there of the court of Philip III. Cervantes retained, through life, a lively remembrance of the warm reception and gene- rous hospitality of the people of Portugal, and often eulogised the manners of that nation, and the noble qualities it manifested ; as appears from many of his writings, particularly from the third book of his Persiles, where his commendation is accompanied by a generous expression of gratitude. He derived similar advantages from the other countries through which he travelled, or which he visited in his military capacity ; for he introduced himself to their most eminent literary characters, examined with impar- tiality their political state, estimated their virtues and their vices, their merits, and demerits ; and ac-

58 LIFE AND WRITINGS

quired that fund of knowledge, that pure and correct judgment, with that amenity and grace of style, which characterise, his works. Above all, he there attained that truth of description, which derived from nature herself, or drawn from his own adventures, arrests the attention of his readers, and forces involuntary smiles or tears, so commanding is his imaginative genius. At all times shunning inactivity, he ap- plied himself during his service at sea to acquiring a knowledge of maritime affairs, and to this we are indebted for the variety of interesting adventures of this kind, which we meet with in his works, and for the accurate and appropriate language of his maritime characters, which adding fresh truth to the eloquence of his narrative, gives him so great a superiority, in this respect, over all other Spanish writers.

At this period Cervantes was residing in Mostagan, from whence he was despatched with letters from the governor of that place, to Philip II., who gave him orders to repair to Oran, no doubt in order to join the regiment or company, then in garrison there, in which he had at all times served. As Cer- vantes gives us no further particulars, it is impossible to fix with certainty the date of this event, as the passing affairs of a garrison can never possess suffi- cient interest to be commemorated in history, nor is the life of a simple soldier in the discharge of his daily duty, likely to arrest the attention of men of letters.

In the course of this long period he composed and finished in 1583, his Galatea, which appeared the fol- lowing year. This was the first work he is known to have published. It is a pastoral romance accommodated to the taste of the age, and characteristic of the youth of Cervantes, and in which indulging his inclination for poetry, and the cultivation of his native tongue,

OP CERVANTES. 59

he endeavoured to exhibit the fertility of his genius. He relates some of his own adventures, and awards the meed of praise to the several poets of his day. He offers to a lady, the object of his passion, a deli- cate and appropriate compliment, for at this day the scene of love was transferred to the fields and plains, and adorned with the modesty and innocence of their inhabitants. Of this singular work it will be the more necessary to give a brief analysis, as after his /•'i/i-na, and his early poetical essays, it is his first regular production, written partly in imitation of the Diana of Montemayor. It was published in 1584, and next to his Don Quixote, perhaps, is the most popular of any of his works, at least among foreigners. The translation, or rather the imitation of it by Florian, has rendered it popular in France. The Italians had already shown a great taste for pastoral poetry ; they did not, like the ancients, content themselves with writ- ing eclogues, in which a single sentiment was developed in a dialogue between a few shepherds, without action, plot, or catastrophe. To the sweetness, the spirit, and the elegance which belong to pastoral productions, the Italians added romantic situations and powerful passions. They had composed several pastoral dramas, some of which had been early presented to the notice of their admirers in the different languages of Europe. The Spaniards had been still more deeply captivated by these pastoral fancies, which, by recalling to the mind the feelings of childhood, accord admirably with the yielding indolence of southern feelings. Their drama, in its origin, was entirely pastoral. Incited by the same taste, they produced many long works, which were in fact nothing more than tedious eclogues. The six books of the Galatea, form two octavo volumes, and yet these constituted

60 LIFE AND WRITINGS

only the first portion of the work, which was never finished. Florian soon perceived that a tale of this length would not be agreeable to the taste of his countrymen ; and he therefore worked up the inci- dents while he abridged the romance, and while he retrenched the poetical portions, added to the general interest of the whole. Cervantes has been blamed for having mingled too many episodes with the principal tale. It is said that he has attempted too many characters, and that he has by the quantity of inci- dents and names confounded the imagination of the reader, who is unable to follow him. lie is also blamed for having, in the earliest of his works, when he was yet comparatively ignorant of what consti- tutes purity and elegance of style, employed an in- volved construction, which gives his work an ap- pearance of affectation. "We should be also inclined to impute it to him as a fault, though this accusation more properly falls xipon the class than upon this individual work, that he is almost cloying in the sweetness and languor of his love scenes. When we read these pastoral romances, we may almost imagine ourselves bathing in milk and honey.

Notwithstanding these observations, the purity of its morals, the interest of its situations, the richness of invention, and the poetical charms which it dis- plays, must ensure to the Galatea an honourable place in the list of Spanish classics.*

Cervantes himself intimates in the prologue to this work, that many of the shepherds in this romance were under disguise ; and the example of Rodrigo de Cota, author of the Celestina, and of his contempora- ries Jorge de Montemayor, Luis Galves de Montalvo,

• Literature of the South of Europe, Vol. III., pp. 419-21.

OF CERVANTES. 61

and above all the testimony of Lope de Vega, confirm the supposition that Galatea was not merely an ideal person, and that Cervantes concealing himself, under the name of Elicio, " a shepherd dwelling on the banks of the Tagns," relates his loves with Galatea, " a shepherdess, born on the margin of the same river ;" and as at the time that Cervantes published these adventures, he was paying his addresses to a lady of rank in the town of Esquivias, called Donna Catalina de Palacios Salazar y Yozmediano, -with whom he soon afterwards contracted marriage, it cannot be doubted that she was the true Galatea ; nor can we hesitate to assert that under the names of Tirsi, Damon, Meliso, Siralvo, Lauso Larsileo, and Artidoro, he introduced in this fable Francisco de Figueroa, Pedro Lainez, D. Diego Hurtado de Men- doza, Luis Galvez de Montalvo, Luis Barahona de Soto, D. Alonso de Ercilla, and Micer Andres Key de Artieda, all amongst the number of his friends, and the most celebrated poets of the age.

As early as the 1st of February, 1584, we find that Lucas Gracian Dantisco, by order of the royal council, had examined and approved this work, de- scribing it as agreeable, the story well-imagined, and the style and language pure and correct ; to which opinion were added the commendations of Luis Gal- vez de Montalvo, D. Luis de Vargas Manrique, and Lopez Maldonado, and which were corroborated by the reception it met with in Spain, and in foreign eountries. But this general applause, and vague and indefinite praise, must not bias our judgment, when criticism, enlightened by taste, directs and governs our decision. "When we examine the Galatea on cor- rect principles, and consider it as a pastoral romance, or eclogue (as the author calls it), we shall find that

62 LIFE AND WRITINGS

if on the one hand we admire the beautiful descrip- tions of nature, the delicacy and liveliness of senti- ment, the variety and contrast of the passions, the incidents managed with so much felicity and grace, the purity and appropriateness of the language, and the fertility of invention ; we are on the other hand introduced to erudite and philosophical shepherds, and meet with a prodigality of episodes, which throw the principal action into shade and diminish the in- terest, while they confound the personages of the first part of the picture with others of inferior order, without regarding the due connection of accessory incidents, with the principal action, nor the manner in which they should contribute to the denouement.

We may infer from these peculiarities that Cer- vantes was more disposed to draw upon the richness of his invention, than to appear moderate in the dis- position of his plot, consequently preferring abun- dance and even superfluity, to a wise and prudent economy : for there cannot be a doubt that he was himself aware of these defects, and deprecated the condemnation of them in his prologue, when he begs for indulgence until the second part should make its appearance. This he never published, though it was found nearly completed at the time of his death. lie informs us that he took the idea from the Canto do Caliopa, which under the name of Turia, Gaspar Gil Polo had published some years before in his Diana JSnamorada, to celebrate the poets and wits of Va- lencia.

This work, which was so anxiously looked for, was not published until the latter end of this year, as we may conclude from Cervantes having addressed the dedication in August, to Ascanio Colonna, the abbot of Santa Sofia ; for he there makes mention of Antonio

OF CERVANTES. 63

Colonna, his father, " as having followed for several years the invincible banners of that gallant soldier, whom Heaven yesterday removed from our eyes, bnt not from the memory of those who are acquainted with his magnanimous actions." He unquestionably alludes by these expressions to Colonna's death, which happened at eleven at night, on Wednesday the first of August, at Medinaceli, on his way from Italy to the court of Philip II., who had sent, for him. This proves how little they had examined this point, who assert that Cervantes published his Gala- tea at the beginning of the year 1 584, and that the death of Marc Antonio Colonna occurred in 1585.

Immediately on the publication of this romance, Cervantes espoused atEsquivias, on the twelfth day of December of the same year, 1584, Donna Catalina de Palacios Salazar y Yozmediano, daughter of Fernando de Salazar y Vozmediano and of Catalina de Palacios, both descended from honourable families of that place. When this marriage was solemnised, the father of the bride appears to have been some time dead, which renders it probable that she owed her education to her uncle, D. Francisco de Salazar, who afterwards left her a legacy in his will. Her uncle, too, having promised her mother, at the time of the marriage agreement, a reasonable portion, he fulfilled his pro- mise two years afterwards, granting Cervantes and his wife an assurance in writing, and presenting his wife with one hundred ducats, which, according to some, was the tenth part of his fortune. This appears from the marriage paper, verified by both the new-married persons on the 9th of August, 1586, before Alonzo de Aguiler, a notary of Esquivias, of which place Cervantes became a denizen, as ap- pears from the same document. But as his property

64 LIFE AND WRITINGS

was not sufficient to answer his increased expenses, and his frank and social manners were not in unison with a country life, the proximity of Madrid led him to reside occasionally at that court, either from the affection which he bore to his own relations, or the wish of enjoying the society of his friends, or from the desire he always felt, of making himself better known to the world by his poetry and his dramatic- writings.

This is confirmed by the account we have retained of his having commenced or renewed at this epoch a friendly intercourse with Juan Rufo, Pedro de Padilla, Lopez Maldonado^ Juan de Barros, Vicenti Espinul, and other eminent writers, whose works he celebrated in sonnets, and other verses, which, if not of first-rato merit, still serve to testify the goodness of his heart, and remain a pleasing tribute to genius and friend- ship. Rufo, who had now been engaged on his Anstriada for the space of seven years, finished that poem in 1578; and it was approved by Lainez in 1582, but not published until two years afterwards, at the time Cervantes was residing in Madrid, where he composed in praise of the author a sonnet which, with others, stands at the commencement of the book. At the same time Padilla printed his Jardin Espirit- ual, which first appeared in the following year, 1585. lie not only included in it some redondillas and stanzas which Cervantes had formerly composed in his praise, but placed in the same work various poems which, at the request of the author, some of the most celebrated Castilian writers had composed in praise of St. Francisco, and he inserted among others a sonnet of Cervantes, which is not devoid of merit. He composed another sonnet in praise of the work of the samo Padilla, on the Grandmas y e-xcelencias

OF CERVANTES. 6 >

'/« 1 1 Virgen nucstra seiiora, which was published in 1587. At the beginning of the previous year, 1586, Lopez Maldonado published his Cancionero, and amongst many other classical poets who honoured that work with their encomiums, we may include Cervantes, who extolled it in a sonnet and some quin- tillas, which are to be found in the first pages. He also honoured with another sonnet the Filosofia Cor- tesana Moralhada, of his friend Alonso de Bahos, which was also commended by Ercilla, and published in 1587. Vicente de Espinel had already written his Casu de la Memoria, although it was not printed until 1591.

In this work a place among the most celebrated poets is allotted to Cervantes, whom he praises for his constancy in adversity, and alludes to his suf- ferings in captivity, which could not abate the fervour and vigour of his genius. Espinel had made honour- able mention of Cervantes in his Canto <l> C'aliope, and from that time the foundations weiv laid for that solid and lasting friendship which ever afterwards united them, and of which Cervantes makes mention in the last year of his life. This growing taste for litera- ture, particularly in the cultivation of poetry, at this period, led to the formation of academies in many of the principal cities of Italy. These were established and encouraged by many noble and distinguished persons, among whom we may name the marquis of Pcscara, the founder of the academy at Pavia. This example was followed in Spain, in the reign of Charles V., and amongst the most celebrated acade- mies that added a lustre to that splendid court was the one which Herman Cortes held in his house. This was frequentedby men of the highest cultivation and genius, of whose meetings and discussions some F

66 LIFE AND WRITINGS

valuable memorials remain. But these assemblies in Spain were not of long continuance, and disappeared with their founders, whilst in Italy their numbers increased with the cultivation of letters, to which indeed they themselves contributed. This success stimulated a man of rank at court, of a fine genius and attached to poetry, to found in the year 1585, an academy in imitation of those in Italy, to which the most distinguished poets and men of letters in Madrid might resort, and whom he received at his house with the utmost liberality and courtesy. The ministers of the king and the nobility honoured it with their presence, attended the discussions, and applauded the poetical compositions which were there recited. By one of their statutes the members of this academy were bound to drop their own names and adopt some other appellation as their choice ; and with this view, Lupercio Leonardo de Argensola, in the buoyancy of youth, adopted that of Barbara, in allusion to Donna Mariana Barbara de Albion, whose hand he at that time sought in marriage, as he made known in the pleasant reply he gave to the academy, when they en- quired the reason of his assuming so singular a name. It is highly probable that Cervantes was one of the members of this academy, as well from his merit and reputation, now revived by the publication of his Galatea, as from his friendship with the other academicians, and his experience of the utility of similar societies in Italy, and from having especially mentioned the Academy Imitatoria of Madrid, in one of his novels. From these circumstances we may conclude that Cervantes' general abode was at tho court, and that he did not reside at Esquivias, except probably at such times as he was called thither by the exigencies of his household affairs.

OP CERVANTES. 67

CHAPTER V.

Dramatic compositions of Cervantes — Introduces moral and allego- rical personages — Number of his plays — Reform of the Spanish Theatre — Prepares the \vay for Lope de Vega — His embarrassing situation — Is made a Commissioner of the Commissariat De- partment— Removes to Seville — His inadequate income — Sends a memorial to the King — Favourably entertained — Singular al- lusion to his blighted prospects — His great exertions and perse- verance— Frequent journeys — Interesting incidents — His satiric vein — Applied to moral uses — Origin of his amusing Episode in Don Quixote — Difficulties encountered in his employment — So- lemn festival — Monks of Saragossa — Literary contest — Enters the lists — Gains the first prize — Returns to Seville.

IT was at this time that Cervantes introduced, with general applause, at the theatre of the court, the Tra- tos de Argel, the Numancia, the Batalla Naval, and other dramas of his composition ; in which he ven- tured, as he says, to attempt some improvements that were well received, but which we must pre- sently examine with impartiality. The Spanish stage until this time had only witnessed the compositions of the players themselves, written with entire sim- plicity, without plot or interest, and performed without any theatrical decoration, in the manner of eclogues, dialogues, or colloquies, as some of them were called. But a new and improved era awaited the drama, from the hands of M. Fervara Perez de Oli- va, Geronimo Bermudez, and particularly Juan de la Cueva,Christol>al de Virvez, JuandeMalara, and some other celebrated dramatic poets. Cervantes, whose passion for poetry, and especially for the drama, dis- played itself from his infancy, and whose own singu- lar adventures supplied so many materials of interest,

F2

68 LIFE AND WRITINGS

now presented his plays to the public. These were highly applauded for the variety and novelty of the plot, and a style more popular and agreeable than that of Cueva or Virves, and attracted a greater number of partisans : particularly as those authors, not having published their plays, were better known in Seville and Valencia, where they resided, than at Madrid. Cervantes boasts of having been the first to introduce on the stage moral or allegorical per- sonages, as he mentions in his Trato de Argel, in his Numancia, and in his Casa de los Zelos, and also as being the first to reduce the drama to three acts from five, of which they before consisted, as is seen in his Batalla Naval. Even when we accord to these im- provements all the merit which the author claims, We cannot consider them as entirely original, because there is no doubt that the moral drama was already known in the fifteenth century, when it was intro- duced by the celebrated Don Enrique de Aragon, marquis of Villena ; and Alonso de Vega afterwards repeated it in his play of the Duquesa de la Rosa, pub- lished in 1560, besides Juan de Malara, who, accord- ing to Rodrigo Caro, was also the first who in Spain composed a play all in verse for the stage. As to the shortening of the acts, which has been adopted by all the dramatic wTiters, some ascribe it to Chria- tobal de Virves, others to Micer Andres Rey de Ar- tieda, and some persons at that time attributed it to Juan de la Cueva, as he himself mentions in his Arte Poetica.

But Cervantes may with justice boast of having composed at this period twenty or thirty plays, which were all performed with success, particularly La Gran Turquesca, La Batalla Nar'al, La Jeru- salem, La Amaranta o la del Mayo, El Basque

OF CEUVANTl.s. 69

Amorow, La Unica y la Bizarra Ars'nula ; but the one which drew the greatest applause was the play called La CoHfttm, which, it is said, was admirably adapted for representation, and deserves a place among the best comedies that had at that time appeared.

This popularity, however, was not very durable, for the stage has its times and seasons, and now the wonder of his age, the great Lope de Vega, suddenly appeared to rule the stage like a despotic sovereign. He soon subjected to his sway all the dramatic- writers of his country, crowding the stage with his own successful and well-planned dramas, and, according to the expression of Cervantes himself, he eclipsed not only those whom he had seen attain a just cele- brity, but all other authors that had preceded him.

From this period they lost their old estimation in the opinion of the players and audience, and arc con- sidered only by literary men as precursors of therestora- tion of the Spanish theatre. and as preparing the way for Lopede Vega. Cervantes acknowledged and in- genuously confessed this at the close of his life, when his plays were no longer called for, nor any found to applaud them ; attributing this change to the improvement the drama had experienced from the number of new and more accomplished writers. It was not only his attachment to the muse, and the love of fame, the meed of popular applause, which induced Cervantes at this time to compose his dramas, and entertain the public with his plays ; he had another and a stronger inducement, the supplying his own necessities, and providing for the support of his family. His situation became daily more em- barrassing ; he now saw himself surrounded with the cares which matrimony brings along with it, and with the maintenance of his sisters and daughter ;

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he saw his merits and services disregarded without the probability of any recompense, now found him- self at upwards of forty years of age, maimed in his left hand, and little qualified under such cir- cumstances to attempt any fresh career, or aspire to an employment that might afford him a suitable competence.

In the hopes, however, of a more certain occupa- tion, he abandoned his pen and the stage early in 1588, and removed to Seville on the occasion of Antonio de Guevara being appointed commissary- general of the armadas and fleets of the Indies, with great privileges and prerogatives. Among these was the right of appointing four commissioners to aid him in the discharge of this vast business, the apply- ing with care and economy the treasures of the king in the purchase of provisions and other necessaries from various persons in the provinces. One of the commissioners whom Guevara named on this occasion was Cervantes, who immediately offered as his sureties, before the notary Pedro Gomez, the licen- tiate Juan de Nava Cabeza de Vaca, and Luis Mar- molejo, both residing near Seville. lie immediately entered on the duties of his new office, for under the date of the fifteenth, the commissary -general for- warded him his appointment, which he retained until the 2nd of April, 1589, purchasing in Ecija large quantities of oil and corn, for which he disbursed two thousand nine hundred ducats. Such was the cause of the removal of Cervantes to Andalusia, whilst his brother Rodrigo was still serving as ensign in the armies of Flanders.

Other circumstances, too, might have induced Cervantes to remove to Seville. The illustrious family of the Cervantes y Saavedras, which had pro-

OF CERVANTES. 7 1

duccd men alike eminent in letters and in arms, and from which he derived his descent, and with whom he had maintained a friendly intercourse, was resident there. In addition to which, Seville was at that time the most opulent and populous city of Spain, and the emporium of the riches and commerce of the new world. She was also distinguished for the cultivation of science, and the encouragement of the fine arts ; and wras with justice, to use the words of Cervantes, con- sidered the protectress of the poor, and refuge of the unfortunate, beneath whose kindly shade he might expect to meet with that independence and comfort which he sought for in vain amidst the dissipation and bustle of a court, and the empty flattery of nobles and courtiers.

Cervantes was thus compelled by his poverty to embrace this precarioiis and subaltern occupation, regarding it, doubtless, as a stepping-stone to some better appointment, or as well adapted to promote his views with regard to any vacant employment in the Indies, and in order to prosecute his claims with more support and advantage.

"With this view, in May, 1590, he addressed to the king a memorial, in which, after reciting his unrequited services for a period of twenty-two years, he supplicated his majesty to bestow on him some one or other of the three vacant appointments in the Indies, as the auditorship of the kingdom of Granada, that of the galleys of Carthagena, the government of the province Soconusco, in Guatemala, and a magis- tracy in the city de la Paz, with any of which he should be satisfied ; and so continue so serve his majesty, as was his desire, to the close of bis life, as his ancestors had done before him. The adoption of this course plainly proves the situation of Cervantes

72 LIFE AND WRITINGS

when, to use his own words, he had recourse to that which all the wretched in that city (Seville) applied themselves — to transport themselves to the Indies, the last harbour and refuge of those who despair of their fortunes in Spain.

The king, on the 21st of the same month, referred this petition to the president of the council of the Indies ; and by a decree dated at Madrid, on the 6th of June, and confirmed by Dr. Nunez Mor- quecho, it was ordered that the petition of Cervantes should be taken into consideration. He would doubtless, on this, leave no means untried to avail himself of the favourable disposition manifested towards him ; and we may still further presume, agreeably to what he himself hints at, in a general manner, in his Viagc al Parnasso (alluding, no doubt, to his latter employments), that he could not mature his plans, and obtain a place suitable to his station in life, in consequence of the persecutions occasioned by some imprudence or other, which blighted the opening prospect which his relenting fortune seemed to present. In the hope of bettering his condition, he continued in the employ of the purveyor, Pedro de Isunza, during the years 1591 and 1592, purchas- ing provisions for the galleys of Spain, in the towns of Teba, Ardales, Martos, Linares, Aguilar, Mon- turque, Arjona, Porcuna, Marmalejo, Estepa, Ped- rera, Lopera, Arjonilla, Las Navas, Yillanueva del Arzobispo, Begijar, Alcandete, and Alora. His accounts, and those of his assistants, Nicolas Benito, Antonio Caballero, and Diego Lopez Delgadillo, were certified and presented in Seville on the 28th of April, 1598, with the greatest regularity, and an acquittance granted, and an order for his salary of one hundred and two thousand maravedis, corre-

OF CERVANTES. 73

spending to three thousand reales vcllon , or about £100. In the discharge of these and similar commissions he became intimately acquainted with the people of Andalusia, whose modes of life, manners, and the most interesting particulars, he describes as an eye- witness ; availing himself at the same time of many objects and incidents that afforded materials for the exercise of his fine satirical humour and wit, and deducing from these a just and rational moral, directed to the improvement, the cultivation, and civilisation of man.

W<> may trace this feature particularly in his description of the mode of life of the vagabond race that assembled at the tunny fisheries, in Zahara ; of the gypsies and Moors dwelling in Granada and its neighbourhood ; of the fables and talcs related in Montilla, respecting the incantations and transform- ations of the witch Camacha, and her crew, and in similar passages.

"NVe may here too, with propriety, allude to an event which occurred at this time and caused a con- siderable sensation in that province, and which, inge- niously disguised in Don Quixote, afforded Cervantes materials and colouring for an amusing adventure. About the close of the year 1591 there died in the convent of Ubeda, of a contagious fever, S. Juan de la Cruz. The extreme attachment which Donna Anna de Mercado and her brother D. Luis de Mercado, of the royal council, then residing in Madrid, felt for the convent of Segovia, which was founded by them, induced them to remove thither, at every risk, the re- mains of this saint, without reflecting on the opposition which the city of Ubeda might make to such ameasure.

They procured, for this purpose, the permission of the vicar-general of the Carmelites, and ordered a

74 LIFE AND WRITINGS

person in their confidence, under the title of alguazil of the court, to appear before the prior of the' con- vent of Ubeda, and obtain the disintcrincnt of the body, and remove it to Segovia with the greatest secrecy and despatch. The person thus employed entered the city in the night, and delivered his de- spatches to the prelate, who proceeded to open tho sepulchre whilst the monks were asleep. It was now nine months since his interment, and they found the body so incorrupt, fresh, and entire, and indued with such a surprising fragrance, that they suspended at that time its translation, covering it with chalk and earth that they might more easily recognise it.

After a lapse of eight or nine months, and towards the middle of 1593, the alguazil returned to Madrid upon the same mission ; and now finding the body more dry, though still retaining its fragrant odour, he placed it in his portmanteau in order to avoid detec- tion, and departed from the convent to the city with his guards and companions wrhile all was wrapt in sleep.

To avoid discovery they forsook the great road to Madrid, and pursued their journey through the most unfrequented paths and heaths in the darkness and silence of night.

The story tells, that when this pious theft was being accomplished, a monk of the convent was roused from his sleep by a loud voice saying — " Arise forthwith, for plunderers are carrying off the body of your saint, Fr. Juan de la Cruz," — that the monk immediately arose and repaired to the church, and there found the door guarded by the prior, who com- manded him to observe silence. Just before the alguazil arrived at the town of Martos, it is said there suddenly appeared on a little hill at the road side, the figure of a man, who called out with a loud

OF CERVANTES. 75

voice — " Whither are you carrying off the body of the saint ? Restore it to the tomb," — which struck such terror and affright into the alguazil and his companions, that their hair stood on end.

Afterwards?, as they were crossing a wild heath, the figure of a man suddenly stood before them, and asked what they were conveying ; they informed him they must not divulge their business ; but he per- sisted so pertinaciously in his curiosity, that they were determined to offer him money to get rid of him — when he suddenly vanished from their eyes. They now continued their journey without further interrup- tion to Madrid and Segovia ; and the conductor after- wards deposed that a brilliant light was seen to accom- pany the portmanteau, that contained the relics of the saint, a great part of the way. Th6 terror of the per- sons employed in this singular and pious robbery, with the apparition and extraordinary events attending it, supplied an ample theme of wonder and gossip to the Andalusians, being so well suited to their inquisitive character, which was increased by the contest which now arose between the cities of Ubeda and Segovia, from the abstraction of such an inestimable treasure.

Scarcely had the theft transpired in Ubeda, when its town council resolved to apply to the pope, demanding the restitution of the body of the saint, and for this purpose appealed to Clement VIII., against the city of Segovia. The city entered on its defence through the medium of D. Luis de Mercado and his sister. His holiness having heard the several parties, ordered the body to be restored to Ubeda, and commissioned the execution of this order by a brief of the 15th Sept. 1596, addressed to the bishop of Jaen, D. Bernardo de Rojas, and to Dr. Lope de Molina, treasurer of the college of Ubeda. But when

76 LIFE AND WRITINGS

the issue of this singular and expensive litigation was made known in Spain, some persons of high rank who were zealous friends of the Church, fearing dis- agreeable consequences might attend it, interposed their good offices, and effected an amicable arrange- ment, by which one half of the body of the saint was left to the city of Ubeda, thus satisfying the devout scruples of both the contending parties. This cir- cumstance, in all probability, is the original of the adventure of the " Cuerpo muerto" which Cervantes relates in the nineteenth chapter of the first part of Don Quixote. He happened to be about this time in Andalusia, where he would hear those events narrated with all the wit and humour peculiar to the natives of that province. It was of course requisite1 for him to adapt the narrative to the circumstances of his story. The course of the journey through bye- ways, and under the cover of night, the lights which the surpliced bearers observed attending the body, the translation to Segovia from Baeza (which is now Ubeda, and where the saint for some time resided), his death from pestilence, the appearance of the ghosts to Sancho, and some "bad spirits of the lower world," to Don Quixote, the terror and con- sternation which this vision threw them into, the squire trembling like quicksilver, and his master's hair standing on end on his head, the detention of the whole retinue, by a loud voice enquiring who they were, whence they came, and whither they were going, and what they were conveying on that bier or litter ; his describing this adventure as a true occurrence, and, above all, Don Quixote thinking himself excommunicated for having meddled with the affairs of the Church, when he did not think he was dealing with priests or the Church, but ghosts

OF CERVANTES. 77

and evil spirits of the other world, and recollecting in his justification the adventure of the Cid when in the church of St. Peter, he overturned and broke to pieces the chair of the king of France, not enduring that he should possess a higher place than the king of Castile, for which action he was excommunicated by the pope, although he pardoned him on promise of his being more moderate in future. According to the ancient romances, all these are circumstances so analogous and conformable to the event which occurred on the removal of the remains of this favourite saint, that there is little doubt, Cervantes took from hence, with little variation, the colours to adorn the picture, in which he directed his fine genius, his keen and delicate satire, and his pleasant and well-timed irony, against the bewildered imaginations of the heroes of chivalry.

It is very probable that Cervantes became acquainted with this and similar romantic events, in the exer- cise of his commissions amongst the people of the kingdom of Granada, particularly in that in which Philip II. entrusted him with, to collect the customs and duties owing to his revenue. For the purpose of giving an account of his commission he repaired to Madrid, where, on the 1st July 1594, he presented to the licentiate Diego de Tamayo, the acting corregidor, a report which commences — " I, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, an inhabitant of the town oFEsquivias, and a resident at this court, declare that I am bound for the due collection of the amount assigned to me by the auditors of his majesty's exchequer, having 2,459,989 maravcdi* which are owing on the customs and duties in the kingdom of Granada, and on other alVairs of his majesty, am bound" — and so forth ; and concludes by proposing D. Francisco Suarez Gasco,

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a native of Tarancon, as a surety for the faithful dis- charge of the trust confided to him ; and having pro- duced as vouchers, Augustin de Cetina, collector to his majesty, D. Gabriel Suarez Gasco, brother of D. Francisco, and of the same vicinage, and Juan de Valera, a native of Belinchon, all resident at the court, the same declared on oath on the following day, that the above Francisco was possessed of much more than the 4000 ducats for which he became surety for Cervantes.

Although the council of auditorship approved of these sureties, the collector, Enrique de Araiz, insisted on larger ones ; but Cervantes presented a memorial praying that those he then offered might be held sufficient, and that he might be despatched. The tribunal acceded to his prayer on the 21st of August under the bond of the 4000 ducats, binding also Cervantes and bis wife for the greater security. Indeed, by a writing dated in Madrid on the same day, the 21st, both husband and wife became bound in person and property for the good and sufficient accounting of all sums to be received under the com- mission.

After giving these sureties, Cervantes had to apply for the royal chart or order which had passed on the 13th of the then month of August, though accom- panied with the date of the 23rd, and which autho- rised him to depart with full powers to collect the public money owing in the several towns of the kingdom of Granada, agreeably to particulars, and amounting in the whole to 2,557,029 maravedis.

On the ninth day of September following, he exhi- bited in Baza the royal schedule in presence of the alcalde mayor, and the accountant, Cristobal Mingues, with the assistance of the collector of revenue :

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and proceeding as commanded, he took an account from the treasury of the receipt of the rates and cus- toms, corresponding to that year, which with the taxes for the town of Zujar, and the salary of Cer- vantes for six days, amounted to sixteen reales vellon for each person. From thence he proceeded to Gra- nada, agreeably to the other royal order of the 29th of November, which begins " A vos Miguel de Cer- Vantes," &c. From thence he went to Velez-malaga, where he immediately produced his commission, when the collector of customs, Francisco Lopez de Vitoria, engaged to pay a certain part in Seville, and the rest in hand ; and giving a letter of exchange for 4000 reales on Malaga, on the 2 1 st of the same month of November, in which city Cervantes remained some days, having written from thence to the king under date of the 17th, stating what he had mentioned

7 O

in another letter (doubtless that of the 8th October), that he could not receive the moneys of Granada, Motril, Salobnna, and Almunecar ; and adding, among other things, that from the collector in Baza, Guadix, Agiiela de Granada, and Loja, he would remit good bills to Madrid, and that there only re- mained to collect the proportion of Honda ; but in order to finish his commission, and to remit the rest of the money to its destination, he required an extension of twenty days to communicate with the city of Malaga.

His letter of the 17th November, directed to his majesty, through the hands of Juan de Velasco, secretary of the council of land-revenue, was received in Madrid on the 28th, and it is to be inferred that it hastened the despatch of the royal order, already cited, of the 29th, in which, allowing for the delay, he was ordered to collect immediately what was due. Ho

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had scarcely received this answer when he had to re- pair to Honda, where, on the 9th of December, he received from the collector of duties, Juan Rodriguez Cerero, 429,848 maravedis, agreeable to the account given on that day by the collector of rents, Sebastian de Montalvan ; and on the 1 5th of the same month he was already in Seville, from whence, under that date, he rendered an account of the amount received from Malaga by Francisco Lopez de Vitoria. It was at this time that the pope, Clement Till., at the solicitation of the king of Poland, consented to the canonization of St. Jacinto; on which memorable occasion the Dominican monks of Saragossa held a solemn festival for somedays,and proclaimed aliterary contest throughout the whole kingdom of .Aragon, which was also communicated to the principal cities of the Peninsula, and in particular to the universities of Salamanca and Alcala. In the second contest a redondilla was proposed in praise of the saint, with prizes of three spoons of silver for the best poem, for the next best two yards of dark coloured taffeta silk, and for the third a gold time-piece.

The productions which were intended to aspire to these and other rewards, were ordered to be entered before the 29th day of April, 1595, for on the next day the solemnities ended. The judges being already appointed for the examination of the verses, which were to be read publicly in the church of the same convent, Cervantes entered the lists for the second contest ; and on the second day of May, immediately after vespers, the poems delivered in jvere recited, and amongst others that of Cervantes, to which the first prize was assigned; which, without flattering him, evinced the wretched productions of his com- petitors. When the judges pronounced in verse the

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sentence on Sunday the 7th of the same month, they directed that the poet, like another Apollo or son of Latona, should repair to his maternal Delos in Seville, to receive the crown of merit, commending his subtle and refined genius, which had already drawn upon him the applause of an admiring world. A narra- tive of these solemnities, compiled by Geronimo Mart el, a citizen of Saragossa, afterwards historian of the city of Aragon, was published in that city by Lorenzo Robles, in the year 1595.

Like another Apollo, then, the hero of the day having carried off the prize from lists rather less dan- gerous than Lepanto or Tunis, returned to enjoy his famous triumphs in the bosom of his maternal Delos; in short he hastened back to his agency business in Seville.

CHAPTER VI.

Early diamatic efforts — Opinions of Cervantes — Progress of Ihe an in Spain — Curious retrospect — Lope tie Rueda — His dramatic equipments — A. travelling stage — Spanish authors and actors — A canon of Toledo — A censorship — Ideas of Cervantes— Strictures of M.Sismondi — Extracts — Specimens translated — His dramatic genius — IIo\v to be estimated — His dramas — The Numantiu — Description am) analysis — Specimens — Peculiar characteristics — Elevated character — Grand sentiment — Eloquent and powerful appeals — Its progress, development, and final struggles — De- voted patriotism — Genius and conduct of Scipio — Reduces the city by famine — Its destruction by the inhabitants — Self-sacri- fices— Its fall — Effects upon a Spanish audience — Its classical character — Old Greek spirit — Concentred interest and unitv.

THE comic powers which Cervantes afterwards manifested in his Don Quixote, seemed eminently to qualify him for dramatic attempts. We have

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already seen that his first literary compositions were of this class, but although he had considerable success in this career, he likewise experienced no few mortifications. He did not at that time conceive that his dramatic talent was proportioned to the superi- ority which heafterwards manifested in other branches. Thus, when compared with Lope de Vega, his dramas are but few in number. This might, perhaps, have afforded a reason for commencing our notice of the Spanish theatre, by examining the works of Lope before those of Cervantes, had we not wished to present to the reader, from the mouth of Cervantes himself, a history of the early progress of the dra- matic art in Spain. The following extract is taken from the preface to his comedies : —

" I must entreat your pardon, dear reader, if you should see me in this prologue a little overstepping accustomed modesty. Some time since, I happened to find myself in company with a few friends who were discoursing about comedies, and other matters relating thereto ; and they treated this subject with so much subtlety and refinement, that they appeared to me almost to approach perfection. They spoke of the man who was the first in Spain to free the drama from its swathing bands, and to clothe it with pomp and magnificence. As the oldest of the com- pany, I remarked that I had frequently heard the great Lope de Rueda recite, a poet equally celebrated as a man and as a scholar. Pie was born at Seville, and was by trade a gold-beater. As a pastoral poet he had great merit, and in that species of composition no one before or since his time has surpassed him. Although I could not judge of the excellence of his poems, for I was then but a child, yet some of them still remain in my memory, and recalling these at a

OP CERVANTES. 83

riper age, they appear to me to be worthy of their reputation. In the time of this celebrated Spaniard, all the apparatus of a dramatist and a manager was contained in a bag, and consisted of four white cloaks bordered with gilt leather, for shepherds, four beards and wigs, and four crooks, more or less. The drama- were mere dialogues, or eclogues, between two or three shepherds and a shepherdess ; and these con- versations were enlivened and prolonged by two or three interludes, in which negresses were introduced as confederates, or go-betweens; and occasionally some clowns and Biscayans madetheirappearance. At this time there was no scenery, there were no combat- between Moors and Christians, on horseback and on foot; no trap-doors by which figures might appear to rise out of the earth. The stage was merely com- posed of four square blocks of wood, upon which rested five or six planks, so as to elevate the actors a foot or two above the ground. No angels or spirits descended in clouds from heaven. The sole ornament of the theatre was an old curtain, supported at both ends by strings, which separated the dressing-room from the audience. At the back were placed the musicians, who sung, without any guitar, some ancient ballad.

" Lope de Rueda at last died, and on account of his celebrity and excellence, was buried between the two choirs in the great church of Cordova, where he 1 ies in the same plaee where that renowned madman. Luis Lopez, is interred. Xaharro, a native of Toledo, succeeded Lope de Rueda. He attained a great celebrity, more especially in his representations of a busy, meddling poltroon. Naharro added something to the scenic decorations, and changed the bag in which the wardrobe was contained, for trunks and

G2

84 LIFE AND WRITINGS

portmanteaus. He introduced the music upon the stage, which had formerly been placed in the back- ground ; and he took away the actors' beards ; for, until his time, no actor dared to appear without a false beard. He, on the contrary, wished alibis actors to appear undisguised, with the exception of those who represented old men, or changed their charac- ters, lie was a great inventor ; he invented scenes, clouds, thunder, lightning, challenges and combats, but nothing of this kind was carried to the perfection which at this day we behold, (and it is here that I must trespass upon my modesty,) until the time when the theatre of Madrid exhibited the Captives of Algiers, which is my own composition, Numantia and the Naval Engagement. It was then that I made an attempt to reduce the comedies of five acts into three, and I was the first to represent the phan- toms of the imagination, and the hidden thoughts of the soul, by introducing figures of them upon the stage, with the universal applause of the spectators. I composed during this period from twenty to thirty dramas, all of which were represented without a single cucumber, or orange, or any other missile usually aimed' at bad comedians, being flung at the actors' heads. They proceeded through their parts without hisses, without confusion, and without clamour. I was at length occupied with other matters, and I laid down my pen and forsook the drama. In the mean- time appeared that prodigy, Lope de Vega, who immediately assumed the dramatic crown. He reduced under his dominion all the farce writers, and filled the world with excellent and well combined comedies, of which he wrote so many, that they could not be comprised in ten thousand pages. AVhat is no less surprising, he himself saw them all repre-

OP CERVANTES. 85

sented, or was credibly assured that they had been so. All his rivals together have not written a moiety of what lie himself achieved alone. Notwithstanding this, as God grants not all things to every one, the labours of Dr. Ramon, who was the most laborious writer after the great Lope, have been much esteemed.

"The ingenious plots of the licentiate Miguel San- chez, and the gravity of Dr. Mira de Amescua, have likewise met with applause, which has also been granted to the wisdom and prodigious power of invention of the canon Tarraga, to the sweetness of Guillen de Castro, to the refinement of Aguilar, to the sonorous pomp and grandeur of the comedies of Luis Yelez de Guevara, to the polished wit of Don Antonio de Galarza, whose dramas are written in a provincial dialect ; and lastly, to the love plots of Gaspard de Avila ; for these, as well as some others, assisted the great Lope in the creation of the Spanish drama."

Such, then, was the first age of the Spanish drama ; and, if we may believe Schlegel and Boutterwtk, dramatic poetry never assumed in Spain more than two different characters. They consider the first age, that of Cervantes and Lope de Vega, as one of barbarian grandeur ; the second, that of Cal- deron, as the perfection of romance. They scarcely concede the title of poets to those writers who, in the last century, abandoned the example of their prede- cessors, to become subject to the theatrical laws of the French. "We do not share in the admiration which the German writers profess for the romantic theatre of Spain ; while on the other hand, we are not inclined to despise a branch of literature to which we owe productions like those of the great Corneille. But as it is our object to enable the reader to judge for himself, we shall present a few specimens of

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the dramatic power of Cervantes, such as may afford some idea of his peculiar merits and defects.

The foregoing extract from the preface to his comedies, as we have seen, represents the Spanish drama as still in a state of uncultivated barbarism, even after the middle of the sixteenth century. If we compare these pastoral dialogues, diversified with indecent interludes, with the comedies of Ariosto and Machiavclli, or with the tragedies of Trissino and Itucellai, it must be acknowledged that the Italians were at least half a century before the Spaniards in all the mechanical parts of the dramatic art. In Italy, indeed, it must be remembered that men of the highest genius, seconded by the munificence of their princes, attempted to revive the dramatic representa- tions of the ancients; whilst in Spain the art, still in a rude state, could boast mere adventurers and pre- tenders, who recited their own dramas, frequently without committing them to writing, and without any other object than that of amusing the populace, and rendering the representation a source of profit to themselves. It would seem as if Cervantes himself was not quite sure whether he had written twenty or thirty comedies. Those published by him in his old age, are not the same which were represented upon the stage, and which, with the exception of a very few, have been lost. This very dissimilar origin has im- pressed an indelible character on the dramas of the two countries. The Italian dramatists wrote to please the learned, the Spanish to please the people. The former, influenced by an imitation of the ancients, while they possessed more method, refine- ment, and taste, manifested something of a pedantic spirit, and servilely adopted the rules of composition by which the ancients were governed. The latter, on

OF CERVANTES. <^7

the contrary, recognised no rule but that of conform- ing themselves to the spirit of the nation, and to the taste of the populace. Their dramas, therefore, ex- hibited more vigour and more nature, and were more in harmony with the spirit of the people for whom they were composed, than the productions of the Italian dramatists. By their absolute neglect, how- ever, of the ancients, these writers deprived them- selves of all the advantages of experience, and the dramatic art amongst them was, consequently, as inferior to that of the Greeks, as the population of Madrid and Seville, from whom the laws of the drama emanated, were inferior in point of intelligence, taste, and polish, to the people of Athens, where every citizen received some degree of education.

The conclusion of the sixteenth, and the com- mencement of the seventeenth century, was a very learned epoch. The Spanish scholars of this period becoming disciples of the classical authors, upheld, witli as much fervour as La Harpe and Marmontel, among the French, the poetical system of Aristotle, and the rules of the three unities. The dramatic writers, while they recognised the authority of these rules, neglected to act upon them, for they were com- pelled to follow the taste of the public. None of them were acquainted with the nature of -the inde- pendence which they possessed, or of that system of romantic poetry which has been only in our own days developed by the Germans. On the contrary, the Spanish dramatists confessed, in a curious manner, the superiority of the laws which they neglected. Lope de Vega, in some verses addressed to the academy of poetry at Madrid, exculpates himself from this charge in the following 'manner : —

" I write a play ! Then, ere I pen a line, Under six locks and keys let me confine

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All rules of art. Next, Plautus, 'tis thy doom, And Terence then, to quit forthwith the room, Lest ye upbraid me. Books can speak, though dumb, And tell unwelcome truths. By other laws I write, laid down by those who seek applause From vulgar mouths : what then ? the vulgar pay ; They love a fool, and let them have their way."*

Cervantes, in the first part of his Don Quixote, introduces a canon of Toledo, who, after blaming the Spaniards with some asperity, for having perpetually violated the laws of the dramatic art, regrets that the government has not established a censor for the drama, who might have power to prevent the repre- sentation of pieces, not only when they are injurious to morals, but likewise when they offend against the laws of classical poetry. The censor would be sufficiently ridiculous, who shoxilcl maintain upon the stage the three unities of Aristotle ; and those authors have a strange idea of authority, who imagine that a censor must possess a more just and correct taste than the public, and that a king can bestow upon his favourite the power of discriminating between the good and the bad in literature, while the academies of the learned, and the assemblies of the ignorant, have not yet been able to agree on the subject of abstract beauty and excellence ;t if, how- ever, the magistrate thus proposed by Cervantes had been instituted, and had he been, though it be a most improbable supposition, inaccessible to intrigue, to favour, and to prejudice, he would in all proba- bility have forbidden the representation of the dramas of Cervantes, since they are by no means constructed upon those classical mles, the neglect of which the poet so deeply regrets. The tragedy of

* Arte nucvo de hr.cer coir.eilias en cstc tievnpp. — Lope de Vega. f Literature of the South of Europe, by M. cle Sismondi.

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Numantia, and the comedy of Life in Algiers, are the only two which have been preserved out of twenty or thirty dramas written in 1582, soon after the author's release from captivity. Those which he published in 1615, were never represented, and therefore merit less attention ; though it is from the preface to the latter that we have drawn the history of the dramatic art already presented to the reader. When Cervantes speaks of this work in his old age, his simplicity and gaiety have in them something touching ; for it is evident that he was suffering inward mortification more severe in proportion as his circumstances rendered success so desirable to him.

" Some years since," he observes, " I returned to the ancient occupation of my leisure hours ; and imagining that the age had not passed away in which I used to hear the sound of praise, I again began to write comedies. The birds, however, had flown from their nest. I could find no manager to ask for my plays, though they knew that I had written them. I threw them, therefore, into the corner of a trunk, and condemned them to eternal obscurity. A bookseller then told me that he would have bought them from me, had he not been told by a celebrated author that much dependence might be placed upon my prose, but none upon my poetry. To say the truth, this information mortified me much. I said to myself, Cervantes, I am certainly either changed, or the world, contrary to its custom, has become much wiser, for in past time I used to meet with praise. I read my comedies anew, together with some interludes which I had placed with them. I found that they were not so bad, but that they might pass from what this author called darkness,

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into what others might perhaps term noon -day. I was angry, and sold them to the bookseller who has now printed them. They have paid me tolerably ; and I have pocketed my money with pleasure, and without troubling myself about the opinions of the actors ; I was willing to make them as excellent as I could, and if, dear reader, thou findest any thing in them good, I pray thee when thou meetest any other calumniator, to tell him to amend his manners, and not to judge so severely, since, after all, the plays contain not any incongruities, or striking faults."

These are reasons why we should ask the same kind of indulgence towards the dramas of Cervantes, which the author himself entreats from his readers. In order to be just towards him, we must commence by rejecting all our theatrical prepossessions, remem- bering that he wrote before any of those authors whom we regard as the legislators of the drama, upon a different system, and with another object in view. Let us consider his dramas as a series of pictures, all connected by the chain of historical in- terest, though varying in subject. In some he has endeavoured to excite the noblest sentiments of the heart : in his Ntimantia, patriotism ; in his Life in Algiers, zeal for the redemption of captives. Such are the only unities for which we must seek in his dramas. Let us abandon ourselves to his eloquence, without endeavouring to resist the feelings of terror, or of pity, which he so powerfully awakens ; and let us forget, as far as possible, those rules which our own dramatists obey, but which to him are entirely inapplicable. When we analyse even the models of antiquity, we do not apply to all of them rules equally severe. We do not forget that ^Eschylus, like Cervantes, was in the van of his art. Perhaps,

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if we compared the Xtunantia with the Persians, or with the Prometheus, many points of resemblance between these two celebrated authors would strike us. "NVc should probably find that in the grandeur of the incidents, in the depth of feeling, in the nature and language of the allegorical personages introduced upon the stag.;-, and lastly, in the patriotic sentiments of the compositions, the oldest of the Spanish dra- matists has approached nearer to the most ancient of the Greek tragedians, than any voluntary imitation could have accomplished.

There is a strong feeling of patriotism manifested by Cervantes in his Nnmantla. He has taken as the subject of his tragedy the destruction of a city which valiantly opposed the Romans, and whose inhabit- ants, rather than surrender themselves to the enemy, preferred perishing beneath the ruins of their bonus, slaughtering one another, and precipitating themselves into the flames. This terrible subject is not one which would be considered at the present day as suitable to the purposes of the drama. It is too extensive, too public, too little adapted to the display of individual passions, and of those motives which operate upon persons, and not upon nations. A cer- tain degree of admiration, however, cannot be refused to this poetical attempt of Cervantes, which seems like an expiatory sacrifice offered up to the manes of a great city.

The tragedy opens with a dialogue between Scipio and Jugxirtha. This scene, like the greatest part of the drama, is composed in the ottave rime of the heroic Italian verse. In a few scenes only, in which the dialogue is more lively, is the Spanish redondilla of four trochees, rhymed in quatrains, employed. Cervantes has never made use of the assonants which

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by later writers were almost constantly adopted for the dialogues.

Scipio declares to Jugnrtha tlie repugnance which he feels to continue a war which has already cost the Roman people so much hlood, and in which he has at the same time to contend against the obstinate valour of the enemy, and the want of discipline which his own army betrays. He then gives orders for all the troops to be assembled, that by haranguing them he may recall them to a sense of their duty. The novelty of these dramatic representations is curiously manifested in the stage directions, which Cervantes has added to his dramas. Thus, in one scene it is said : " Here enter as many soldiers as the stage will hold, and Caius Marius with them ; tliey must be armed in the ancient fashion, without muskets. Scipio, ascending a little rock upon the stage, gazes on the soldiery before he addresses them." The harangue, however, is too long to be given entire, and indeed too long for representation. It is, however, full of elevated feeling and martial eloquence. He thus re- minds them of the contrast between themselves and the hardy, plain -clad veterans of the old school : —

Well, by your pride of feature, noble friends,

And splendour of your martial decorations,

I recognise in you the sons of Rome ;

Yea, brave and valiant sons ! But, by your hands,

Fair and effeminate, by the glossy show

Of your smooth faces, rather should I deem you

Of Britain born, or Belgium. You yourselves,

By your neglect, your reckless disregard

Of all your duties, you yourselves have raised

Your foe, already vanquished, from the ground,

And wronged at once your valour and your fame.

Behold these walls that yet unshaken st'ind

Firm as tie rocks on which thry rest ! these walls

Bear shameful witness to your weak attempts,

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That boast of nothing Roman, but the name.

What ! when the whole world trembles and bows down

Before the name of Rome, will you alone

Betray her claims to empire, and eclipse

Her universal glories here in Spain ?"

Scipio then directs various reforms. He orders the "women to be removed, and that nothing shall be introduced into the army which can be productive of luxury and effeminacy ; and he then expresses his confidence that, as soon as discipline is re-established within the camp, it will be an easy task to vanquish the handful of Spaniards who have shut themselves up within the walls of Xumantia. Caius Marius answers in the name of the rest, and promises that the soldiers shall show themselves true Romans, and submit cheerfully to the most rigorous discipline.

Two Xumantian ambassadors now present them- selves before the general and the army. They declare that it was to the severity, avarice, and injustice, of the generals who had hitherto commanded in Spain, the revolt of Xumantia was to be attributed ; that the arrival of Scipio, with whose virtues they are acquainted and in whom they place the fullest con- fidence, had induced them to sue, as they now did, as ardently for peace as they had before courageously sustained the war. Scipio, however, demands a higher satisfaction for the insults offered to the majesty of the Roman people. He refuses all over- tures for peace, and dismisses the ambassadors with an exhortation to look well to their defence. He then informs his brother that instead of exposing his army in fresh engagements and moistening the soil of Spain with Roman blood, he has determined to siirround Xumantia with a deep fosse and to reduce the place by famine. He therefore orders the army to commence the circumvallations.

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In the second scene (and between each scene some time is supposed to have elapsed) Spain is introduced in the figure of a woman crowned with towers, and bearing in her hand a castle, as a symbol of those castles from which are derived the name and arms of Castile. She invokes the mercy and favour of Heaven, and complains bitterly of her state of perpetual bondage. She has seen her riches alternately the prey of the Phoenician and of the Greek ; and her most valiant sons divided amongst themselves, coin- bating with one another, when they should have united their arms against the common enemy : —

Numantia only, careless of her blood, Has dared to draw her shining sword and strike For that old liberty she long has cherished. But now, oh grief! her time of doom is near ; Her fatal hour approaches, and her life Is waning to its close; but her bright fame Shall still survive, and, like the Phoenix, burst More glorious from her ashes.

The circumvallation being now accomplished, the Numantians have to contend against hunger, without any opportunity of engaging with the enemy. One side of the city is washed by the Douro ; and the Spaniards, therefore, address themselves to that river, beseeching him to favour the people of Xumantia, and to swell his waters so as to prevent the Romans from erecting towers and machines on its banks. The Douro, followed by three tributary streams, advances upon the stage, and declares that he has made the greatest efforts to remove the Romans from the walls of Numantia, but in vain ; that the fatal hour has arrived, and that the only consolation he has left is derived from Proteus, who has revealed to him the future glories reserved for the Spaniards, and the humiliations to which the Romans are destined. lie

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predicts tlie victories of Attila, and tlie conquests of the Goths, which are to renovate Spain ; the title of •• Most Catholic," which will be bestowed upon her kings ; and lastly, the glory of Philip II., who will unite the territories of Portugal to the two kingdoms of Spain.

In the second act the Xumantians are seen assem- bled in council. Theogenes inquires of his coun- trymen by what means they can escape from the cruel vengeance of their enemies, who, without daring to combat with them, have reduced them to perish by hunger. Corabino proposes that an offer shall be made to the Romans to decide the fate of the two nations by single combat ; and that if this is refused, they should try the effect of a sortie through the fosse, and attempt to open a passage through the enemy. Others present support this proposition, and at the same time describe their despair and the suf- ferings which they endure from famine. They like- wise propose sacrifices to appease the gods and auguries to ascertain their wishes.

The scenes in the dramas of Cervantes are as dis- tinct as the acts. They seem intended in the ^V«- mantia to exhibit the sentiments and ideas of a whole people, under the various aspects of public affairs. To accomplish this design, we are sometimes intro- duced into the assemblies of the nobles ; at others, simple citizens appear upon the stage, and, occa- sionally, allegorical personages come forward. The second scene of this act is between two Xumantian soldiers, Morandro and Leoneio ; the former, the lover of Lira, a young maiden of Xumantia, was on the eve of marriage when the nuptials were deferred on account of the war and the public misfortunes. Leoneio accuses him of forgetting, in his passion for

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his mistress, the dangers of his country. Leoncio thus replies to his companion : —

Never did love teach lover cowardice ! Have I e'er been a truant from my post To visit her I love ? Have I e'er closed My eyes in slumber when my captain watched ? Have I e'er failed when duty called on me Because my heart was filled with her sweet image ? If, then, these things be not objected to me, Why will you blame me for my passionate love ?

The dialogue is interrupted by the arrival of the people and the priests, with the victim and the incense for the sacrifice to Jupiter. As the priests proceed with the sacrificial ceremonies, the most terrible pre- sages present themselves. The torches will not light ; the smoke curls towards the west, and the invoca- tions are answered with thunder. It is curious to remark the expedients by which the author proposes to imitate thunder, and which, like Gibber, who was so proud of his receipt for making it, he might fairly claim for his own. " Here," says he, " a noise must be made -by rolling a barrel full of stones, and fire- works must be let off." In the air, eagles are seen pouncing upon vultures and tearing them in their talons. At last the victim is carried away by an infernal spirit, at the moment when it is about to be slain. Marquino, a magician, then endeavours in his turn to discover the will of Heaven by enchant- ment. He approaches a tomb where, three hours previously, a young Nuinantian had been buried who had died of hunger, and he invokes his spirit from the infernal regions. His address to the spirits of darkness is singularly poetical. He speaks in that commanding style, and at the same time with that contempt and anger, with which the poets have gifted those magicians who have not allowed themselves to

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become the slaves of Lucifer. The tomb opens ; the dead rises, but moves not. Marquino, by fresh enchantment, bestows animation and compels the body to speak. The corpse announces that ^wiman- tia will neither be the conqueror nor the conquered ; but that her citizens shall destroy one another. The corpse then sinks again into the tomb, and Marquino in despair stabs himself and falls into the same grave.

The third act again brings us into the Roman camp; Scipio congratulates himself on having reduced Nu- mantia to the last extremities, without finding it necessary to expose his soldiers. In the meantime a solitary trumpet is heard from within the Avails. Corabino then appears with a white flag in his hands. lie proposes to terminate the quarrel by single com- bat, on condition that if the Numantian champion is vanquished, the gates of the city shall be opened ; if on the contrary, the Roman combatant is overcome, that the siege shall be raised. At the same time he flatters the Romans, by assuring them that from the valour of their champions they may count upon a victory. Seipio rejects with ridicule a proposal which would place him on equal terms with the enemy, at a time when he is assured of the conquest.

Corabino, left alone on the walls, overwhelms the Romans with vituperation. They, however, hear him not, and he retires. The next scene represents the interior of Numantia. The council of war is assembled, and Theogencs, having given an account of the failure of the sacrifices of the enchantment, and of the challenge, proposes again to make a sally. The warriors dread the opposition of their wives, whom they will be compelled to abandon. The women, informed of the proposed sortie, crowd around the council-chamber with their infants in

H

98 LIFE AND

their amis, and each, in eloquent language, demands to share the fortunes of her husband : —

What is it that you wish, brave warriors !

Have, then, your sorrowful fancies worked on you

To fly us and forsake us ? Do ye think

To leave the virgins of Numantia

A spoil to arrogant Romans, and your sons,

Your free-horn sons, in bondage to the foe ?

Were it not better that your own right hand

At once should take the life which ye have given ?

Would you then feed the Roman avarice ?

Would you then suffer them in unjust pride

To triumph over us, while with foreign hands

They pillage all our mansions ?

* * * *

If you are well-resolved to attempt the sortie, Then take us with you. It will be life to us To perish by your sides. Nor will ye thus Shorten our way to death, for famine ever Threatens to cut the thread of life in twain.

Another woman then presents herself and her children before the senators of Numantia, and thus speaks : —

Oh, children of most desolate mothers, why, Why speak ye not, and why with moving tears Do ye not supplicate your cruel sires Not to desert you ? Doth it not suffice That terrible famine should oppress your lives But must you also prove the bitterness Of Roman rigour. Tell them that ye were Begotten free, free born, and that your mothers, Your wretched mothers, nursed you still in freedom. And tell them if our fate so adverse is, They who have given you life should take it back. Oh walls ! if ye can speak, exclaim aloud, A thousand times repeat — Numantians ! Numantians ! liberty !

After several of the women have spoken, Theo- genes answers their complaints with great tenderness.

OP CERVANTES. 99

lie swears that they shall not be abandoned by their husbands, but that, living or dying, they shall still be protected. Lastly, he endeavours to persuade the Numantians to adopt a still more desperate course, and not to leave within the walls of Xuman- tia a single relic of their persons or their property to adorn the triumphs of their enemies. He proposes that in the middle of the great square of the city a pile should be raised, upon which the citizens should themselves cast all their riches, and that to mitigate for a few hours at least the hunger which consumes them, the Roman prisoners should be slain and eaten by the soldiery. The people immediately adopt this frightful resolution, and separate in order to put it into execution. Mbrandro and Lira remain upon the stage, and a terrific scene, of love struggling with famine, succeeds. Lira, to the passionate ex- clamations of her lover, only answers that her brother had died of hunger the preceding day ; that on that very day her mother had perished, and that she her- self is on the verge of death. Morandro determines to penetrate into the Roman camp in search of food to prolong the life of his mistress. Leoncio, his friend, notwithstanding his remonstrances, resolves to accompany him, and the two friends impatiently expect the friendly shades of night that will afford them an opportunity to make their attempt.

Two of the citizens now announce that the pile is on fire, and that the inhabitants are eagerly heaping upon it all the remains of their property. Men, loaded with burthens of rich and precious articles, are seen passing over the stage towards the pile. One of the Numantians then declares, that as soon as their riches are consumed, the women, the chil- dren, and the old men will be massacred by the ii 2

100 LIFE AND WRITINGS

soldiers to save them from the bands of the con- querors. A Xumantian mother is then introduced, leading by. the hand her little son, who bears a va- luable packet. She holds an infant to her breast :

Mother. Oh life, most cruel and most hard to bear ! Oh agony most deep and terrible !

Boy. Mother ! will no one give a little morsel Of bread for all these riches !

Mother. No, my son,

No bread, nor aught to nourish thee, my child.

Boy. Must I then die of hunger ? Mother, mother, I ask one morsel only, nothing more.

Mother. My child, what pain thou givest me !

Boy. Do you not

Wish for it then !

Motker. I wish for it, but know not

Where I may seek it.

Boy. Why not buy it, mother ?

If not, I'll buy it for myself, and give To the first man I meet, even all these riches — Aye, for one single morsel of dry bread, My hunger pains me so.

Mother (to her infant). And thou, poor creature, Why cling'st thou to my breast ? Dost thou not know That in my aching breast despair has changed The milky stream to blood ? Tear off my flesh, And so content their hunger, for my arms Are weak, aud can no longer clasp thee to me. Son of my soul, with what can I sustain thee ? Even of my wasted flesh, there scarce remains Enough to satisfy thy craving hunger. Oh hunger, hunger ! terrible and fierce, With what most cruel pangs thou tak'st my life ! Oh war, what death dost thou prepare for me ?

Boy. My mother 1 let us hasten to the place We seek, for walking seems to make me worse.

Mother. My child, the house is near us, where at length Upon the burning pile thou may'st lay down The burthen that thou bearest.

"Were it not for its stern truth, and sterner reality too widely spread, we might almost repent of hav-

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ing introduced a scene so fiercely terrible, and so full of cruel suffering. It is the dungeon of Ugolino opened to the public, and rendered tenfold more appalling by its far-extended desolation. The cala- mity, with its baneful wings overspreading a whole rity, exhibits famine contending with every species of the most gentle as well as the most passionate feelings. It is because sufferings like these have really existed, because the very name of war recalls them to our minds, that such scenes ought not, per- haps, to be brought before the eye. The misfortunes of CEdipus have passed away ; the feast of Thyestes will never again be celebrated ; but who can say that in some city exposed to the horrors of a siege, some nameless mother may not, like the Numantian matron, be nourishing her infant with blood instead of milk, struggling against the excess of suffering which human nature was not formed to support ? If, indeed, we could succour or save her, it would be weakness to fear the shock which so frightful a pic- ture produces ; but if eloquence or poetry be em- ployed without object to give effect to such descrip- tions, how can we experience any pleasure in emotions which border on so dreadful a reality ?

At the commencement of the fourth act the alarm is sounded in the Roman camp, and Scipio demands the cause of the tumult ? He learns that two Xumantians have broken through the barriers, and, after killing several soldiers, have carried off some biscuit from a cart ; that one of them again passed the wall and gained the city, but that the other had been slain. In the following scene we find Morandro again entering Xumantia wounded and bleeding. He is weeping over his friend's fate, and the bread which he is carrying to Lira is moistened with his tears.

102 LIFE AND WRITINGS

lie lays before her this last offering of his affection, and expires at her feet. Lira refuses to touch the sustenance which has been so dearly bought ; while her little brother seeks refuge in her arms, and dies. A soldier now appears upon the stage pursuing a woman, whom he is endeavouring to kill, for an order has been issued from the senate of Numantia that all the women should be put to the sword. He, however, refuses to slay Lira, and bears along with him to the funeral pile the two bodies which lay before her.

War, famine, and pestilence now appear, and dis- pute for the ruins of Nunlantia. This description of the calamities which the city has suffered is cold, when compared with the preceding frightful scenes. Theogenes then passes over the scene with his wife, his two sons, and his daughter, conducting them to the pile where they are to die. He informs them that they are to perish by his own hand, and his children submit to their fate. Two youths, Yeria- tus and Servius, flying before the soldiers, cross the stage ; the first endeavours to reach a tower which will afford him a refuge, but the latter, being over- come by famine, can proceed no farther. Theogenes, who has despatched his wife and children, returns and beseeches a citizen to put him to death ; the two, however, determine to fight near the pile upon which the survivor is to cast himself. The Romans, havino- remarked the stillness which reigns in Numantia, Caitis Marius mounts upon the wall by a ladder, and is shocked to see the city one lake of blood, and the streets filled with the dead. Scipio fears that this universal massacre will deprive him of all the honour of a triumph. If a single Numantian cap- tive could be found alive to be chained to his car,

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that honour would be his ; but Caius Marius and •JiiLiurtha, wlio have traversed all the streets, have met with nothing but gore and corpses. At last, however, they discover Yiriatus, the young man who has taken refuge at the top of the tower. Scipio addresses him. and iuvites him, with kind words and promises, to deliver himself up. Viriatus rejects these offers with indignation. He is unwilling to survive his country ; and, after heaping curses upon the Romans, he throws himself headlong from the tower, and falls lifeless at the feet of Seipio. Re- nown, with a trumpet in her hand, terminates the tragedy, by promising eternal glory to the Xuman- tian-.

77'f Xumantiti was represented several times in the earlier part of the life of Cervantes, whilst the nation was still warm with the enthusiasm which the victories of Charles V. had produced ; and whilst the reverses, which they began to experience under Philip II. made them doubly resolute not to stain their ancient glories. We may imagine the effect which the S>d)i<ivti<t must have produced, if it was represented in Saragossa, as it has been asserted, during the siege of that city : we may conceive how deeply the Spaniards must have felt the sentiments of national glory and independence which breathe throughout the drama, and with what animation they must have prepared for new dangers and new sacrifices. AVe thus see that the theatre, which we have denominated barbarous, did in fact approach much nearer, than what are termed the classic dramas of France and Italy, to that of the old Greeks, in the energetic influence which it exerted over the people, and in the empire with which the poet ruled his audience. We cannot, at the same time, avoid being

104 LIFE AND WRITINGS

struck in the Numantia with the spirit of fatality, and the ferocity which reigns throughout the whole drama. The appalling resolution of. the Xuman- tians, the details of their situation, the progress of the plot, and the catastrophe, are all terrific. The tra- 'gecly does not draw tears, but the shuddering horror which it induces, becomes almost a punishment to the spectator. It is one symptom of the change which Philip II. and the Autos-da-fe had wrought in the character of the Castilians ; and we shall soon have occasion to notice others. When the soldiers of fana- ticism had acquired these ferocious qualities, litera- ture itself did not wholly escape the infection.*

CHAPTER VII.

Other dramatic works. — Life in Algiers. — Circumstances in which it originated. — Los Banos do Argcl. — Various adventures. — Allegorical personages. — Analysis. — Specimens and translations. — The slave-market.-— Pathetic and startling scenes. — Society of the Redemption. — The drama. — Opinions of Cervantes. — His judgment. — Extensive reading. — Familiarity with and imitation of the Ancients. — Noble qualities of the drama as conceived by Cervantes. — Freedom from affectation and conventional gal- lantry.— Unable to establish a reform.- — Prevailing taste of the day. — Triumphant. — Lope de Vega and Cervantes both yield to it.

THERE is still remaining for analysis another drama by Cervantes — Life in Algiers — El Trato de Argel, which has been «alled a comedy ; but neither that title, nor the name of Cervantes himself, lead us to expect in this piece the same humour which reigns throughout Don Quixote. To the gloomy picture which is represented in this drama, no relief is

* Literature of the South, &.c ., by M. Sismondi, iii. pp. 355. 77.

OF CERVANTF.-. 105

aftorded either by liveliness of plot, or by amusing delineation of character. Cervantes did indeed, in his interludes, condescend to excite laughter ; but the object, both of his comedies and of his tragedies, was to awaken terror and pity. All his compositions were adapted to excite popular feeling, on the topics of politics or religion ; to strengthen the pride, the independence, or the fanaticism of the Spaniards. His dramas were distinguished into tragedies and comedies, according to the rank of the characters, and the dignity of the action, and not from any re- ference to the liveliness or the gravity of their subject.

Cervantes, as we have already stated, had been detained for upwards of five years a captive at Al- giers ; and his own sufferings, and those of his com- panions, had made a deep impression upon his mind. He returned to Spain with feelings of undisguised animosity against the Moors, and with an ardent de- sire to contribute towards the redemption of those prisoners who had fallen into the hands of the Mus- sulmans. Thus his comedy of El Trato </<• Aryel ; another drama which he published towards the close of his life, entitled Los Baho* </<' Aiy<'l ; his tale of the captive in Don Quixote, and that of the Generous Lover, were not mere literary works, but charitable endeavours to serve his brother captives, and to ex- cite public opinion in their favour. His object was to rouse the nation, and the king himself, against the Mussulmans, and to preach a kind of crusade for the deliverance of all Christian capti\

To accomplish this end, he proposed merely to give to the public a sketch of the life of the captives in Algiers, and a description of the interior of their habitations. He, therefore, employed no dramatic action, no plot, and no catastrophe ; nor did he pay

106 LIFE AND WRITINGS

the least regard to the laws of the unities. He only collected into one point of view the various sufferings, pains, and humiliations, which were consequent upon slavery amongst the Moors. The truth of the pic- ture, the proximity of the scene, and the immediate interest of the spectators, supplied the want of art which is visible in this drama, and exerted, it may be believed, a more powerful influence over the audience.

Life in Algiers contains various adventures un- connected with one another, except in the community of suffering. The principal characters arc Aurelio and Sylvia, an affectionate pair, who are exposed to the solicitations of their mistress and master. The religion and conjugal fidelity of Aurelio having in- duced him to repress all the advances of his mistress, Zara, he is at last tempted with enchantments ; but the demons soon perceive that they possess no power over a true Christian. He is then exposed to the seductive influence of Occasion and Necessity, who are personified by the dramatist, and who make various proposals to the captive, which he at last succeeds in rejecting and expelling from his mind. At the conclusion of the piece, both Aurelio and Sylvia are sent home by the Dey, on the promise of a large ransom.

Another captive, of the name of Sebastian, relates with extreme indignation, a spectacle of which IK; had been a witness — the reprisals exercised upon the Christians by the Moors. The conduct, however, at which the captive expresses such horror, appears only to have been a jus retaliation. A Moor, who had been forced to sutbmit to the ceremony of baptism, at Valencia, being afterwards exiled with his countrymen, had taken up arms against the

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Christians. I'eing made prisoner in an engagement, he was recognised as having been baptised, and was delivered over to the Inquisition, who condemned him to be burnt as a relapsed infidel. His relations and friends, eager to avenge him, bought a Valencian captive, of the same class of inquisitors from amongst whom his judges had been appointed, and inflicted upon their captive a similar death. If the rigour of such reprisals could have suspended the frightful proceedings of the Inquisition, this attempt to terrify the Spaniards with the consequences of their own barbarity would have been grounded upon good rea-on. The retaliation in this case did not inflict the punishment of the guilty upon the innocent, for every inquisitor was bound to participate in the same crime. The anecdote is founded on fact, and the inquisitor burnt by the Algerines was the monk Miguel de Aranda.

( hie of the most affecting scenes in the drama is the slave-market. The public crier offers for sale a father and mother and their two children, who are to be sold in separate lots. The resignation of the father, who in this dreadful calamity does not forget to confide in the goodness of God, the tears of the mother, and the childish conviction of the younger captives, that no power upon earth can dispose of them contrary to the will of their parents, altogether form a frightful picture ; the truth of which is the more impressive, from the circumstances that the characters are anonymous, and that, in the present age, such scenes may happen daily at Algiers, or in our colonies. The merchant, who is about to buy one of the children, makes him open his mouth, in order that- he may see whether he is in good health. The unhappy child, unconscious that it is

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impossible for him to suffer greater grief than those which he has already experienced, imagines that the merchant is going to extract a decayed tooth, and, assuring him that it does not ache, begs him not to pull it out. These little incidents more forcibly de- scribe the horrors of slavery, than the most laboured eloquence could do. In the child is exhibited a touching ignorance of the destiny which awaits him; in the merchant a cold and calculating interest, con- trasted with a sensibility which he beholds without any emotion. We suffer, in common with the whole human race, which we here see degraded to the con- dition of brutes. The merchant, who is in other respects a worthy man, after giving 130 piastres for the youngest of the children, thus addresses him : —

Merchant. Come hither, child ; 'tis time to go to rest.

Juan. Signor, I will not leave my mother here To go with any one.

Mother. Alas ! my child, thou art no longer mine, But his who bought thee. »

Juan. What ! then have you, mother, Forsaken me ?

Mother. Oh, heavens ! how cruel are ye !

Merchant. Come, hasten, boy.

Juan. Will you go with me, brother ?

Francisco. I cannot, Juan, 'tis not in my power. May heaven protect you, Juan !

Mother. Oh ! my child, My joy and my delight, God won't forget thee !

Juan. O father ! mother ! whither will they bear me Away from you ?

Mother. Permit me, worthy signor, To speak a moment in my infant's ear. Grant me this small contentment ; very soon I shall know nought but grief.

Merchant. What would you say ? Say now ; to-night is the last time.

Mother. To-night Is the first time my heart e'er felt such grief.

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Juan. Pray keep me with you, mother ; for I know not \Vhither he'd carry me.

Mother. Alas, poor child ! Fortune forsook thee even at thy birth ; The heavens are overcast, the elements Are turhid, and the very sea and winds Are all combined against me. Thou, my child, Knowest not the dark misfortunes into which Thou art so early plunged, but happily Lackest the power to comprehend thy fate. What 1 would crave of thee, my life, since I Must never more be blest with seeing thee, Is that thou never, never wilt forget To say, as thou wert wont, thy A ve Mary ! For that bright queen of goodness, grace, and virtue Can loosen all thy bonds and give thee freedom.

Aydnr. Behold the wicked Christian, how she counsels Her innocent child. You wish, then, that your child Should like yourself, continue still in error.

Juan. Oh mother, mother, may I not remain ? And must these Moors then carry me away ?

Mother. With thee, my child, they rob me of my treasure.

Juan. Oh, I am much afraid.

Mother. 'Tis I, my child,

"Who ought to fear at seeing thee depart. Thou wilt forget thy God, me, and thyself : What else can I expect from thee, abandoned At such a tender age, amongst a people Full of deceit and all iniquity ?

Crier. Silence, you villanous woraan, if you would not Have your head pay for what your tongue has done.

In the fifth act Juan is introduced as a renegade. He has been seduced by the dainties and rich cloth- ini: which his master has given him. He is proud of his turban, and disdains the other captives, saying that it is a sin in a Mussulman to be seen in conver- sation with Christians. Cervantes has inserted a scene between Juan and his mother, who is in despair at his apostacy. The mother, however, does not again appear ; her grief must have been too poig- nant for representation.

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The escape of Pedro Alvarez, one of the cap- tives, who, being unable any longer to bear the horrors of slavery, resolves to cross the desert and endeavour to reach Oran by following the line of the coast, forms another independent plot. He pre- pares ten pounds of biscuit, made of eggs, flour, and honey ; and with this stock of provisions, and three pair of shoes, he enters upon a journey of sixty leagues, through an unknown country, and over a burning desert infested with wild beasts. In one scene the captive is introduced consulting with Saavedra, under which name, in all probability, the dramatist intended to represent himself. In another we find him in the midst of the desert, where he is wandering after he has lost his way ; his provisions are exhausted, his clothes are in tatters, his shoes are worn out, and he is tormented with hunger, and reduced to such an extreme of weakness, that he can with difficulty walk. In this state of distress he invokes the Virgin of Montserrat, and presently a lion appearing crouches at his feet. The captive finds his strength restored ; the lion becomes his guide; he recommences his journey, and when he appears upon the stage the third time, he has nearly arrived at Oran.

Towards the conclusion of the fifth act, the ar- rival of a monk of the order of the Trinity is an- nounced, bearing with him a sum of money for the redemption of the captives. The prisoners throw themselves on their knees in prayer, and the curtain falls, leaving the spectators to conclude that they are all redeemed.

Such are the two dramas which alone remain of the twenty or thirty which were composed by Cer- vantes in his youth. They are curious specimens of

OF CERVANTES. Ill

the character which that great genius gave to the national drama of Spain, at a period when it was in his power to model it according to his will. The theatre of the ancients was not unknown to Cer- vantes, for in addition to the opportunities he had enjoyed of becoming acquainted with it in the learned languages, he was very familiar with the Italian, and consequently with the efforts which had been made at the court of Leo X. to revive the scenic representa- tions of Greece and Rome. In Spain, indeed, during the reign of Charles V., Perez de Oliva had trans- lated the Klectra of Sophocles, and the Hecuba of Euripides ; Terence also had been rendered into Spanish by Pedro Simon de Abril, and Plautus had appeared in a Castilian dress. Cervantes, however, thought that the moderns ought to possess a drama which should represent their own manners, opinions, and character, and not those of antiquity. He formed, indeed, his idea of tragedy upon the models of the ancients ; but that which he beheld was not what we discover in their dramas. The dra- matic art appeared to him to be the art of trans- porting the audience into the midst of events, calcu- lated, from their political or religions interest, to make the most impression upon the mind ; tragedy, the art of making the spectators sharers in the most brilliant historical incidents ; and comedy, of intro- ducing them into the houses of individuals, and of laying bare their vices or their virtues. He attached little importance to that which has become a matter of such consequence in our eyes, — the space of time which is supposed to elapse between each scene, and the power of transferring the actors from place to place. He paid the greatest attention, on the con- trary, to that which we have considered as a defect

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in the ancient drama, the political and religious or lyrical portion, which amongst the Greeks was the province of the chorus, and which Cervantes wished to re-produce by the aid of allegorical personages.

The ancients, who made religious spectacles of their tragedies, always aimed at representing the course of Providence or Fate as linked with human actions. The choruses, which, during the progress of the drama, shock our ideas of propriety, appeared to them to be necessary for the purpose of interpreting the will of the Divinity, of recalling the thoughts from terrestrial to higher objects, and of re-establish- ing the tranquillity of the soul by the delights of lyrical poetry, after the passionate excitement of theatrical eloquence. Such, likewise, was the end which Cervantes proposed for himself in the creation of the allegorical personages. He did not allow them to mingle in the action like supernatural beings, nor did he make any of the incidents depend upon their agency. Indeed, like the choruses of the ancients, they might be rejected from his dramas altogether, without any void being perceived. His aim was to give us an idea, through their means, of the corre- sponding progress of the universe, and of the designs of Providence. He wished to enable us to behold in bis dramas the things invisible, as though they were material. He wished to transport his drama from the real world into the realm of poetry, and he en- deavoured to accomplish this object by the assistance of the most elevated language, which he could put into the mouths of these unearthly beings, by the magic of lyrical poetry, and by the employment of the boldest figures. These objects, which were alto- gether excluded from the modern drama, but which were much considered by the ancients, have been but

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imperfectly attained by Cervantes. Perhaps he did not possess in a high degree the lyrical talent. If there are any sublime passages in his plays, they are to be found in the dialogues, and not in the rhapso- dies of his allegorical personages. Moreover the introduction of allegorical characters upon the stage, appears to be directly contrary to the essence of the drama, which, as it appeals as well to the eye as to the ear, ought not to admit of objects which never can have a visible existence. When the Famine or Pestilence appears in the Numantia^ and Occasion or Necessity in the Life of Algiers, the action of the drama is arrested. There metaphysical abstractions destroy at once the illusion, the vivacity, and the in- terest of the drama, and the attention is confused by these varying appeals to the intellect and to the senses.

In the Numantia, Cervantes has scrupulously ob- served the unity of action, the unity of interest, and the unity of passion. No episode is mingled with the terrible plot. The whole people are animated with one idea, and partake of the same suffering. Individual wretchedness is swallowed up in the general calamity, which it only serves to render more striking. The story of Morandro and Lira presents us with a picture of what even- lover in Numantia must have suffered ; and, instead of detracting from the interest, serves to concentrate it. There are no traces either in this play or in the Life fm Alffiert, of that insipid spirit of gallantry which has infested the French theatre from its birth, and which has been erroneously attributed to the Spanish. In Cervantes, and generally in the Spanish dramas, we never see a hero in love but when he ought to be so ; and their language, figurative and hyperbolical

114 LIFE AND WRITINGS

as it is, according to the bad taste of the nation, is still passionate and not gallant. The unity which was so rigorously observed in the Numantia, was completely abandoned by Cervantes in his Life in Algiers. It is strange that he did not perceive that it is this quality alone which is the basis of har- mony ; which preserves the relation of the various parts which distinguishes the productions of genius from real life, and the dialogue of the drama from the conversations of society. Life in Algiers is, con- sequently, a tiresome play, and loses its interest as we advance in it, notwithstanding it possesses some beautiful scenes.

Hitherto we have only animadverted tipon the eiTors of the art ; in other points of view we may perceive that it was in its infancy. Thus Cervantes has formed a false idea of the patience of his audi- ence. Supposing that a fine speech must produce the same effect upon the stage as before an academi- cal assembly, he has frequently made his characters trespass beyond every boundary, both of natural dialogue and the reader's patience. He who in his narrative style was so excellent, who in his romances and novels so completely possessed the power of exciting and of sustaining interest, of saying pre- cisely what was proper, and of stopping exactly where he should, yet knew not how much the pub- lic would be willing to hear from the mouth of an actor. Many of the Spanish dramatists appear to have been equally ignorant upon this point.

The two dramas of Cervantes occupy an insulated situation in the literature of Spain. We discover not after this great and original writer any instance of that terrible majesty which reigns throughout the Nnmcintia ; of that simplicity of action, that natural

OP CERVANTES. 115

dialogue, and that truth of sentiment. Lope do Vi -a introduced new plays upon the stage, and the puhlic, captivated by the pleasure of pursuing an intrigue through its thousand windings, became dis- gusted with the representation of powerful and deep emotions, which produced not the effect of surprise. Cervantes himself gave way to the national taste, without satisfying it, in the eight plays which he published in his declining years ; and the Castilian vKschylus may be said to have left us only one real specimen of his dramatic genius.""'

CHAPTER VIII.

Attack of Cadiz by the English — Calls forth the satirical genius of Cervantes — His happy irony — Story of the Espanola Inglesa

— New difficulties, owing to the treachery of an acquaintance — Compromised with the agents of government — Called to Madrid — Residence there — Death of Philip II. — Grand solemnities — Strange commotion, and battle of the priests — Celebrated by Cervantes in a burlesque sonnet — Idiom of the country people

— Residence in Seville — Agent to people of rank — Familiar acquaintance with the customs and manners of the people — Origin of his novels — Their character and object — Andalusian tone of his wit and satire — Mixing with the people — Foundation of his Don Quixote — His commission in La Mancha — Doubts enter- tained— Visit to Valladolid — Supposed imprisonment — Tradition, anecdotes, and reflections — Composition of Don Quixote — Its reception — Critic-isms and discussions — Models — His ideas of romance on new principles.

CERVANTES continued his residence in Seville during the following year of 1596. In that year, on the first day of July, an English fleet of one hundred

* Literature of the South of Europe, &c., by M. Sismond;, iii., pp. 377. 392.

i 2

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and fifty sail, commanded by Charles Howard, lord high admiral of the kingdom, with an army of twenty-three thousand men, under the orders of the Earl of Essex, the celebrated favourite of Queen Eli- zabeth, suddenly appeared before Cadiz. The Spanish ships lying in the bay, taken by surprise, were soon thrown into disorder, and retired under the batteries for shelter ; which circumstance augmented the con- sternation and alarm in the city, as there was no military man there of sufficient experience to under- take its defence. This gave courage to the English, who disembarked their troops and entered the city after a feeble resistance. The town was given up to pillage, and the English, loaded with a rich booty, after setting the city on fire, abandoned it on the twenty-fourth day after their entry, re-embarking their forces, and setting sail with the intention of com- mencing similar hostilities in other parts of Spain.

The other maritime towns of the kingdom, as was natural, took the alarm at this unforeseen and suc- cessful enterprise, and made great exertions to pre- pare for their defence. At Seville the asistente or- dered a battalion to be formed of twenty-four com- panies of infantry from the immediate neighbourhood, having as officers a number of the first gentlemen of the place. This body, on holidays, was trained to the use of arms, in military evolutions in the plain of Tablada, for which purpose the duke of Medina had sent the captain Becerra to that city. The gal- lantry and martial spirit of the young men enrolled in this new militia, and the promptitude with which they answered to the call of arms, formed a striking con- trast to the inactivity and cowardice of the inhabit- ants of Cadiz, and the want of energy which they had shown, in not daring to attack the enemy during

OP CERVANTES. 1 1 7

so many days, hut allowing them to sack the city and retire with impunity. The ostentatious entry of the duke into the city after so lamentable an event, as if he had come to solemnise the most signal vic- tory, could not fail to become the subject of public censure and ridicule, and provoked Cervantes to the composition of a sonnet in which these occurrences formed a theme for the pleasantry and native irony of his genius. On this expedition of the English to Cadiz he some years after founded his tale entitled la Espanola Inglesa.

In order to save the expense of conveying to the court some moneys collected under his commission, Cervantes prepared to remit the amount in letters of exchange from Seville to Madrid : a sum of 7400 reales, arising from his collection in Yelezmalaga and the neighbourhood, he consigned to a merchant, Simon Freire de Lima, who engaged to pay it in Madrid. Cervantes, on repairing soon afterwards to that city, not finding Simon Freire there, wrote to him at Seville, and he then directed Gabriel Rodriguez, a Portuguese, to pay the amount to Cervantes ; but this was not done, and in the meantime Freire himself failed and absconded from Spain. This event obliged Cervantes to return to Seville to procure the recovery of this sum ; when he found, on his arrival, the whole property of Freire seized on by his other creditors. Cervantes represented this to the government, who on the 7th of August 1595, sent a mandate to Dr. Bernardo de Olmedilla, in Seville, to raise from the property which Freire had left in that city, the pay- ment of the amount claimed by Cervantes, the receipt of which was verified and remitted to the treasurer- general, D. Pedro Mesia de Tobar, by a letter of the 22ud of November 1596.

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These circumstances, and others which created some apprehensions on the part of the government as to the conduct of the principal surety, was the cause of him and the other sureties being compelled in the following year, 1597, to make a return of the sums Cervantes had re- oeiyedinthe execution of his commission. They replied that they could nol furnish them in consequence of Cervantes being in Seville, and having in his posses- sion the papers and documents on which their accounts were founded. At their instance a royal mandate of the sixth of September of this year was forwarded to the licentiate Gaspar de Vallejo, jxulge of the auditor- ship of the said city, to require sureties from Cer- vantes that within the space of twenty days he would present himself at Madrid to give an account and pay the balance remaining diie ; and on his not com- plying, to arrest him and place him in the custody of the court at the disposal of the tribunal of the chief treasurer ; a measure which was commonly taken with other agents, imprisoning some of them in Seville for the space of five, six, or eight years, after the expiration of their respective commissions.

The exigencies of the treasury resulting from the enormous expenses attending the conquest of Portu- gal, and the Terceira Islands, and the cost of the unfortunate armada directed against England, called " the invincible ;" the continued changes in the con- stitution of the revenue and its tribunals ; the new duties and taxes which were laid, and the want of a well-regulated system, contributed to embarrass the finance department, and to introduce distrust, com- pulsion, sequestration, arrests, and other judicial pro- ceedings among the persons employed in the different branches of collection. Cervantes represented the impossibility of giving sureties whilst at Seville and

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absent from homo ; for which reason and on account of the smallness of his debt, he demanded that his account might be passed for what he appeared to owe, and that he might be discharged from prison in order to repair to Madrid and complete the settle- ment of his accounts.

AVc are ignorant of the result of these proceeding ; but it is certain that Cervantes remained at Madrid at least until the next year, 1598. Philip II. died on the thirteenth of September of this year ; and for the due solemnisation of his funeral, the city of Madrid directed a catafalque to be raised on so magnificent a scale, that one of the historians who mentions it de- scribes it as the most astonishing monument human B had ever beheld.

It was adorned with elegant Latin inscriptions, and ornamented with numerous statues of Juan Mar- tinez Montanes, and Gaspar Nunez Delgado, and also with the finest pictures of Francisco Pacheco, Alonso Yasques Perea, and Juan de Salcedo ; all among the first artists of Seville.

On the twenty-fourth day of November, the exe- quies were commenced, with the assistance of the city, the audicncia, and the tribunal of the inquisition. On the following day appointed for mass and the services of the Church, there unfortunately arose so violent a quarrel in the same church between the inqxiisitors and the andicncia, in consequence of the jij; a'nli'-nt having covered his seat with black cloth, that without regard to the place or the solemnity of the service, the inquisitors were excommunicated. The priest retired to finish the mass in the sacristy, and the preacher descended from his pulpit, where he stood prepared to pronounce the funeral oration, leaving the tribunal of the inquisition in their places

120 LIFE AND WRITINGS

until five in the evening, in the act of protesting and remonstrating ; but through the mediation of the marquis of Algaba, the dissentions were allayed, and the inquisition absolved from the censures of the Church, both parties submitting to the king and the royal council the settlement of this important dispute. The decision did not arrive until the end of December, and on the thirtieth and thirty-first, the funeral honours were renewed, the catafalque having remained erected with the other preparations of the funeral. The sumptuous preparations for this cere- mony, and the long time it lasted, attracted an infi- nite number of persons from all parts to see it, and excited such extreme admiration and hyperbolical language in the people of Seville as to induce the festive muse of Cervantes to compose a sonnet, in which he describes the ostentation and splendour of the ceremony, and burlesques its absurd and long duration, in the peculiar idiom of the country people. This sonnet was so much to his taste, that he did not hesitate in his Viage al Parna*o to place it among his best productions.

These facts indisputably prove that Cervantes resided at that time at Seville, where he was engaged in agencies for various persons of rank and distinc- tion, and among others, D. Hernando de Toledo, Senor de Cigales, with whom he contracted an inti- mate friendship. From his prolonged residence in Seville an opinion prevailed, even among some of his c> iiitemporaries, that it was the place of his birth. And the intimate knowledge which he shows of the streets, alleys, and suburbs of that town ; of the manners and mode of life of the Sevillians, their foibles, and the gossiping tales most prevalent among its credulous populace, prove that he must have re-

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sided there for a considerable tiino. It was hence, too. he derived the subjects for some of his tales, as he found there the noted robbers Rincontt? y Cor- todWo, whose adventures occurred in the year 1569 ; f«>r it was about this time, agreeably to the testimony of D. Luis Zapota, that there existed a brotherhood or society of the most desperate and daring character in Spain, who had formed a regular ainl established system of robbery, attended with great risk to per- sonal security, and setting justice and public autho- rity at defiance, as is shown by Cervantes. In his tale of the Ztloto Extrcmeno, he exemplifies the bad effects of severity in a husband, the evil consequences of licentiousness and indolence in t!. £ the

selfish artifices of a crafty and jealous duenna.

The two tales, the one La Tia Fingida*, which has remained unpublished to our own times, and ti. the Curiofo Impertinent*, and perhaps some .it hers, were written during his resident- B J.le. when they were read in manuscript and highly appreciated by the lovers, of letters ; and through this channel the three first were placed in the hands of the licen- D. Francisco Porras de la Camara, prebendary of that church, who included them in a collection which he formed, in the year 1606, of various works of his own and others, for the entertainment of the Archbishop D. Fernando Nino de Guevara, who beguiled with them his summer siestas in Um- brete.

But this mode of life, which enabled Cervantes to form such an intimate knowledge of the idle and giddy population of Seville, did not prevent his cul- tivating the friendship and enjoying the company of the most illustrious m.-n of genius, who had their residence there at that time. One of these was

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Francisco Pacbeco, the celebrated painter and poet, whose studio was the common resort of .strangers and the most celebrated persons of Seville, and whose great love for letters indxiced him to paint the por- traits of one hundred and seventy persons, among whom are found one hundred of the highest eminence. It is known that Cervantes was one of these, and that he was also painted by D. Juan de Jauregui, also a famous painter and poet of Seville ; and there are substantial grounds for believing that that writer was on an intimate and friendly footing with Pacheco, and that he was one of those who frequented his academy. The same may be presumed with regard to the accomplished and celebrated poet Fernando de Herrera, who died about this time, and whose memory Cervantes honoured with a sonnet, which has been preserved but not published.

Whoever examines the works of Cervantes with a critical eye, bearing in mind his peculiar character and the events of his life, will be easily convinced that his intimate connexion with the Andalusians, their keen and appropriate wit, their jests, and ludi- crous national customs, were so consonant to his genius, and ministered so much to his fertile imagi- nation, that we may be assured that it was here that he formed the picture and the colours which afterwards rendered his pencil immortal, and so remarkable in that native grace, that delicate satire, that unrivalled humour, which secures an ever new delight to his works which were written subsequently to his re- sidence in Andalusia.

An opinion has generally prevailed that Cervantes departed from Seville for La Mancha, with a com- mission that occasioned him great perplexity and persecution, and which ended in his being thrown

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into jail, where it is supposed he wrote the first part of his Don Quixote ; but allowing its full value to the ground on whieh this tradition is founded and yet retained in this province, we may be allowed to investigate the matter more thoroughly.

At the time of rendering his accounts, at the be- ginning of 1603, to the proper tribunal, the collector of Baza, Gaspar Osorio de Tejeda, presented for his discharge a paper of payment, which Cervantes gave him, when in 1594 he was commissioned to collect the arrears of revenue owing in that city and the neighbourhood. At the sight of this document the tribunal, on the fourteenth day of January, 1603, in- quired from the auditors of accounts whether or not Cervantes had rendered an account of his commission, and discharged the balance due upon it. The audi- tors in their reply, given in Valladolid, imder the date of the 24th of the same month, replied, that although the money remitted by him to the general treasury agreed with the balance due, viz., 2600 reals, agreeably to the amount in the royal schedule of the 13th of August, 1594, yet he had rendered no account of the specific sum collected in each depart- ment; and in order to effect this, directions were sent to P. Bernabe de Pedroso, purveyor-general of the fleet, to release Cervantes from his prison in Seville, upon his giving sureties to appear within a certain time, and that up to that period he had not appeared.

A few days after this information Cervantes must have arrived at Valladolid, where he was on the 8th of February, with his family, since it appears that his sister, Dona Andrea, was occupied in the service of his Excellency D. Pedro de Toledo Osorio, the fifth marquis of Villa Franca, who was just returned from his expedition to Algiers, and among his

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accounts are some papers in the handwriting of Cervantes. It was now intimated to him that he might remain at liberty, his debt being so small ; and this he afterwards satisfied, residing in the court the remainder of his life, in the presence of the tri- bunal which had so much harassed him.

What most contributes to this belief is, the tran- quillity of mind which Cervantes always exhibited, supported as he was by a consciousness of his inno- cence and upright conduct. Don Gregorio Mayans sagaciously remarks, that when Cervantes makes ex- press mention of his being confined in prison, and of his having in that situation planned his Don Quixote, his offence could not have been of an ignominious nature, and this conjecture is confirmed by the silence his rivals and enemies have observed on this occasion, not even mentioning the circumstance or attaching any calumny to it.

These misfortunes in the life of Cervantes are very similar to those that befell the celebrated poet Luis Camoens,whom in addition to his calamities some peo- ple, in a spirit of malevolence, accuse of malversation in the public moneys while he presided over the collection of the revenue at Macao, stating that he was prosecuted and imprisoned on that account ; but his integrity was vindicated, and the calumny of his enemies overthrown, and he was about to quit his prison, when a gentleman from Goa detained him for a debt of two hundred cruzados ; the viceroy, however, generously tendered his protection to Camoens, who was thus enabled to live unmolested during the remainder of his sojourn in that country. Cervantes, although he lived thenceforth in freedom, was still subject to persecution. He owed his tran- quillity of mind to the conscious feeling of an hon-

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ourable integrity, and his subsistence to the fruits of his industry and his genius, and to the kind consi- deration which some of his friends and some persons of rank showed to his merit and his misfortunes.

From the end of the year 1598 the documents we possess afford no matter for the next four years in the life of Cervantes. In this period we may perhaps place the occurrences in La 31 ancha, as such a tradition is still prevalent there, and it being certain that he pos- sessed tiesof kindred and relationship with many distin- guished families in that province. Some affirm, that being commissioned to collect the arrears of duties in theneighbourhoodof Argamasilla, which were owingto the grand prior of St. Juan, he was assaulted and thrown into prison. Others suppose that this imprisonment arose from a commission that had been entrusted to him relative to the manufacture of saltpetre and gunpowder, in the same town, the preparation of which was injurious to the waters of the Guadiana, which the neighbouring people used for the purpose of irrigation.

There also exists another tradition that this incarceration happened in Toboso, in consequence of a severe jest on a female, which gave offence to her relations and friends. But the most remarkable fact is, that in Argamasilla there has been regularly trans- mitted down from father to son a story, that in a house in that city, called De Medrano, was the prison in which Cervantes was confined for a long time ; when he was so ill-treated, and in such a destitute condition, that he was obliged to have recourse to his uncle, Don Juan Bernabe de Saavedra, then living at Alcazar de S. Juan, and to solicit his succour and sup- port. In the commencement of his letter he describes himself as being in a most wretched condition — " I am

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worn out," he says, "by long day sand miserable nights of confinement in this dungeon of a prison." But this document, which is said to have been preserved to our own days, has disappeared in such a way that the most anxious inquiry and research to trace it have been vain and ineffectual.

If we were to give credit to this tradition, we might conjecture that Cervantes being at liberty to proceed to Madrid, left Seville in 1599, or soon after- wards, and stopt at La Mancha, under the protection of his friends ; and that the long silence of his judges, and the suspension of judicial proceedings, gave room to believe that he was discharged from his employ- ments, and that proceedings against him had ceased. To this belief other contemporary events contributed, as the change of government, since the death of Philip II., the removal of the court to Valladolid, the confused state of the accounts of the revenue from tribunals being created by the ordinances of Pardo, in 1593, until the necessity of simplifying the system of administration reduced them to one, by the orders of Lerma, on the 26th day of October, 1602, the result of which was the removal of proceedings against all from whom any balance was due.

. The promptitude with which Cervantes presented himself at Valladolid, agreeably to the order of the auditor of accounts, issued on the 24th of January, 1603, leads us to suppose that he resided within a few days' journey of that place, as he could not have arrived in so short a time, if he had been then living in Andalusia ; and all this leads to a probability that he remained in La Mancha, since we cannot doubt that he resided there for a long period, especially in Argamasilla, which he makes the native land of his " ingenioso hidalgo" taking an opportunity of ridi-

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culing in it the empty pretensions of its inhabitants to titles of nobility and gentility, when the requisite means to support such title were wanting ; a passion that occasioned amongst them disastrous quarrels, and scandalous brawls, and the decay of the population, as several writers of that period have mentioned. And, as a last reason, we may adduce his accuracy in the topographical description of La Mancha, his knowledge of its antiquities, its customs, and mari- ners.

The particulars, too, which he relates of the lakes of Ruidera, the course of the Guadiana, the cave of Montesinos, the situation of the fulling-mills, Puerto- Lapice, and other parts of the country, included in the itineracy of Don Quixote, afford us strong evi- dence of his residence in La Mancha, although we are ignorant of the time and motives that have induced him to fix on that country as the native soil of his chivalrous hero, and the scene of most of his adven- tures.

When Cervantes removed to Valladolid, the court had been established there for two years, and the change of persons and influence had dissipated the memory of the services of the veteran soldiers.

His recent persecution, and the alteration at this time in the system of the royal revenue, and the tri- bunal of general auditorship, had an unfavourable influence also on the claims of Cervantes, whose absence for so many years had reduced the number of his acquaintance, deprived him of his friends, and obliterated the esteem which he merited. The duke of Lerma, "the Atlas of the monarchy," as one author calls him, was the ruler of the will of the sovereign, was the arbitrary disposer of all places, and held the fortunes of all Spaniards in his hands :

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a favourite without knowledge or'experience, flatter- ing and effeminate, of uncultivated mind, as Quevedo remarks, imperious with others, and domineering through the craftiness and subtlety of his servants ; fond of show and splendour, but of indiscreet pro- fusion and reprehensible prodigality ; whose selection of servants to the state was governed by political faction, or the undue influence of friendship or relationship. Hence it happened that merit and talent, and virtue, were neglected, not without the regret and censure of the good.

The Padre Sepulveda, who wrote at that time an account of occurrences in the Escurial, laments with patriotic zeal and just indignation the manner in which so many famous captains and brave soldiers were doomed to obscurity and neglect ; men who had devoted their whole lives to the service of the king, who had shared in the most celebrated actions, exposing themselves a thousand times to death for their country, and bearing the marks of honourable wounds, not only remained neglected without any recompense, but beheld at the same time men with- out either merit or service loaded with honours, solely through theinfluence they accidentally obtained with ministers, or courtiers. Equally remarkable was the contempt and neglect with which letters, and those who cultivated them with so much glory and utility to the nation, were treated, forgotten and deprived of patronage ; as we learn from the severe re- marks of Juan de Mariana, and of Bartolomeo Leonardo de Argensola, Christobal de Mesa, and Cervantes himself, and the regrets of other eminent writers. Cervantes, we may presume, afterwards found it necessary to present himself to this powerful minister, to make known his services, his merits, and his misfor-

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tunes, imploring his protection to enable him to obtain some means of alleviating the anxieties of age in the bosom of his family. But the duke of Lerrna, ignorant of his eminent qualities as a soldier and a man of letters, and with an imperfect knowledge of the persecutions he had suffered, received him with disregard and disdain, as some writers of that age have assured us.

Thus bitterly undeceived, Cervantes found the gates barred against his hopes, and, abandoning all further thoughts of prosecuting his claims, he turned to other quarters to seek his subsistence ; at one time employing himself in various agencies and commis- sions, at another planning or composing some new work, or polishing those already written, and pre- paring them for the public eye. Neglected with so much ingratitude by the country he had so long served, or sharing the small degree of favour he could obtain, through his pieces, from some few who more justly appreciated his merits, Cervantes passed the rest of his life comparatively poor and slighted, in the midst of the splendour of the great, remarkable for the patient wisdom and resignation which dis- tinguished his conduct in this last period, though he sometimes imparted to the bosom of friendship his complaints of the Duke's treatment.

If, sometimes, from the impulse of his genius, he mingled in his writings some satirical allusions, in revenge for the injustice and insensibility with which he was treated, his prudence, and the delicate manner in which these allusions were veiled, saved him from the resentment of a powerful and despotic individual, of whom, on the other hand, he always spoke in his works with that respect and consideration which prudence dictated as due to those who enjoyed the

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confidence of their sovereign, and who held in their hands the welfare of millions, and the happiness or misery of many generations.

The unfortunate state in which Cervantes was placed by the disappointment of all his expectations, made him anxious to accelerate the publication of his Don Quixote, in the hopes that judicious and impar- tial readers, by a perusal of this work, might satisfy themselves of the elevation and amenity of his genius, and recalling to mind, by the Tale of the Captive, the sufferings of his earlier days, might view his fate with compassion, and at the same time excite in the public mind feelings of just indignation against the injustice and indifference with which he had been treated. In addition to this, the perusal of books of chivalry was not so peculiar to the lower orders, as not to be equally shared by persons of loftier rank, as the courtiers and nobility. Among these, too, were to be found some who wrote and published the most absurd romances, as the history of the prince Don Policisce de Boncia, composed by Don Juan de Silva y Toledo, senor de Canada Hermosa, and pub- lished in the year 1602.

Thus it was not surprising that Cervantes, fearing that themaliceorscrutinyof hisreaders might discover pome allusions which might be applied to persons of elevated character, or who were respected for their influence and authority, should endeavour to avoid the consequence of such resentment, by previously enlightening the reader, in the prudent verses of Ur- ganda la desconocida, that it wTas wise not to meddle with such particulars, nor to attack the conduct of others by dangerous and untimely jests, especially of persons whose houses are of glass, and who seek for protection and interest.

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With a view to the same object he endeavoured to find a patron of noble birth, of high character, and a love of letters, whose favour might accord to his romance of Don Quixote a greater degree of con- sideration and attention. The individual he thought most deserving of this compliment, and the mo~t likely to aid his views, was Don Alonso Lopez de Zuiiiga y Sotomayor, seventh Duke of Bejar, not only for the strong attachment he showed to literature, but also for his encouragement of the fine arts, as well as for his illustrious descent from the house of Navarre, and his generous reception of men of letters. The favours he had conferred on these, determined Cervantes to dedicate to him this felicitous and traiiscendant effort of his genius. He had applied for the royal license on the 26th of September, 1604, and having obtained this about the middle of De- cember, lie proceeded to its publication at the beginning of the following year.

If the tradition be true which Don Vicente de los Rios relates, the object of Cervantes, in this choice of a patron, was not merely to obtain the means of printing and publishing his work. He feared lest persons of cultivated minds might disregard a title- page announcing the adventures of a knight-errant, •and that general readers might not properly appreciate it, when they did not meet with the striking inci- dents to which they were accustomed in books of chivalry, and might not thus penetrate the refined and delicate satire which it contained. This objec- tion he thought would be obviated, if his work bore on its front the recommendation of the illus- trious name of a person, who, according to a con- temporary, deserved to have been born a Maecenas in the age of Augustus.

K2

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The same tradition informs us, that when the Duke was made acquainted with the real design of the romance of Don Quixote, he refused to accept the dedication, and that Cervantes humbly bowed to his decision, but earnestly entreated him to hear a chapter of it read. This stratagem, it is said, succeeded to its fullest extent ; for such was the unexpected enter- tainment and delight it awoke in the hearers, that they insisted on the whole of it being read, and loaded it with unqualified approbation and praise. The Duke, on this, relaxed in the repugnancehehad shown, and cheerfully accepted the dedication which he had before treated with contumely. But it would still seem that this general applause could not soften the asperity of an ecclesiastic, who ruled in the house of the Duke, as he not only attempted to depreciate the work and discredit its aiithor, but instigated the Duke to withdraw the kind reception with which he had honoured him, and in so far, that he ultimately treated him with neglect.

It was doubtless owing to this circumstance, that Cervantes never afterwards dedicated to him any of his future works. The conduct of this ecclesiastic is probably alluded to in the second part of Don Quixote, in the person of the chaplain whom he describes in the house of the nobleman who enter- tained Don Quixote.

It is said that the public at first received the romance of Don Quixote with extreme indifference, as it was from its title the object of the derision and contempt of the half learned. Cervantes, perceiving that his work was read only by those who did not understand it, and that those who were capable of appreciating its merits, disregarded it, endeavoured to excite the attention of the world at large by pub-

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lishing tlic Bn.<cai>l\ an anonymous, but talented production, in which he criticises Don Quixote, and a.->erts that it is written in the spirit of satire, abound- ing with instruction and entertainment, and composed with the laudable design of banishing the pernicious reading of books of chivalry ; and that the personages introduced, though of pure invention, were not after all so imaginary, but that they might claim a degree of relationship with the character and actions of Charles the Fifth, and the paladins of his court, as well as other persons who held some of the highest dignities under the monarchy. The persons who were thus induced, through curiosity, to peruse Don Quixote, could not but acknowledge its singular merits, and perceive the charm of its festive and graceful style ; and by this means Cervantes gave to his design all the effect he had designed, or wished for.24

But whatever degree of credibility may be attached to these circumstances founded on a tradition which has been attempted to be refuted by Pellicer, it is beyond a doubt that Cervantes himself, convinced of the just severity with which the chivalrous romances had been written against by many accomplished and learned Spaniards, as Luis Yives, Melchior Cano, Alejo Yenegas, Pedro Mexia, Alonso de Ulloa, Luis de Granada, Benito Arias Montano, Pedro Malon de Chaide, author of the dialogue on languages, and many others, was led to satirize these books with the intention of destroying the authority and influence they everywhere possessed over the minds of the vulgar. The purport of the prologue of Cer- vantes, seemed, in the opinion of Pellicer, to obviate the necessity of making known the object of the work ; but on the other hand we cannot doubt of its

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having appeared; a person so well known for sincerity and truth as Don Antonio Rnidiaz, having, as he assures us, himself seen it.

We must conclude therefore that Cervantes did not intend merely to manifest, by this little work, the principal object of his romance, which indeed he had already declared without reserve in his prologue, but to raise the veil of some allusion to recent events and well-known persons, and to excite the curiosity of his readers and lead them to the admiration of his genius without compromising the author. Under this persuasion Ave may believe he published this little piece anonymously, and confined it to a small impression, as was the case with other contemporary writings whose authors wished to speak the truth, but without making their names known.

As we are ignorant whether the Buscajne ap- peared at the same time as Don Quixote or came out some time afterwards, we cannot decide on the influ- ence it might have in contributing to that general applause which the author mentions in the second part. So great, however, was the popularity of this romance, that at least four editions appeared in 1605, the year in which it was first published ; and it soon spread through France, Italy, Portugal, and Flanders. It is very possible that the readers of that day, catch- ing the many delicate and satirical allusions scat- tered through this work, to recent events and well- known personages, might derive greater pleasure from the perusal than we can at the present time, when the revolutions of time have enveloped in obscurity many incidents and events, to which we cannot now apply the satire and irony, nor appreciate so exactly their true merit, not being acquainted with the facts on which they are founded. However certain and

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positive these reflections may be, they cannot, how- ever, authorise or support the extravagant opinion widely spread in Spain and other countries, that Cervantes intended to portray in his Don Quixote the emperor, Charles the Fifth, and his minister the Duke of Lerma; much less that lie made his work the channel of a satire on his own country in order to ridicule the Spanish nobility, who he imagined were carried away by an absurd spirit of chivalry. From this imputation, in many respects injurious to Cervantes, he was vindicated by Don Vicente de los liios, who proved, with singular erudition and admi- rable acuteness, that the spirit of chivalry was com- mon to all Europe, and not peculiar to .Spain alone, of which Cervantes could not be ignorant, nor was it his intention to depreciate the genius of his country ; and the opinion of Lope de Vega is correct, that in this description of writing the Spaniards have always held a high station, as, in point of invention, no other nation of the world has excelled them.

But with regard to the persons whom Cervantes is supposed to have held up to ridicule, the simple perusal of Don Quixote is sufficient to show us that the character and manners of his hero, and the nature and quality of his adventures and exploits, are all adopted from chivalrous romances which he proposed as subjects of ridicule ; for, as Pellicer judiciously observes, Don Quixote de la Mancha i.s a true Amadis de Gaul, painted in burlesque ; to which we may subjoin, with Don Diego de Torres, '• that in the range of the humorous epic it is impossible to find anything to equal the charm of this romance, nor could a more bitter satire be produced against the absurdities of knight-errantry. Cervantes, too, like a great master, has added to his picture many strokes

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and incidents -related of other kniohts-errant, real and feigned, in order to render the portrait of his hero more perfect and appropriate, and the traits of his madness and extravagance more .probable."

But as at the same time the variety and proba- bility of the adventures, episodes, and incidents of this romance afford an ample field for censuring the views and prejudices of society, he endeavoured to effect this object with a commendable zeal and a direct pleasantry, with allusion to real events and personages. The curiosity and interest becoming thus greater, the remedy was more efficacious and the cure more prompt, without, however, openly wound- ing the self-love of those who imagined themselves reprimanded, by the graceful tone and chivalrous air with which the reproof was tempered.

From this ingenious mode of censure adopted by Cervantes arose the expression of <f</'/<//.-W/m-. which his contemporary Manuel de Faria y Sousa applied to Cervantes, adding, in reference to Don Quixote, that he scarcely ever introduced an incident without deducing a useful moral from it, either openly or figuratively : as he has demonstrated in analysing the government of Sancho, and as Pellicer and Bowles have shown in various parts of their annotations.

From hence we may see how ill-founded was the opinion of Voltaire, when he asserted that Cer- vantes found the type of Don Quixote in the Orlando of Ariosto, and how idle and absurd the attempt of Itios to prove that Cervantes, in his '• iiwcnioso hi- nahio" proposed to himself an imitation of Homer in his Iliad ; or that of Pellicer, who, in endeavour!? invalidate this opinion, pretends to have found many points of resemblance between the Spanish romance and the Golden Ass of Apuleius ; giving occasion by

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th - • paradoxes to some Spanish literati resident in Italy, as Don Antonio E.vimeuo, and an anonymous writer, under the pretext, first of defending Cervantes, and afterwards of criticising him, to amuse them- selves with comparing the arms brought by Thetis to Achilles to the helmet of Mambrino, the wedding of Camacho with the funeral games of Patroclus and Anchises ; the apparition of the winged steed, with the Trojan horse ; the disenchantment of Dulcinea, announced by Merlin, with the enchanted forest of Tasso ; and many other such comparisons.

Without adopting the extravagant opinions of the one, or the perhaps idle conjectures of the other, we are persuaded that Cervantes had read and studied with advantage those celebrated authors, and has at times adopted and imitated some of these sentiments and incidents, as Faria himself informs us he has taken some from Petronius and Camoens ; but with that air, ease, and lightness, with that grace and appropriate elegance, with which great writers know how to appropriate and infuse the thoughts of others, and without impairing in any degree the inimitable originality of his work. Cervantes, in adopting the air of the old romance with its adventures and heroes, opened a middle path between this and the old epic, touching neither extremes, although it retains the qualities of both; as its plan, action, and episodes, and moreover the modes of expression, the passions, the characters and event*, resemble the writers of chivalry, while in probability, in plot and develop- ment, it is nearer the regular epic. But he may claim as his own the piquant irony, the native grace, and comic wit, which at that time had had no precursor, and has since had no imitators.

" If all works of romance had been -written in the

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manner that Cervantes described and proposed, they would not have merited the reprehension and con- tempt of reasoning and well-judging men, nor have provoked the satire and burlesque with which they have been so happily ridiculed in Dun Quixote. Ample matter and argument are not wanting to a refined genius where lit; might display all the trea- sures of the imagination and of philosophy, in agree- able and magnificent description, in the delineation of character, in the expression of the affections and pas- sions, in the riches and pomp of eloquence, and in the correctness and propriety of langu;

" In this manner, and with such art and rules, a romance might be written, that should render its author as celebrated in prose as the two great poets of Greece and Rome are in verse — enriching our language witli a treasury of eloquence, while the absurd and neglected romances would vanish before the light of new works, producing as unexception- able entertainment, not only for the idle but the learned." These are the words of Cervantes, at a time when he Avas writing a burlesque imitation and a pleasant satire on those works, and thought himself capable of executing the plan he proposed. Estab- lishing in this manner, not only his perpetual cele- brity, like Homer and Virgil in their epics, but also, by ridiculing all the absurd books of chivalry, he banished them from the republic of letters as useless and prejudicial, and substituted for their absurd style, another full of grace and urbanity, of erudition and instruction, of learning and morality ; uniting useful- ness with pleasure, in the prudent combination of which consists the perfection of works of genius, agreeably to the precepts of Horace.

" We may here remark with P. Sannicnto, that

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whilst Cervantes was waging war in this manner, and with such signal success, against the false and absurd hooks of chivalry, there now began to appear in every shape tlie idle tales and traditions of false chronicles, to the injury of the integrity and purity of our history. Such is the wretched condition of mankind — to be ever pursuing phantoms instead of realities, and such the shameful abuse of talent in those who lead others astray from the paths of know- ledge and truth."

CHAPTER IX.

Transitory effects of the death of Philip II. — Reflections upon arbi- trary government — Its fatal influence on the fortunes of Cervantes — The victim of evil times and circumstances — of a despotic court — Don Quixote — Its cool reception — Gradual progress — rapid sale and universal fame — Opinions of M. Sis- mondi — Requisites for its perusal — Ol.ject of the work — Its spirit, plot, characters — Ancient and modern models — Mixed nature — Real views of Cervantes — To entertain, reform, and instruct — Specimens — Anecdotes— Original idea— Power of ima- gination— Its vivid representations — Lasting impressions — Vigour of description — Vast knowledge and learning — Variety of the episodes — Their charm and pathos — Powerful contrasts — Dignity, richness — Beauty and exquibite polish of style.

AFTKU the death of that gloomy and bigoted monarch, Philip II., in 1598, genius, freedom, science, and the arts, appeared to revive from the deadening influence, which extending to the very thoughts and minds of men, produced a general torpor ; a silence of religious and political despotism which few were daring enough to break. We have seen Cervantes returning to his country and to his family, maimed,

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ruined, and neglected; without prospects or resources, yet with a vigour of mind, a gaiety of disposition, and brilliant talent, which under happier circum- stances would soon have raised him to that rank and fortune — the least noble, though the just and natural heritage of pre-eminent mind. As it was, that sphere of ardent mind was restricted within the least pos- sible limits ; liberty of speech, discussion of all the great questions connected with the religious or poli- tical welfare of man, were under the same ban as the liberty of the press itself; and the .freedom of the human energies and intellect thus shut out — cut off as it were at the fountain head — could not exert a proper influence upon the glory of letters, upon the drama, the fine arts, or indeed on any of the intellec- tual productions of the times. Under other institu- tions, Cervantes would never, as a common soldier, have embraced the profession of arms, continued in it long after he had lost the use of a limb, with a constitution impaired by extreme sufferings and cap- tivity ; would never have been compelled to solicit mean employments uncongenial with his habits, or to be sent in a subordinate capacity from the coun- try for which he had fought and bled into a distant colony. Nor would he, with fire of imagination and energy of spirit, such as are rarely possessed, have suffered above twenty years to elapse under the dead calm of a dreaded tyrant, and more ungrateful master, without the publication of a single work, or giving to the world the first part of Don Q.uixote before the year 1605. Thus, in addition to his other dis- appointments, debarred on one side from a career of honour by the ingratitude of a court which refused either to promote or to reward him, his mind and genius, like his fortune, may truly be said to have

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been condemned during that oppressive reign to a kind of solitary imprisonment, worse almost in one sense than the Baths of Algiers ; while a despicable court, and men of rank, affected in their ignorance to despise even his Don Quixote.

When Spain began to breathe from the weight of successive wars and oppression at home, and peace and the useful arts for a brief interval seemed likely to re-appear, the change, though not more favourable to the fortunes of Cervantes, was shown in the rapid progress and extension of his fame. The success of his new work (at first received with coolness), even at that period, and notwithstanding the envious at- tacks of his contemporaries, was wonderful ; for more than thirty thousand copies are known to have been struck off during the author's lifetime. It was trans- lated into all languages, was applauded by all classes of readers, and yet this was as nothing to the vast circulation and the far ampler honours preparing for it by the future. To Don Quixote Cervantes owes his immortality. No work in any language ever exhibited a more delicate or a more lively satire, combined with a richer vein of invention, and wrought with happier success. Of this, every one who has really read this inimitable work, is pleasantly enough aware ; and also that it is one which cannot be read in fragments, or analysed according to rule. To become acquainted with the knight of La Mancha we must have a full-length view of him ; watch him poring over his books of chivalry, hear him holding parley with paladins and enchanters ; and see him soaring beyond the little confines of reason in his fantastic and glorious moods. They who have read the histories of Amadis and Orlando, in which he took so much delight, know best how to estimate his

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qualities when lie mounts his lean and ancient steed, braces on his rusty armour, and traverses plains and mountains in quest of adventures worthy of his sword. They can see how every object is transformed by his vivid imagination, from windmills, countiy girls, and clowns, into giants, paladins, Dulcineas, and enchanters ; and why all his vexations and reverses are insufficient to open his eyes. To them the ex- ploits of the Don, with his faithful Rosinante, and his comic squire, Sancho, appear in their true colours, and with all the dignity which gives so rich a zest to their exploits. To value these and their genuine characters at their worth, we ought to enter into the circumstances of the previous histories supposed to have formed them, and into the views which acttiated the author in commemorating their heroic deeds ; into the essential anil deep-seated satire of his entire work, and which, without the buoyant and merry spirit that animated him, would have been a serious labour, a disquisition upon the errors and follies of human nature and of his times. His pleasantry, on the other hand, induces us to think, and to make companions of wisdom and reflection by the way-side ; and we laugh while we are taught. Even the most divert- ing adventures, told in the most humorous spirit, bear a moral with them at which the author never fails to point. If we wish to take as it was meant, the humour afforded by the singular heroism of the knight, contrasted with the terror of the squire, when, in the dead hour of night, they hear the sound of a fulling-mill, we enjoy the humour doubly from our knowledge of the peril of night adventures and attacks, and we unconsciously compare their situation with that of Homer's and Virgil's heroes, when plotting to surprise the enemy in their camps. To form a

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just opinion, the work must be understood and read \<> extracts could convey an idea of the adventures at the inn which Don Quixote ima- gined was an enchanted castle, and where Sancho was thrown in a blanket. It is only in the work itself that we can enjoy the wit of the fine contrast between the gravity, the measured language, and the manner of Don Quixote, and the ignorance and vul- garity of Sauclio. It must be left to the power of the narrative its -If, to the interest and charm of the whole, blending the liveliness of imagination which results from variety of adventures, -with the liveliness of wit which displays itself in the delineation of cha- racter, to rivet the attention of the reader to such a book. This is shown by the indifference of those who have perused and relished it, to the best extracts which could be taken from it, and much is also lost without some acquaintance with the language, and witli the cu>toms and manners of the hero's country. Another, and not the least striking feature in the composition of Don Quixote, is the continual contrast preserved between what has been called the poetical and the prosaic spirit. The imagination, the emo- tions, all the most generous qualities and impulses, tend to elevate Don Quixote in our eyes. Men of noble minds, we know, both before and since the age of the hero, made it the object of their lives to defend the weak, to aid the oppressed, to be the champions of justice and innocence. Like Don Quixote, too, they everywhere discovered the image of those vir- tues which they worshipped. They believed that disinterestedness, nobility, courage, and chivalry, were still in existence. Without calculating upon their own powers, they still exerted themsel-ves for the welfare of the ungrateful, aud sacrificed them-

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selves to laws and principles, by many considered altogether illusory. The devotion of heroism, indeed, and the trials of virtue, are among the noblest and most exemplary themes in the history of man.* They present the best subjects for the highest species of poetry, which is for the most part little more than the representation of grand and disinterested feelings. The same character, however, which excites our admiration when beheld from an elevated situation, becomes almost ridiculous when viewed from the level of the earth. We know that there is no more fertile source of entertainment than error, in other words, blunders and mistakes. These, which abound in the adventures of the hero, by producing the most comic juxta-positions, and what may be truly termed witty incidents, which speak for themselves, abound throughout the narration ; for a man wrho sees nothing around him but what is heroic or chivalrous, must assuredly give frequent occasion for the play of strange combinations, odd situations, and novel events. Next to such pleasant mistakes are those contrasts still more productive, perhaps, of risible effects, for nothing can be more singularly contrasted than the poetry and the prose of life ; the romance of the imagination, and the petty details of everyday occurrence ; the valour and the great appetite of the hero ; the palace of Armida and an inn j the en- chanted princesses and Maritorna.

It is from these considerations that some persons, in the opinion of M. Sismondi, have thought Don Quixote one of the most melancholy books that was ever written, and it is so far true, that the ground- work and moral of the romance are, in point of fact,

* M. Sismondi, " Literature of the South of Europe," vol. iii., pp. 325,345,350.

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of a mournful character. In the unlucky adventures of his hero, Cervantes lias, in some measure, exhibited the variety of noble feelings, and the illusions of an heroic mind. In Don Quixote we behold a perfectly gentlemanly and accomplished man, who is, notwith- standing, the object of continual ridicule, — a man brave beyond all that history could boast of, — who confronts the most terrific, not only of mortal, but of supernatural terrors ; whose high sense of honour will not permit him to hesitate a single moment in performing his smallest promise's, or to deviate in the slightest degree from strict truth. Disinterested also as brave, he combats only for virtue ; and when he is anxious to possess a kingdom, it is for the purpose of conferring it upon his faithful squire. He is at once the most faithful and most respectful of lovers, the most humane of warriors, the kindest master, the most redoubtable and perfect of cavaliers : with a taste as refined as his intellect is richly stored and cultivated, he must be allowed to surpass in good- ness, in loyalty, and in valour, all the Amadises, and the Orlandos, whom he had proposed for his model. His most generous enterprises, however, are rewarded only with hard knocks and tumbles ; while his love of glory brings everybody around him into some serious scrape. The giants with whom he combats so manfully, turn out to be windmills ; the ladies whom he frees from the power of enchanters, are simple women, going upon their own affairs, and whom he almost frightens to death. The men. in particular, he treats very cavalierly, and, in the idea of redressing their wrongs and injuries, generally leaves behind him some impressive mark of his favour. It is on this account that the bachelor Lopez remarks with proper feeling : — " I do not precisely

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comprehend your method of redressing people's wrongs ; for, in my own case, you have made me crooked when I was straight enough before ; you have broken my leg, and it will never be set right all the days of my life ; nor, for the life of me, can I understand how you can repair injuries, for that which I have received from you will never be re- paired by you. It was the most unlucky adventure that ever befell me, when I fell in with you in search of your adventures."*

The conclusion, therefore, to which we must come, after a perusal of Don Quixote, is the one no doubt feelingly entertained by the bachelor, that a high degree of enthusiasm is prejudicial, not only to the individual who is actuated by it, and who is deter- mined, without asking leave, to sacrifice himself to the good of others ; but it is equally dangerous to society, the rules of which it infringes, puts people at variance with its spirit and its institutions, and produces strange and often ludicrous results.

Although a work, as it has been before observed, which treated this subject seriously and logically, would be as melancholy as degrading to humanity, yet a satire, written without bitterness, may still be a gay and sprightly production, because it is clear that not only the aiithor of the ridicule, but those against whom it is levelled, are themselves suscep- tible of high and generous feelings. It is, indeed, amongst such personages that we frequently trace strong resemblances to the knight of La Mancha, a truth more honourable, perhaps, to their hearts than to their judgment ; but that it is a fact, the frequent occasions upon which we apply, and hear the knight's name applied, to numerous designs and undertakings,

* Book ill., c. ix.

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private as well as public, is a convincing proof that there is at least nothing improbable, or unnatural, in such a character. It has been even remarked* that there was a sort of knight-errantry in that of Cer- vantes himself, and indisputablv so in the spirit of his actions and adventures while a captive. It was the love of honour and fame which in part drove him to abandon his quiet studies, and the calm enjoy- ments of home, to fight against the enemies of his country ; which impelled him to volunteer again and again into the ranks, though his previous services had remained unrequited ; though he had lost the use of an arm, and in his own person presented a memorial of the noblest military achievement, which arrested the increasing power of the Crescent, when it threatened all Europe. It was the same which excited the dauntless bravery and persevering efforts of the captive at Algiers, which extorted the respect of the Moors, which, after he had received extreme unction, with the certainty that he could not survive beyond the next Sunday, enabled him to behold death with that gay and tranquil mind which dictated the noble words in his last preface ; and in his letter to the Count de Lemos, and in some of his latter writings, traces of resemblance are to be perceived between himself and the undeceived hero, who becomes conscious of the vanity of glory, and the illusion of that career of ambition which was always impeded by misfortune, t If it be true, moreover, that u to ridicule one's self implies the highest effort of good taste," we think we see much in Cervantes to display the ridicule which might attach even to his

• M. Sisniomli. t See The Labours of 1'ersiles am! Sig'sinunda.

148 LIKE AM) WRITINGS

most generous efforts. Every enthusiastic mind, like his, readily joins in pleasantry which does not spare the individual himself, nor that which he most loves and respects, if, at the same time, it docs not degrade him.

This original idea in the Don Quixote, this contrast between the heroic and the vulgar world, and this happy raillery of enthusiasm, were not, however, the only objects which Cervantes had in view. There is one more particularly apparent, and of more direct application, but which, at this time of day. appears to be wholly lost sight of. We must always recol- lect that the literature of Spain, at the moment when Don Quixote first appeared, was overrun with books of chivalry, for the most part wretched compositions; ajid such was their influence, that not only was the national taste perverted, but its spirit was mis- applied. Doubtless, this chivalric mythology con- tributed to impress upon the imagination ideas of morality and honour, and in so far to produce a bene- ficial effect on the character of modern nations. Love was purified by this spirit of romance ; and it is pro- bably to the authors of Lancelot, of Amadis, and of Orlando, that we owe that high feeling and gallantry which distinguish modern European nations from the people of antiquity, as well as that homage towards women, and that respect, bordering upon adoration, with which the Greeks were perfectly unacquainted. Briseis, Andromache, and Penelope, humbly and timidly resign themselves to the arms of their con- querors, at once their mistresses and their slaves. Good faith, in modern times, became the handmaid of force, and dishonour was then, for the first time, attached to falsehood, which, though looked upon as immoral by the ancients, was never considered to be

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shameful. The sentiment of honour was connected with our very existence ; disgrace was rendered worse than death ; and, to conclude, courage, was made a necessary quality, not only to the soldier, but to man in every rank of society.

But if the genuine romances of chivalry had so happy an influence on national manners, the imita- tions of them were no less fatal to the public taste. The imagination, when it has no foundation of realitv upon which to rest, and no reference to the congruity of things, is a quality not only frequent, but even vulgar. There have been, it is true, a few nations or a few ages to which it has been denied, but when it do 's exist, it is endemic throughout a whole nation. The Spaniards, the Prove^als, and the Arabians, have all their own peculiar cast of imagination, which is distinguishable in every individual, from the poet to the peasant. If this imagination is not confided to the direction of rules, it is astonishing to observe the number and variety of the extravagances into which writers are hurried.

In the examination, for instance, of Don Quixote's library by the curate and the barber, they cite the names of hundreds of the old romances of chivalry, which Cervantes condemns to the flames. It does not appear that the fault, even of the worst, was that they were destitute of imagination. There was imagination in Esplaudian, in the continuation of Amadis of Gaul, in the Amadis of Greece, and hi- de -d in all the Amadises. There wa.s imagination in Florismart of Hircania, in Palmerin d'Oliva, and in Palmerin of England ; for all these books were rich iw enchantments, and giants, and battles, in extraor- dinary amours and marvellous adventures. In the field through which the romance writers might

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wander without encountering a single object, it was always in their power to tread a new path. Many of them, however, did not submit to be guided by nature, who ought to be our mistress even in works of fiction. The consequence is, that we continually meet with causes disproportioned to the effects, cha- racters without unity, incidents without connexion, and a spirit of exaggeration which, at a first view, seems to be the result of the imagination, but which in fact chills it, and by its absurdity disgusts the reader. There is thus no probability in these com- positions; not only not the probability of nature, which we do not look for, but not even the probabi- lity of fiction. Even in prodigies and fairy tales, a certain truth, consistency, and probability, must be preserved, without which miracles cease to be extra- ordinary, and impossibilities themselves to keep us awake.

The facility of inventing these productions, and the certainty of such strange adventures becoming popu- lar, opened the field of literature to a crowd of inferior writers, unacquainted with all that an author ought to know, and more especially with everything which tends to form a graceful style. The Spaniards, al- ready addicted to far-fetched and antithetical expres- sions, and imitating in this the taste of the Africans and of the Arabians, passionately devoted themselves to a puerile play upon words, and to that tortured and inflated style which seems to be the result of a diseased imagination, and which, where it is con- sidered to be a perfection, is in the power of the meanest intellect. This is the style which Cervantes touches upon in his Feliciano de Sylvia : — " The rea- son of the unreasonableness which you impute to my reason, so weakens my reason, that it is with reason

OF CERVAN'ii:-. 151

that I complain of your beauty ;" and again, " Tlie high heavens which divinely fortify your divinity by their stars, and which make you merit the mercy which your greatness merits."

Whilst the fashionable writers thus overthrew all the rules of probability, of taste, and of composition, the multiplicity of the books of chivalry had the worst influence on the feelings and judgment of the readers. The Spaniards began, both in conversation and in action, to esteem nothing so fine as bombast and inflation. They devoted themselves, almost en- tirely, to the perusal of those empty authors who excited the imagination without engaging the other faculties or feelings of the mind. History, when compared with these extravagant fictions of the brain, was considered dull and tiresome. They lost all re- lish for truth, and that lively sense of it by which it is distinguished wherever it is found. They became anxious that their historians should mingle in their gravest narratives, and even in the annals of their own country, circumstances only worthy of figuring in old women's tales. Of this the General Chronicle of Spain, by Francis de Guevara, bishop of Monte- nedo, affords sufficient evidence. The romances of chivalry were, it is true, the inventions of men of an elevated character, and they inspired a taste for noble sentiments ; but of all books, these are the last to afford real entertainment or instruction. Strangers as the authors were to the world, it is impossible to apply any of the matter which we there meet with to the concerns of real life ; or if we do so, it is at the risk of violating all propriety and correctness of feel- ing and opinion.

It was, therefore, a useful and patriotic design in Cervantes, to exhibit, as he has done in Don Quixote,

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the abuse of the books of chivalry, and to overwhelm those romances, the creations of a diseased imagin- ation, which delight in portraying characters and describing actions which could never have existed. In this attempt Cervantes was completely successful; and the old romances fell before the lance of Don Quixote. It was in vain for subsequent writers to contend against so witty and ingenious a satire, and to expose themselves to the chance of finding that they had been caricatured before they made their appearance. It would be very desirable if, in every style of composition, after we have once secured the masterpieces, we could thus place a barrier against the crowd of succeeding imitators.

O

The vigorous talents which Cervantes possessed are powerfully manifested in his comic productions, in which we never find him trespassing, as he him- self declares, against religion, law, or morals. The character of Sancho Panza offers an admirable con- trast to that of his master. The one is full of poetry, the other of prose. In Sancho are displayed all the qualities of common life, under the influence of a corrupt priesthood, and a more vicious government ; a combination of sensuality, gluttony, idleness, cow- ardice, vain boasting, egotism, and cunning — all of these mingled with some degree of native worth, fidelity, and even shrewd sense and good-nature. Cervantes was fully sensible that he could not bring into the foreground any odious character, mor pecially in a comic romance. In spite of all his hits at them, it is evident that he wishes both Don Quixote and his squire to be on good terms with the reader; and though he has invariably placed the two characters in contrast, he has not given virtuous qua- lities only to the one, and vice to the other. Whilst

OF CERVANTES. 153

the amusing madness of Don Quixote consists in pursuing too far that lofty philosophy which is the offspring of exalted mind!-;, Sancho errs no less in taking for his guide that practical and calculating philosophy, on which the proverbs of all nations are founded. Both poetry and prose are thus turned into derision ; and if enthusiasm suffers in the person of the knight, egotism does not escape in that of the squire.

The general plot of the Don Quixote, and the chain of incidents which it contains, may truly be con- sidered prodigal of wit and imagination. The pro- vince of the imagination is to create. If it were admissible to make a profane application of the words of the Evangelist, the imagination represents the things which are not, as the things which are ; and indeed the objects which have been once presented to us by a powerful imagination, remain impressed upon the memory as though they possessed an actual exist- ence. Their form, their qualities, their habitudes, are so marked out and determined ; they have been so clearly exhibited to the eye of the mind, they have so palpably assumed their place in the creation, and they form so distinct a link in the general chain of being, that we could with greater facility deny ex- istence to real objects, than to these creatures of our imagination. Thus Don Quixote and Sancho, the Governante, and the Curate, have become indelibly imprinted upon our memory and our fancy, and their distinct and perfect pictures can never be removed. In the same way we are made familiar with La Mancha and the solitudes of the Sierra Morena. Spain lies stretched, as it were, before our eyes. The manners, customs, and spirit of its inhabitants, are painted in this faithful mirror. "NVe derive a more

154 LIFE AND WRITINGS

accurate knowledge of this singular nation from the pages of Don Quixote, than from the narratives and observations of the most inquisitive traveller.

Cervantes, however, did not devote his mind to gaiety and wit alone. If his principal hero was not calculated to excite dramatic interest, he has yet proved, by the episodes which he has introduced into his romance, that he was able to excite a livelier in- terest by the exhibition of tender and passionate sen- timents, and the ingenious disposition of romantic incidents. The different stories of the shepherdess Marcella, of Cardenio, of the Captive, and of the Curious Impertinent, form almost half the work. These episodes are infinitely varied, both in the na- ture of the incidents, in character, and in language. They may, perhaps, be blamed for some degree of tediousness at the commencement, and for an occa- sional pedantry in the opening narrative and the dia- logue. As soon, however, as the situation of the characters becomes animated, they immediately rise and develop themselves, and the language becomes proportionally pathetic. The tale of the Curious Im- pertinent, which is, perhaps, more faulty than any of the others, terminates in the most touching manner.

The style of Cervantes, in his Don Quixote, pos- sesses an inimitable beauty which no translation can approach. It exhibits the nobleness, the candour, and the simplicity of the ancient romances of chivalry, together with a liveliness of colouring, a precision of expression, and a harmony in its periods, which have never been equalled by any other Spanish writer. The few passages in which Don Quixote harangues his auditors, have gained great celebrity by their oratorical beauty. Such, for example, are his obser- vations on the marvels of the age of gold, which he

OF CERVANTES. 155

addresses to the shepherds who are offering him nuts. In this happy dialogue the language of Don Quixote is lofty and sustained : it has all the gran- deur and the grace of antiquity. His words, like his person, seem always surrounded with cuirass and morion ; and this style becomes more amusing when contrasted with the plebeian language of Sancho Panza. He promises the latter the government of an island, which he always denominates, according to the ancient language of the romance writers, in>t>i?'i, and not Isla. Sancho, who repeats the word with much emphasis, does not exactly comprehend its meaning ; and the mysterious language which his master employs raises his expectation in propor- tion to his ignorance.

The most extensive learning, and an intellect at once various and refined, are exhibited in the Don Quixote. It was the casket which Cervantes delighted to store with all his most ingenious thoughts. The art of criticism appears to have occupied a great share of his attention. This obser- vation will apply to many authors; and, indeed, the art of composition is a subject to which every writer ought to devote the most mature reflection. The examination of the library of Don Quixote by the Curate, furnishes us with a little treatise on Spanish literature, full of refinement and correct judgment ; but this is not the only occasion on which the sub- ject is introduced. The prologue, and many of the discourses of Don Quixote, or of the other characters introduced, abound in critical remarks, sometimes serious, sometimes playful, but always correct, novel, and interesting. It was, doubtless, in order to obtain pardon for the severity with which he had treated others, that he was by no means sparing

156 LIFE AND WRITINGS

upon himself. In the library of Don Quixote the Curate asks the Barber, " What is the book placed side by side with the Cancionero Maldonado ?" " It is the Galatea of Miguel de Cervantes," replied the, Barber. " This Cervantes has loner been my friend," rejoined the Curate, " and I know he has much more to do with misfortunes than with poetry. His book does indeed display a little power of invention ; it aims at something, but it reaches nothing. We must wait for the second part which he promises ; who knows whether, when it is corrected, the author may not obtain the mercy which we are now compelled to refuse him ?"*

CHAPTER X.

Astonishing success of his new work — Envy and malignity of his contemporaries — Lope de Vega — Attempts made to excite enmity between them — Calumnies and falsehoods employed — Birth of Philip IV — Count de Leriua's embassy to England — Splendid banquets — Singular fatality — Depositions of Cervantes and his family relative to the affair — Information of his residence and family thus obtained — Anecdotes — The works of Hiirtado do Mendoza — Academical meetings — His connexions and friend- ships— Ungrateful return — Hearilessm-ss of men of rank — Academy of the Selvage — Its members — Poems composed by Cervantes.

THE universal applause with which Don Quixote was received, was followed by the persecution of the author, from the malevolence and envy of some writers who thought themselves included in the censures and reprehensions of that work. The authors of chival- rous romances and their idle swarm of readers saw

* Literature of the South pf Europe, by M. Sismondi, iii., pp. 326-34R.

OF CF.RVANTES. 157

themselves the subjects of its graceful irony ; several poets, too, found themselves anathematized in the humorous scrutiny of the library of Don Quixote, and several dramatic writers reprehended inihe judi- cious colloquy of the canon of Toledo.

At this time, too, the passionate admirers of Lope de ^"ega, astonished at the prodigious fertility of his genius, and loading him with insensate applause, abandoned the patli of reason and nature, openly setting at defiance the rules and precepts dictated by the great masters of antiquity, Aristotle and Horace. From these sources arose the numberless criticisms and attacks on the romance of Don Quixote, as well as on its author ; and of this class was the malicious and spiritless sonnet, possessing neither point nor talent, which appeared in a paper at Valladolid, and of which mention is made in the ,1 tljun fa al Parn<i*n. Two other sonnets have been inconsiderately pub- lished in our own times, attributed to Cervantes and Lope de Vega, to whom they certainly do not belong. The first sonnet directed against the writ- ings of Lope is indubitably by Don Luis de Gon- gora, for it possesses his peculiar mordacity and satire, (as is expressed in the two manuscripts of the Royal Library, in which they are preserved) ; but the author wished to conceal his name ; he used short syllables in the termination, of which Cervantes was the inventor, though immediately adopted by others, and particularly by the author of la Picara Jutl'ina.

From this circumstance, some court rivals took occasion to attribute to him a criticism so opposite to his character, and so contrary to the high esteem which he always entertained for the person, the genius, and the works of Lope, even when reproving his extravagance of style.

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Avellaneda, under a pretence of defending Lope, discharges against Cervantes all the gall of his bitter and cutting malevolence on this occasion. It is truly melancholy that credit should be given in our own days to a contest of mean and private passion that certainly never existed ; and the belief of this enmity subsisting between the two greatest names in Spanish literature, has provoked the rancour of their respec- tive favourers and proselytes, when it is well known that the public praises which they have reciprocally bestowed on each other's writings, afford the most convincing proof of their judgment, impartiality, and regard.

At this time many authors and men of letters were induced, by the removal of the court to Yalla- dolid, to fix their residence there, some of whom were the friends and others the rivals of Cervantes. Among the chief of these we may notice the cele- brated Pedro Lainez, the Damon of the Galatea, of whom we shall shortly speak more fully ; Vincento Kspinel, who presided at the festivities which were held at the birth of Philip IV., and who has left us a circumstantial notice of them in his J']x<-i«l<'ru Marcos de Obregon ; the secretary, Tomas Gracian Dantisco, to whose genius the city was indebted for the design of the triumphal car which was used at the festival ; the Dr. Bartolome Leonardo de Ar- gensola, who also removed to Valladolid, attracted thither by the friendship he entertained for the Duke of Lerma, as soon as the Empress Donna Maria of Austria died at Madrid, on the 22d of February, 1603, to whom he was chaplain while she lived, retired in the convent of the Descalzas Koalcs ; the Benedictine, F. Diego de Haedo, abbot of Fromista, who, having finished his History of Algiers in 1604,

OP CERVANTES. 159

was at that time soliciting a license for its publica- tion ; and as he had related in it many incidents of Cervantes' captivity, and Cervantes himself was at that time preparing a narrative of his own in his tale of The Captive, it is probable that they mutu- ally sought an interview, to inspect and compare the respective relations, in order to give them more sup • port and recommendation.

AVe feel convinced of this from the conformity of style and sentiment ; and P. Sarmiento is of the same opinion, who, in proof of this conjecture, adds, that he had heard from a monk of his order, when he had .scarcely held his habit three years, a tradition which had been preserved, of a Benedictine having assisted Cervantes in the composition of Don Quixote, a report which may have owed its origin to his acquaintance, friendship, and conferences with Ilaedo.

Lastly, among the second we might include D. Luis de Gongora, whose writings all bear the mark of his caustic pen ; and the Dr. Cristobal Suarez de Figueroa, a native of A'alladolid, who, having returned to his native country in 1604, after a long absence, found it so altered, from the usual changes of time, and the residence of a dissipated court, that he felt himself a greater stranger there than in Ethiopia. AVhen these two men directed against Cervantes their gross and malignant satire, they ma- nifestly proved that their efforts, so far from tending to correct and inform mankind, were only the incite- ments of vanity and self love, and a jealous feeling with which they regarded the fame of others. About this time occurred the birth of Philip the Fourth ; having taken place in A'alladolid, on Good Friday, the eighth day of April, 1G05 ; an event most grate- ful to the .Spanish nation, whose wishes wtre now

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|

realized for a successor to so vast a monarchy. The desire, and indeed the necessity of a peace with Eng- land, had obliged the court, the year before, to send with those views Don Juan Fernando de Velasco, Constable of Castile, to London. lie was received and treated with the greatest pomp and magnificence in that capital ; and the English court, in order to ratify the treaty, sent to Spain Sir Charles Howard, Lord-High- Admiral, who, accompanied by six hun- dred English gentlemen, landed at Corunna and proceeded to Valladolid, which city he entered on ihe 26th day of May, being welcomed with much affability and respect by Philip III. The English Ambassador was present at the baptism of the Prince, solemnized in the convent of St. Paul, on the eighteenth of the same month, and also when the Queen made her appearance at mass on the thirty- first, at the church of St. Llorente, with the utmost elegance and splendour.

To add greater lustre to an event so acceptable; and beneficial to the Spanish nation, in addition to the pompous services of the church, the most magni- ficent festivals were given by the court, consisting of bull-fights, triumphal cars, splendid masques and dances in the palace, reviews, and military exercises, and jousts of the canes, in which the king himself took a part, and other entertainments equally novel and gratifying, "which manifested the power and wealth of the Spanish monarchy," according to • Vicente Espinel, and excited the admiration of the ambassadors and the world at large.

Amongst other marks of attention to the English Admiral on the ratification of peace, the most splen- did banquets were given to him by the Constable of Castile and the Duke of Lerma, when to the rich

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and tasteful display of vessels of gold was added an endless variety of viands. It will suffice to say, that at the table of the Constable alone they served up twelve hundred covers of fish and flesh, without counting the dessert. The Spanish court, having thus exercised its hospitality, and the Admiral hav- ing concluded his commission, he took his leave of the King and Queen on the seventeenth day of June, when they manifested towards him the greatest affa- bility and kindness, and he took the road to Santan- dcr, on his return to his own country.

With the view of perpetuating the memory of this happy event, the duke of Lenna or the count of Miranda, the president of the Council, ordered a narrative to be drawn up, which was printed at Valladolid in that year ; and although published anonymously, yet the celebrated poet, Don Luis de Gongora. has left us data sufficient to prove that Cervantes was the author of it ; for ^Gongora being present on this occasion, composed a burlesque son- net, in which, after reviewing the festivities, he repre- hends the luxury, the wasteful profusion and exces- sive cost so expended, and considers himself bound to communicate such a glorious event to Don Quixote and his squire, and Dapple, with caustic and ironical allusions to the author of the work which had re- cently appeared, and was invariably well received. Scarcely were these public rejoicings concluded, when a melancholy event occurred to interrupt the peace of Cervantes and his family. There happened to be about the court at this time a Navarrese gen- tleman of the name of , Don Gaspar de Ezpeleta, who, according to the fashion of the times, was addicted to jousts, tournaments, and gallantry. This gentleman, on the night of the twenty-seventh of June, 1605,

M

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in crossing the wooden bridge on the river Esgueva, happened to fall in with an armed man, who desired him to leave that neighbourhood, and angry words arising between them, they had recourse to their swords, and, after exchanging some thrusts, Don Gaspar remained mortally wounded. He called out for assistance, and took refuge in one of the nearest houses.

Fortunately there resided in one of the principal stories Donna Luisa de Montoya, a widow of the cele- brated historian Esteban de Garibay, with her two sons, and in the other resided Cervantes with his numerous family. On Don Gaspar calling out for help, one of the sons of Garibay hastened to his assistance, and, seeing him entering the house covered with blood and with a naked sword in his hand, called out to Cervantes. Between them they sup- ported him to the apartments of Donna Luisa de Montoya, where he received every assistance until the morning of the twenty-ninth, when he expired.

A judicial inquiry was immediately instituted re- specting this event, by the licentiate Christobal Vil- laroel, the alcalde of the place and court. The first witness examined was Cervantes, in whose hands the clothes of the wounded man were deposited, and he deposed that he saw on that night the wounds of Don Gaspar de Ezpeleta, but was wholly ignorant how he received them, or who the offender might be. No satisfactory information, however, could be ob- tained, though many witnesses were examined. From these inquiries, and from the evidence of a servant- maid of Cervantes, Maria de Cevallos, we are ena- bled to ascertain that Cervantes' family at that time consisted of his wife, Donna Catalina de Palacios Salazar, his natural daughter, Donna Isabel de

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Saavedra, unmarried, of the age of twenty and up- wards, Donna Andrea Cervantes, his sister, a widow with an unmarried daughter, called Donna Constan/a de Ovando, aged 28 years, and Donna Magdalena Sotomayor, who is also called his sister, and a sister of charity, and more than fifty years of age.

There existed some suspicion that Don Caspar had met his death in an aftair of gallantry in which he had directed his attentions to a daughter or cousin of Cervantes, or to some of the females who inhabited the other floors of the house. In consequence of this several persons were placed in confinement, and amongst others Cervantes, his daughter, his cousin, and his widowed sister, and their examination was taken on the twentieth of the same month. D. Hernando de Toledo, Sehor de Cigales, and Simon Mendez, a Portuguese, being questioned respecting their frequenting the house of Cervantes, the first stated that he visited Cervantes in consequence of an intimacy form cd with him at Seville; the other, that he came on business ; and Donna Andrea added, that manv persons visited her brother as a person who wrote and transacted business, and that Mendez had requested him to go to Toledo, to collect rents due there.

From hence it may be inferred that Cervantes was employed in agencies during his residence in Seville, and that he continued them in Valladolid, as a means of supporting his family.

Soon after the examinations were concluded, Cer- vantes, with his daughter, his sister, and cousin, were liberated from prison under bail, with orders to remain in their own house. But this prohibition was soon removed, on the appeal of Cervantes, as no trace of culpability could be found against them ; M 2

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and on the 9th day of July, Cervantes delivered up the clothes of Don Gaspar, which had been deposited with him.

It is worthy of remark that in the same house, which stood in the parish of St. Ildefonso, of which Juan de Navas was owner, there lived on the princi- pal floor, as before mentioned, the widow of Esteban de Garibay y Zamalloa, historian and chamberlain of the king, and her two sons, and Cervantes and his family ; and in one of the second, Donna Juana Gaitan, widow of the accomplished poet, and par- ticular friend of the author, Pedro Lainez, who in his office of Treasurer followed the court to Valla- dolid, where he died the same year, 1605, leaving in manuscript two volumes of his works, dedicated to the duke of Pastrana.

In the succeeding year, 1606, the court returned to Madrid, where Cervantes followed it, fixing his residence in that city, not only for the purpose of con- tinuing his agencies, and seeking for other means of subsistence, but also to be nearer Esquivias and Alcala, where his relations resided. This is proved by some memorials which have been preserved ; from which it appears that about the middle of I 608 he published, for a second time, under his own eye, the first part of Don Quixote, in which he remedied some imperfections and errors, suppressing some passages, and adding others, by which he considerably im- proved this edition, and which, in consequence, is the most highly esteemed by men of letters and bibliographers — that soon after he removed to another house at the back of the college of our Lady of Lo- retto — that in June, 1610, he dwelt in the street of Leon, the house number 9, lodge 226 — that in 16 14 he resided in the street de las Huertas. He also resided

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in the street of Duque de Alba, next the corner of the Estudio de San Isidro, from which he removed after a dispute at law; and lastly, in 1616, he was living again in the street of Leon, at the corner of Francos, No. 20, lodge 228.

Cervantes was now advanced in years, and sur- rounded by a large family, without the adequate means of supporting them. Persecuted by his rivals, his long services and his talents alike neglected, and weighed down by disappointments of the world, and the court, and its flatterers, he embraced from this period a retired and philosophical life, as most agree- able to his situation. " Seeking refuge," as he himself expresses it, " once more in his ancient leisure," he devoted himself entirely to the service of the muses, in order to present to the world some fresh and more mature fruits of his genius, allowing, at the same time, full scope for the exercise of those noble vir- tues, theresult of his strong conviction of Christianity, which he had maintained in his youth with such heroic courage amidst infidels and barbarians, and which shone more bright in the evening of his days, to the confusion of his jealous rivals and calumni- ators.

These devotional feelings led him to join some associations of pious persons at that time ^established out of zeal to the common faith, particularly that of the oratory of Olivaror of Canizares. Philip III., a devout prince, honoured it with his favour and support, and his example was followed by the duke of Lerma, the archbishop of Toledo, and all the magnates of the court, the principal ministers, and the most distinguished men of letters and artists, who tall hastened to enroll their names in this society. One of the first of these was Cervantes, whose intro-

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duction bears the date of the 17th of April, 1609. He was followed in succession by Alonzo Geronimo de Salas Barbadillo, M. Vicente Espincl, D. Fran- cisco de Quevedo, Lope de Vega, M. Josef de Valdi- vieso, D. Josef Pellicer y Tobar, D. Juan de Castillo y Sotomayor, Miguel de Silveira, Vincencio Carducho, D. Jusepe Gonzalez de Salas, the prince d' Esqui- lache, D. Juan de Solorzano Pereira, and others. Other pious establishments, however, were soon af- terwards dissolved, either from public censure, or because their numbers and abuses prejudiced them in the eyes of the government, or because the presumptu- ous levity of some young men brought the institution into disrepute. It is believed that after this event Cervantes, and also Lope de Vega, entered the con- gregation of the oratory of the Caballero de Gracia, whilst his wife and his sister, Donna Andrea, dedi- cated themselves to similar deeds of piety, in the venerable order of St. Francisco, whose habit they received on the 8th day of June of the same year.

There subsisted at all times a strong and reciprocal affection between Cervantes and his sister, Donna Andrea. This sister, who was older than her brothers, had formerly appropriated a part of her dowry to their ransom from captivity, and that not sufficing, had afterwards, by a repetition of her generosity for the same purpose, lessened her own means of subsistence. She was three times married, the first to Nicolas de Orando, the second to Sanctes Ambrosi, a native of Florence, and the third time to the General Alvaro Mendano ; and having surviAred them all, and being left with a daughter, Constanza, of the first marriage, Cervantes received them both with much pleasure into his own family, and they accom- panied him to Seville, Valladolid and Madrid ; con-

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tributing by their labour and industry to their com- mon means of .subsistence. This noble conduct justi- fied the esteem and regard which Cervantes at all times manifested towards Donna Andrea until her death, which happened in his house, on the 9th day of October, 1609, at the age of sixty-five years. She was interred in the parish of St. Sebastian, at the charge of her brother.

Just at this time Frey Juan Diaz Hidalgo, of the order of St. Juan, had collected together the various poetical works of Don Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, who, for his elevated rank, for the important employs he had held, and above all, for his erudition and fiue taste in literature, had acquired the highest esteem and respect of all men of letters of his age. Cervantes himself had honoured his memory by some beautiful verses and discourses, which he placed in the mouth of the principal personages in his (}<il,it<-<i ; and on the republication of the poetos of Mendoza, he thought it a fit opportunity to offer some fresh compliment to his memory, which he did in a sonnet devoted to the commendation of so esteemed a writer, and calculated to add to his deserved celebrity. The count de Lemos, Don Pedro Fernandez de Castro, had also gained at this time a distinguished reputation as a patron of letters, which lie himself cultivated with great ardour, and extended to them his favour and protection. He was ap- pointed viceroy of Naples in 1610, and soon after that event, Juan Ramirez de Arellano, his secretary, died. The count wrote on the day of his death to the two Argensolas, who were then residing at Zara- goza, and with whom he always maintained a strict friendship, offering to Lupercio the secretaryship of state and of war of the viceroyalty, with a particular

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injunction that he should bring with him his brother, the rector of Villahermosa. The two brothers ac- cepted this flattering offer, and repaired to Madrid, where they received orders to provide themselves with proper assistants in the secretaryship.

Being anxious to fulfil the commission faithfully, and desirous of gratifying the well known partiality of the Viceroy for men of letters, they selected from a number of poets and authors those whom they judged most fit for the despatch of business, and who were at the same time most able to support with credit the academical meetings which the Count con- templated establishing in his palace.

With these intentions, not uninfluenced altogether by the partiality of friendship, they attached to their company Dr. Don Antonio Mira de Amescua, arch- deacon of the cathedral of Guadix, his native place, a distinguished comic and lyric poet ; Gabriel de Barrionuevo, celebrated for his humorous interludes ; Don Francisco de Ortigoza, an eccentric and unfortunate man of genitis ; Ambrosio de Laredo y Coronel, a poet of the most happy vein of wit ; the son of Lupercio, called Don Gabriel Leonardo y Albion ; Fr. Diego de Arce, a Franciscan, native of Cuenca, and bishop elect of Tuy, confessor of the.Count, a learned writer, and a diligent collector of the rarest books in Spanish literature ; and other persons of equal name and reputation, although they were unable to satisfy the wishes of all who made interest to accompany the new Viceroy to Italy, in the hopes of sharing his patronage and generous protection. The poet Chris- tobal de Mesa had hitherto experienced the favour of the count de Lemos, through his secretary ; and on the first rumour of that nobleman's appointment to the viceroyalty, Mesa earnestly entreated him, in a

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letter be wrote, to be allowed to accompany him ; but he did not succeed in his wishes, either through the negligence of his favourer and friend, Arellano, or some fresh appointments in the service of the Viceroy, or from having omitted during the last five months his usual visits to his house, in consequence of indisposi- tion, and to submit his compositions, in verse and prose, as he had been accustomed to do. He felt this disappointment very deeply, attributing it to the in- fidelity of his friends, and the envy of the troop of new comers, who surrounded the Count, and who endeavoured to exclude all others from a share of their patron's favour ; complaints which, as we shall here- after see, were also made by Don Christobal Suarez de Figueroa.

But Mesa did not conceal his disappointment from the Viceroy, but wrote a second letter, in which he says that some of the Spanish poets, who were held in such high estimation, had no just claims to a seat in Parnassus, as would be found on their reaching Italy, where poetry and good taste were better under- stood ; for that some who were considered the first- rate poets in Spain, as Francisco Pacheco, Hernando de Herrera, Francisco de Medina, Luis de Soto, and the celebrated scholar Francisco Sanchez de las Bro- zas, after a residence of some years in Italy, and studying the works of Tasso, had wholly changed their style and composition.

In the same letter he made a promise to the Vice- roy to dedicate to him the translation of the ^Eneid, on which he was then occupied ; but there was either some cause of subsequent displeasure, or he wholly forgot his promise, for it was not fulfilled when he gave this work to the world in the year 1615.

Cervantes, who was on familiar terms of friendship

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with the two Argensolas, and to whom he had given the strongest proofs of his consideration and esteem, not being able, on account of his advanced age and his numerous family, to remove from Spain, in order to better his fortune in Italy, under the wing of his patron, was desirous of availing himself of their friendship, in recommending him to the favour and munificence of the Count.

On their leaving Madrid both the brothers made him the most magnificent promises, and Cervantes confiding in them, hoped at last to find some change in his unfortunate destiny ; but these flattering hopes soon vanished, for the Argensolas never performed the kind offices they had undertaken, nor once remem- bered Cervantes, giving him almost cause to appre- hend that they had even indisposed his patron against him. Happily, however, these suspicions vanished, and his mind was tranquillised on experiencing again the liberality of his patron, and he remained appa- rently satisfied with the conduct and proceedings of his friends. At the same time his candour and inge- nuousness would not allow him to conceal his feel- ings, though expressed in language so considerate and delicate, that it looks more like a testimony of respect to the Viceroy, and a panegyric on those celebrated poets, than a censure on the abandonment of his friendship and intimacy.

Supposing, in fact, that the Argensolas were not conducted by Mercury in the Voyage to Parnassus, because they were employed in the service of the count de Lemos; yet it appears, that Apollo not only highly extolled their talents and poetical productions, but availed himself of their services in the battle waged against the bad poets, distinguishing them in the distribution of prizes, and giving Mercury the

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charge of nine crowns with which he orders him to reward the most deserving, and to carry with him to Naples three of the largest, douhtless to encircle the brows of the Viceroy and those of the two illustrious Aragonese.

These latter persons perfectly understood this allu- sion, and secured to Cervantes the favour and pro- tection of that learned and generous nobleman ; but Don Estcban Manuel de Tillegas, less considerate and more precipitate, and believing his master, the rector of Yillahermosa, to have good cause of offence, undertook to vindicate their conduct, depreciating the merit of Cervantes, whom he designates as " mal poeta y quijotista" without reflecting that that which he considered a satire, was a delicate and appropriate eulogiiun, and that the taunting word with which he endeavoured to injure his reputation was as just and honourable a title to fame as had ever been won in the world of letters ; undoubted proofs these of that arrogant and haughty character which led him to satirise Lope de Vega and Gongora, flattering himself that he had eclipsed the merit of their works and those of other Castilian poets, by the brilliant style of his jEroticas, " as the rising sun dispels the clouds of the earth, and overpowers the light of the other stars," as he gives us to understand in the allegory and inscription on the gate, and as Lope de Vega remarks in his Laurel de Apollo. Cervantes, who had distinguished himself by his poems in his younger days, had now a stronger claim to renown in his old age as the author of Don Quixote, for which, indeed, his name has been inscribed in letters of gold in the temple of immortality. If this consideration might govern our conjectures, we may conclude that Cervantes was one of those individuals

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who composed the academy which went hy the name of the Selvage** established in Madrid in the year 1612, in imitation of the one which was formed twenty-one years before in Valencia under the name of the Nocturnos ; for, supposing that it was fre- quented by the most eminent men of letters that at that time surrounded the court, no one can with greater justice be included in that number. The meetings were established in the private mansion of D. Fran- cisco de Silva, of the house of the dukes of Pastrana, and a favourite of the muses, on whom Cervantes bestows warm commendation in his Viage al Par- naso, and who in fact, enjoyed a considerable repu- tation among the poets of the day. Among other members of the academy we may include Lope de Vega and Pedro Soto de Rojas, who styles himself el ardiente, and who has preserved to us their notices in his Desengano de Amor. Those persons employed themselves in writing poems on various subjects ; and particularly in commending or criticising those works which were submitted to them previous to publica- tion; and thus it is, that in 1612, Cervantes wrote some verses in praise of the secretary, Gabriel Perez del Barrio Angulo, author of the work entitled Secre- tario de Scnores, and at the beginning of which they were printed, in conjunction with various composi- tions by Lope and Soto de Rojas, and of M. Vicente Espinel, Miguel de Silveira, Don Antonio Hurtado de Mendoza, and other friends and admirers of the author.

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CHAPTER XI.

Cervantes devotes himself to literary compositions — Corrects his former productions, and prepares them for the press — His novels, and Uiks — Interwoven with his great work — Boccaccio — How far imitated by Cervantes — Why entitled Efemjilares — Noble objects he had in view — Tales of witchcraft, and diablerie — Dangerous test of merit — Curious instance of hallucination — Various characters of the novels — How natural and well-sup- ported— Examination of their merits — Accused of not being the author of them — Forms a new era in the popular fiction of Spain — Imitated by Lope de Vega — Richness and beauty of the language,

CERVANTES, in the meantime, employed himself in correcting some of his works, with a view to their publication. The principal of them was a collection of twelve tales which he selected from all that he had written at various times and places ; and as they were the first of that kind that had appeared in Spain, and had been well received by the public, he was anxious to preserve them in a more correct and complete form. He had interwoven some of them with the first part of his Don Quixote, as the tales of the Curioso Impertinente and the Capitan Cautico, although in no manner connected with the action and plot of that romance. Hence he feared that the reader, fixing his attention on the adventures of the principal hero, might bestow little regard on the tales, and might heedlessly pass them over, without perceiving the interesting adventures they contain, which was proved upon their appearing in a separate form. With the same object he changed the titles of some others,

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endeavouring to bespeak the attention and curiosity of the public. His wishes were gratified to the utmost, when he found' that they had not only been well received in Spain, but that in 1608, Cesar Oudin reprinted the tale of the Curioso 1-mjn'rtinente, at the end of the Silva Curiosa of Julian de Medrano, and published it also at the same time separately, trans- lated into French for the instruction of his scholars.

This circumstance, and the pleasure of seeing new editions of them, though not very correct, fully ap- preciated by the learned, induced him to give them the last polish, as he did about the middle of the year 1612, and published them about the end of August in the following year, dedicating them to the count de Lemos, in a letter deserving of the highest praise, from the urbanity, and sentiments of gratitude which it contains.

Cervantes had remarked the applause with which writings of this class had been received in Italy, par- ticularly those of Boccaccio : but these, he thought, though possessed of such charm of style, and an elegance, purity, and singular grace of language which made them so highly appreciated, were yet, on the other hand, prejudicial to morals, from the freedom and licentiousness of their subjects and language. He resolved, therefore, to correct this abuse, and to adopt such narratives only as, without offending delicacy, might still be characteristic of his nation, and might afford materials for the correction of those vices of society which arise from the want of education, or the empire which prejudice holds over the vulgar, and which had struck him most in the course of his various travels, and adventures. On these grounds he resolved to call his tales Exem- plares ; because, as he says in his preface, if any

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one will examine them, there is not one from which some useful moral may not be drawn, for even the love tales are so well conducted, and with such a deference to morals, that neither in the busy nor in the idle can they excite any other than the best feel- ings. His wish was that every one should be enter- tained by their perusal without injury to their body or mind, " for honest and agreeable amusements rather do good than harm."

It is remarkable that Don Gregorio Mayans, ad- hering to the opinion of Lope de Vega, and to the criticisms of the licentiate Avellaneda, and the Dr. Figueroa, both rivals of Cervantes, should express any doubt as to the propriety of intitling these tales EaeemplarM ; when their author was so convinced and satisfied of the propriety of it, that he assures us in his prologues, that if he suspected that the reading of these could excite an improper thought or desire in any person, he would rather cut off his right hand with which he wrote them, than give them to the world.

At the same time he says to his patron, " I entreat your Excellency to receive, without any preface, these twelve tales, which, if they had not proceeded from my own pen, I mihgt say deserve to be placed among the most perfect of their kind." An enlight- ened public formed the same idea of them ; and many encomiums were passed on them, which, while they conferred honour on the Castilian tongue, served to show that the delightful genius of the author was not less manifested in these tales, than in those he had before given to the world. That humorous and prolific writer, too, Alonso Geronimo de Salas Barbadillo, declared that in this publication Cervantes confirmed the opinion which was entertained in Spain

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and abroad of his fine genius, and that wonderful imagination and fluency of language with which he interests and charms us ; thus silencing by the happy fertility of his language those who, being envious of the Spanish tongue, have accused it of want of expression, and denied its copiousness. It was for this reason that in the license for printing he desig- nated this work, " the most delightful entertainment, wherein the loftiness and abundance of the Castilian tongue is fully exhibited." And Lope de Vega him- self, who professed to follow the footsteps of Cer- vantes, confessed that these tales were not wanting in grace or composition ; and although a commen- dation so faint, in which he does not mention the most essential qualities of these talcs, as their in- vention, their ingenious plots, and the propriety of character, does not reflect any great honour on Cervantes, yet it was still further enhanced when the Tales of Lope, written in imitation of those of Cervantes, proved so very much inferior to their models ; an indubitable proof how difficult it is, even to men of the highest genius, to compete with their originals, when, clipping the wings of their own ima- gination, they servilely tread the path that others have opened and prosecuted with full success.

Tirso de Molina highly commends these Tales, and calls Cervantes the Boccaccio of Spain ; but he ought to have added, that he excels him in the morality and good example of his writings. Lastly, many of the principal dramatic writers have shown the value they set on their invention and merit, selecting them as subjects for many of their own comedies; as has been done with success Jby Lope de Vega, D. Augustin Moreto, Don Diego de Figueroa y Cordoba, and Don Antonio Solis. This

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merit will be more manifest if we analyse each Tale by itself. We may hence learn the time and place where Cervantes wrote them, and the source whence many of them were derived, and shall beeome more sensible to his inimitable grace of style. But reserv- ing this examination for another place, we shall con- fine ourselves to such circumstances as may tend to illustrate the life and the opinions of their author. He appears to have taken the subject of the Ctn-io*<> I nijH'rfnti'ni,' from Ariosto, where, in his Orlando Furioso, he tells us of a knight who had espoused a lady of honour, beauty, and discretion, with whom he lived in happiness for several years. As he was desirous to prove the virtue of his consort, the witch Mclisa advised him to leave her to the free enjoy- ment of her own will, and that then by his drinking out of a vessel of gold, adorned with precious stones, and filled with generous wine, he could ascertain whether or not she had been faithful to him; for if she had been so, he would be able to drink the whole wine without shedding a particle ; but if not, the liquor would all be spilled without a drop entering his mouth. The knight's impatient curiosity led him to adopt the advice of the sorceress; and on applying his lips to the cup he met with the punish- ment due to his jealousy, all the wine being spilled on his breast ; for which reason Rinaldo refused to expose himself to so fearful a trial, when the same knight proposed it to him at a feast, contenting him- •> li with the good opinion he already entertained of his wife.

It is highly probable that Cervantes, who was a passionate admirer of Ariosto, adopted from this fiction the idea of his tale, so perfect in its plot, its language, and description of the passions ; and the

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moral lesson, conveyed in the punishment which falls on Camilla, is a warning to shun temptation, and to resist the first movements of a violent and disho- nourable passion.

AVe have already made mention of the Tales he wrote in Seville — that of Rinconete y Cortadillo, famous thieves of that city, whose adventures hap- pened in the year 1569 ; and that of the Z<'l<i*<> /•,'.. meno, the story of which is founded in fact, and is supposed to have happened about the year 1570. The tale of the Tin FhtyiJa is, according to Cer- vantes, also a true story, which occurred in Sala- manca in the year 1575 ; and although composed with the air of lightness, and the graceful and comic humour so characteristic of Cervantes, and with the design of showing the unfortunate fate of women, who, listening to their passions when young, apply themselves in their old age to corrupt youth by their counsels and services, he determined not to publish it among the rest, either through delicacy, as he said, or because his final object was to inculcate good morals. It does not appear from the incidents of the story so exemplary as the others, the judgment which Cervantes passed on the Cel'xtina being applicable to this tale, that it was an excellent work, in his opinion, if it had less earthly alloy. From the tenor of this tale, and that of the Licenciado Vulricra, and some passages in others of the series, we learn that Cervantes resided and studied at Salamanca for a considerable space of time.

There are not wanting judicious critics, who assure us that Cervantes intended to ridicule the madness and extravagance of the noted Gaspar Barthio, who was born in Austria, in the year 1587, and manifested from his infancy an extraordinary precocity, and a

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wonderful memory. lie studied and distinguished himself in various academics and universities of Germany, and travelled through England, Holland, France, Italy, and Spain, acquiring a perfect know- ledge of the living languages, and deriving informa- tion from his intercourse with the learned, wherever he met with them. On his return to Germany he fixed his residence at Leipsic, renouncing every employment, in order to devote himself more entirely to his studies. His predilection for the Spanish language, and the high opinion he entertained of its works of genius and amusement, induced him to translate into Latin the tragi-comedy of Ceh'stina, which he calls a divine work ; the J liana Enamorada of Gil Polo ; and in mentioning a translation of the Porno J)i(1ascal<> of Pietro Aretino, he assures us he preferred the Castilian version to the original.

This extreme application and devotion to the reading of Spanish novels, at last turned the head of Barthio, and he lived for ten years under the hallu- cination that he was made of glass. The facility with which, in the midst of his passion for these amatory and even licentious works, he turned to translate and comment upon many ascetic and theo- logical authors, especially those of the middle ages, and the contradictions and absurdities of his opinions upon some of the Latin classics, as Statins. Claudian, and Silius Italicns, prove the perversion of his judg- ment, at the same time that they afford a proof of his immense erudition and extensive reading. It is highly probable that, when in Spain, he formed an intimacy with Cervantes ; and, in fact, the rare genius, the wonderful abilities, and great acquire- ments of the licentiate Vidriera, when only a few years old; his journeys through Italy, Flanders, and

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other countries ; his retired and abstracted habits, attending more to his books than to any other amuse- ment ; and lastly, his madness and extravagance, undoubtedly prove the learned and crazy Ger- man to have been the original whence IVrvamvs dr.'\v hi* picture with such truth and success in this tale. It was written after the court had removed to Valladolid, and he exercised his discretion and judgment in mingling with its incidents a general censure on the vices and abuses then prevalent in the government of the country.

Of equal learning and utility was the />/"/ between the dogs Cipion and Berganza, which is, in reality, an excellent apologue, and a severe invective against all the superstitions and prejudices of the low educated then prevalent in Spain, though mingled with the more elevated political and moral maxims. " A satire," says Mayans, " in which, imitating Lu- cilius and Horace, he chastises persons with a severe though refined severity." " An .admirable criticism," adds Florian, '; full of truth and grace ; where Spanish customs are painted to the life, with all the genius of Cervantes: from which circumstance it ob- tained the approbation of Huet, one of the most learned men that France has produced." Cervantes wrote this tale only a little time before its publication. In it he gives an exact picture of the life and habits of the Moors, and the injury caused to Spain by their remaining in that country, and recommends their ex- pulsion as the only remedy ; a measure which was, in fact, afterwards enforced in the year 1609 and 1614. The story of the alchymist, who was shut up in the hospital of Valladolid, and pretended to extract silver and gold from the baser metals, and even from stones, was derived from athcn recent incident. There appeared

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in Madrid, in the year 1609, one Lorenzo Ferrer Maldonado, who gave himself the title of captain, and announced, among other wonders, that he had possessed himself of some of the greatest secrets of nature, such as deciphering Solomon's seal, by which he was enabled to discover, and bring to perfection, the true stone, sought for in vain by the alchymists through a long course of ages, and promising to con- vert into gold the basest metals. Some simple and covetous persons, led astray by these magnificent pro- mises, assisted him with a sufficient capital, and a house to commence his labours in ; but after holding them in play for more than two years, and continu- ally announcing the moment of success, though, as he stated, a long time was required for the transmu- tation of the metals, he siuldenly disappeared from Madrid, thus repaying by his flight those who had encouraged and promoted his scheme. Some time afterwards, he was apprehended and examined before the chancery of Granada, on a charge of having forged some seals and public documents.

The mathematician, also, his companion in the hospital, who was employed twenty-two years in seeking for i\\ejixed point, found his prototype at this time. The high reward offered by the Spanish government for the discovery of the longitude, attracted the cupidity of numerous adventurers and projectors, and amongst others, Dr. Juan Arias de Loyola, in 1603, and Luis de Fonseca Contino, in 1605, pretended to have made the discovery; but the claims of the latter were preferred to those of Arias, no doubt through the influence of his coun- tryman, Juan Bautiste Labana, and six thousand ducats of perpetual rent were offered to him, if the trial answered to the truth and accuracy of his statement.

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After many delays and arrangements, they com- menced in 1610 several experiments, in voyages to America and Asia ; but these did not realise the ex- pectations of the projector, Avho having in this manner incurred considerable expenses for more than eight years, suddenly disappeared from Madrid; while Arias remained there for more than thirty years, presenting memorials, and thro wing discredit on all other competitors who p\it in claims for the reward.

Another more remarkable event, while it ascer- tains the epoch of this tale, displays at the same time the good sense and intelligence of Cervantes in combating errors, in proportion to their greater influ- ence on society. The pernicious credulity prevalent at that time, and the propensity to indulge in en- chantments, divinations, fortune-telling, witchcraft, transformations, and wonders of this kind, which derived their origin from the Moors, a race naturally superstitious, and from the idle study of judicial astrology, had rooted themselves in the minds of all classes of people, through want of education, and religious principle ; so much so, that the writings of many learned men, such as the erudite Pedro Ciruelo, had not been able to check these vices, to change public opinion, or to ameliorate manners.

Cervantes had ridiculed with much pleasantry and very opportunely these superstitions in various pas- sages in Don Quixote, and also in the Licenciadt Vidriera, where, by the advice of a Moorish woman, they administered some charms to force his will, he showed that there were no herbs in the world, enchantments, or words, which could force are solved and rational man.

In the Coloquio de los Perros, he treats more at large, and with more naivete, of the tricks and

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cheateries of the hags and witches ; narrating the story, as of his own time, of Cumacha de Montilla, one of the most famous disc-Spies of the old Cahizares. lie shows the folly of such preposterous tales and illusions, in the relation this woman makes of the deeds and doings of her mistress, her confections and ointments, her voyages and adventures, her trans- formations and wicked deeds ; and how she could not close her days without visiting the Moorish dni; the festivities, and merry-makings, in which they indulged themselves in their nocturnal revels of Zugarramurdi in the valley of Baztan, which ended in some of these persons being brought to justice, by the tribunal of the Inquisition of Logrofio, in the year 1610. We are told of the horrid and loath- some figure which the old hag, Canizares, presented, when in the midst of her ecstasies and raptures, she seized on and threw one of the dogs into the court of the botue, while she and La Montilla were sen- tenced to be publicly whipped by the hands of the hangman.

Others of their companions suffered confinement in theinquisition,when their cheateries were madeknown, in order to expose such hypocrites to public execra- tion, and to convince the people that the witch, Ca- macha, was an infamous impostor, and La Canizares a cheat, a thief, and a swindler, when even the do^s would not acknowledge her as their mother as she pretended.

This propensity in placing belief in tales, asiex- travagant as indecent, to the prejudice of relig ous principles, for some time found support in the cre- dulity of various persons of rank and authority ; and for this reason, when Cervantes, protected by the Cardinal Archbishop of Toledo, Inquisitor-general,

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endeavoured to eradicate these pernicious ideas by tin1 weapons of satire and ridicule, the learned Pedro de Valencia addressed to that illustrious prelate a dis- course respecting the stories of the witches, where, in a clear and rational manner, he demonstrated the cheatery and falsehood of those absurdities, the dan- ger of publishing and giving them to the world, and the mischief and bad example they produced.

The other tales of Cervantes are not the less to be commended for their morality and good feeling. Florian was of opinion that the tale entitled La Fucrza de la Sangre possesses greater interest, and is better conducted than the others of Cervantes ; the story of which he assures us was founded in truth, and that Rodulfo and Leocadia, the principal actors in it, were persons of illustrious descent, leading a happy life in Toledo. He attributes equal truth to the story of the Espanola Inylesa, which, as far as we can judge from the narrative, appears to have been written about the year 1611. He also wrote at that time the Gitanilla, although he inserted in it a romance composed in Valladolid, on occasion of the Queen Donna Margarete visiting the church of San Llorente, describing allegorically the various persons of her suite. In that of the Amante Liberal he re- lates, under fictitious names, some of his own adven- tures ; as he lias done in others, and particularly in that of the Capitan Cautivo, in which he doubtless alludes to D. SuarezdeFigueroa, when speaking on some occa- sion of the Novelas al MSO, and of the qualities and morality of his compositions, he sarcastically says, " There is no doubt that he has commemorated his own adventures, casting a lustre on his own low con-

O

dition, and giving unbounded praise to his imagina- tion and talents, for as the cloth was in his own

OF CERVANTES. 185

hands, he could easily apply the shears in whatever direction his taste dictated."

( >ther pel-sons, with a criticism more impartial and judicious, have remarked a certain want of dignity and interest in the arguments of the novels, and some inequality in them ; though this arises more .from the variety and natural description of the in- cidents which he relates, and the inclination and humour of the readers, or rather their ignorance of the customs he describes, than from a dearth of ingenuity and felicity in the author, as the events arc all probable and well imagined. The reserve of Leonisa in the Annntli' Lihcrnl, says a modern critic, differs from the engaging ease of manner of Prcciosa in the (iitmiUla ; one may observe a different style in the language of Lothario and Anselnio, in the ;<i</>. /•//'//,///,. to that of the Monipodio and his companions, in /i !»<•>, i/<-/c y Cortadillo : in short, they are natural and agreeable pictures of the man- ners of the day. From hence proceeded, not only the propriety, but the ohanntng variety in the va- rious characters he delineated ; and we see that he was equally alive to the vices and prejudices of the plebeian and vulgar, as to those of the highest and most cultivated classes ; and that his graphic pencil was employed in the portraits of both the one and the other, persuaded as he was, that information and good education was the best mode of effecting the happiness and respectability of society at large.

\Ve find in his tales rich eloquence of sentiment clothed in beautiful language. They abound in pas- sionate and strong expressions ; numerous light traits of character, and pictures of extreme feeling and beauty ; and finally, in the description of the pas- sions, in the sweetness of his descriptions, in his

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argument so well supported, it seems as if this author was desirous of showing the richness and aptitude of the Castilian tongue, with a view to promote its cultivation, generalise its application, and use, and justify the high reputation which it enjoyed at this time throughout the whole world.

In the face of such eminent qualities, and of such high authority, and the universal esteem in which the Tales of Cervantes have been held since their publication, there are some writers of latter times who, with much effrontery, and without giving us any proofs of their own genius, or adding to the common stock of knowledge, assert, with little feeling and ex- treme levity, that Cervantes was not the real author of these works, as they were known to the public many years before he published them ; thus thinking that they gave proofs of their penetration and in- dustry in detecting the plagiarism.

In order to silence these calumnious and super- ficial critics, we need only look at the testimony of Juan Gaitan de Vozmediano, where in the prologue to the translation of the first part of the Hundred Tales of Cinthio, published in Toledo, in 1590, he says, "This class of books have hitherto been little read in Spain, as they have not met with a trans- lator from the Italian and French ; but the time is coming when they will be more admired here, and this may incite us to attempt that which has never yet been done here, the writing of novels ; in which, whenever it takes place, Spain will certainly excel, particularly in this happy age of letters." It will be conclusive, too, to hear Cervantes himself, when he says in his Viage al Paynaso, that in his Tales he had opened a new path for the extension and <>t;i- blishment of his country's language in its purity ;

OF CERVANTES. 187

and when with greater confidence he says in his prologue, " I am myself the first who composed Tales in the Castilian tongue ; for the numerous Spanish Tales which have hitherto been published, have been all translated from foreign tongues ; but these are wholly my own, iiL'itluT imitated nor derived from others ; they are the offspring of my brain ; my pen brought them forth, and they are now flourishing and admired in print."

Knowing, as we do, the candour, the good faith, and the ingenuousness of Cervantes, his prolific fancy, and his admirable style, we cannot possibly doubt of his having been the author of these productions ; nor can we think it necessary further to vindicate the greatest genius Spain has produced, from the misrepre- sentations of ignorance, and the shafts of malevolence.

CHAPTER XII.

Continuation of the Novelas Exemplares — Opinions — Analysis — Specimens and translations — La Gitanilla — Characters — Pecu- liarities of the Gitanos — Sketches — Peculiarities -of climate — El Amante Liberal — Characters and adventures — Historical allu- sions— Power of the Corsairs — Singular historic incidents — Story of Rinconcte and Cortadillo — Characteristics of vagabond life — Religion of thieves — Regular establishment — Singular priesthood — The Spanish- English lady — Admirable pictures of the country — Customs and manners of the people.

CERVANTES was eminently gifted with the narra- tive talent, a quality which seems to be intimately connected with dramatic powers, since, in order to possess it, an author must be capable of understand- ing and adhering to the unity of his narrative. That

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xmity is the central point to which all the other por- tions of the work have reference, and upon which they all depend. The episodes are thus connected with the main action, and never fatigue the mind ; the plot excites the attention ; and the catastrophe clears away all the mysteries at once. It is more- over requisite, as in the dramatic art, to be capable of giving the colours of truth and nature to every object, and the appearance of completeness and pro- bability to every character ; to bring events before the reader by words, as the dramatist does by action ; to say exactly what ought to be said, and nothing further. It is in fact this talent that has conferred upon Cervantes his immortality. His most cele- brated works are those romances in which the rich- ness of his invention is relieved by the charms of his style, and by his happy art of arranging the incidents and bringing them before the eye of the reader. We have already spoken of Don Quixote, which merited a separate examination; but we must content ourselves with bestowing less time on the pastoral romance of Galatea ; on that of PersUcs and Stffitmunda ; and on the collection of little tales which Cervantes has called his Exemplary Norel*. In giving an idea of the literature of a country, it seems proper to detail all the works of celebrated authors, and to pass rapidly over those who have not attained the first rank. By studying the former we are enabled to observe not only the intellectual progress of the nation, but like- wise its peculiar taste and spirit, and frequently (.-veil the manners and history of the people. It is much more agreeable to contemplate the Castilians as they are painted in the works of Cervantes, than to attempt a picture of our own, which must necessarily be less faithful than the native delineation.

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Cervantes had readied his sixty-fifth year when lie published, under the name of E.i\')i</>l<irt/ or/«- utriii-fir.' Xor<>]*, his twelve beautiful tales, already mentioned, which, though they have been translated into several Ian a re not very generally k nown .

This species of composition was, before the time of Cervantes, unknown in modern literature ; for he did not take Boccaccio and the Italian novelists as his models, any more than Marmontel has done in his Cont<:< Mni-ii/i.r. These tales are, in fart, little romances ; in which love is delicately introduced, and where the adventures serve as a vehicle for pas- sionate sentiments.

The first novel is entitled La (rihtnil/a, or the Gipsy-girl, and contains an interesting picture of that race of people, who were formerly spread over all Europe, though they nowhere submitted them- selves to the laws of society. About the middle of the fourteenth century this wandering race first appeared in Europe, and were, by some, considered to be a caste of Farias who had escaped from India, and were called indifferently Egyptians and Bohe- mians. From that period down to the present day, tlu'V have continued to wander through the various countries of Europe, subsisting by petty thefts, by levying contributions upon the superstitious, or by the share which they often took in festivals. T'lirv have now almost entirely disappeared from many of the nations of the Continent. The rigorous police of France, Italy, and Germany, does not suffer the

* There is an English translation of the Exemplary Novels, by Shelton, which was repnblished in 1742. Anew translation, iij two volumes, appeared in London in 1822. The extract from the (;i]i*y-girl, given in the text, has been transcribed from these volumes.

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existence of a race of vagabonds who pay no regard to the rights of property and despise the laws. Then are still, however, numbers of these people to be found in England, where the legislature formerly sanctioned such cruel enactments against them that it was found wholly impracticable to put them into execution.

Many likewise still exist in Russia, and some in Spain, where the mildness of the climate and the wild features of the country are highly favourable to that unconfined and wandering life, for which the Bohemians seem to have derived a taste from the Eastern nations. The description of the commu- nity which they formed in the time of Cervantes is more curious, from the circumstance of their numbers at that period being greater, and their liberty more complete, than at any subsequent time ; while the superstition of the people afforded them a readier support. Their manners, their laws, and their cha- racters, were consequently at that period developed with much more truth and simplicity.

The heroine of the first tale, who is called Preciosa, accompanied by three young girls of about fifteen years of age, like herself, frequents the streets of Madrid, under the superintendence of an old woman, for the purpose of amusing the public in the coffee- houses, and other places of resort, by dancing to the sound of the tambourine, which she sometimes accom- panies by songs and verses, occasionally of her own extemporaneous composition, or else obtained from poets who were employed by the gipsies. The noble- men used to invite them into their houses, that they might have the pleasure of seeing them dance, and the ladies, in order to have their fortunes told them. Preciosa, who was modest and much respected, yet possessed that vivacity of mien, and that gaiety and

OF C'EKV ANTES. 191

promptitude of repartee, which so remarkably dis- tinguished her race. Even in religious festivals she would appear and chaunt songs in honour of the saints and the Virgin. In all probability, this apparent devotion of the gipsies, who never take any part in public worship, protected them in .Spain — where they were called l/t&riffioiMf .Y"> -••'/.•>• — from the anim- adversions of the inquisition. The delicacy and beauty of 1'reeiosa gained the heart of a cavalier, not more distinguished by his fortune than by his figure; but she refused to accept his hand unless he consented to pass a probation of two years by residing amongst the gipsies, and partaking all their adventures and modes of life. The address of one of the oldest gip- ••• tli cavalier, who assumes the name of Andres, is remarkable for that purity and elegance of language, and for that eloquence of diction and expression, which are peculiar to Cervantes : — " "We. appropriate to you the companionship of this young girl, who is the flower anil ornament of all the gipsies to be found throughout Spain. She is now virtuously placed within your own power, to consider her either as your wife, or as your mistress. Examine her thoroughly, weigh maturely whether she is pleasing to you ; find out whether she lias any defect ; and should you fancy that you are not calculated for each other, throw your eyes around upon all the other gipsy-girls, and you shall have the object most pleas- ing to your taste. But we warn you, that when you have made your choice, yon cannot retract, and must be contented with your fate. No one dares to encroach upon hisneighbour.and hence we are shielded from the torments of jealousy. Adultery is never com- mitted amongst us ; for if, in any instance, our wives or our mistresses are detected in infrin^incr our laws,

3 O

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we inflict punishment with the utmost severity. You must also be apprised, that we1 never have resort to courts of justice ; we have our own jurisdiction.-, execute judgment ourselves ; we are both judges and executioners ; and after regular condemnation, we get rid of the parties by burying them in the wood- lands and deserts, and no persons whatever, not even their parents, can obtain information of them, or bring us to account for their deaths. It is the dread of this summary jurisdiction that preserves chastity within its natural bounds ; and thence it is, as I have already stated, that we live in perfect tranquillity on this score, so dreadfully mischievous and annoying in other societies. There are few things which wo possess that we do not possess in common; but wives and mistresses are a sacred exception. AW command the whole universe, the fields, the fruits, the herbage, the forests, the mountains, the rivers and the foun- tains, the stars and all the elements of nature. Early accustomed to hardships, we can scarcely be said to be sufferers ; we sleep as soundly and comfortably upon the ground as upon beds of down ; and the parched skin of our bodies is to us equal to a coat of mail, impenetrable to the inclemency of the weather. Insensible to grief, the most cruel torture does not afflict us, and under whatever form they make us encounter death, we do not shrink even to the change of colour. We have learned to despise death. W« make no distinction between the affirmative and the negative, when we find it absolutely necessary to our purpose. We are often martyrs ; but we never turn informers. We sing, though loaded with chains in the darkest dungeon ; and our lips are hermetically sealed under all the severe inflictions of the rack. The great and undisguised object of our profession,

OF CERVANTES. 193

is furtively to seize the property of others, and appro- priate it to our own use; thereby invariably imitating the plausible, but perfidious example, of the generality of mankind, under one mask or other, in which, however, we have no occasion to court witnesses to instruct us. In the day, we employ ourselves in insignificant, amusing, trifling matters ; but we devote the night and its accommodating darkness to the great object of our professional combination. The brilliancy of glory, the etiquette of honour, and the pride of ambition, form no obstacles to us, as they do in other fraternities. Hence we are exempt 1'rom that base, cowardly, and infamous servitude, which degrades the illustrious unhappy voluntarily into slaves."

Such was the singular race of people, who lived the life of the uncultivated savage in the midst of society ; who preserved manners, a language, and probably a religion of their own, maintaining their independence in Spain, England, and Russia, for nearly five hundred years. It may be supposed that the Gi}>$>/-fi'n'l terminates like every other romance the heroine of which is of low birth. Preciosa is discovered to be the daughter of a noble lady, and on her real rank being ascertained, she is married to her lover.

The second novel, which is entitled ihe Liberal Loner, contains the adventures of some Christians who have been reduced to slavery by the Turks. Cervantes lived in the time of the famous corsairs, Barbarossa and Dragut. The Ottoman and Barbary fleets then claimed the dominion of the Mediterranean, and had IHLII long accustomed, in conjunction with the fleets of the French and their allies, annually to ravage the shores of Italy and Spain. No one could be

194 LIFE AND WRITINGS

assured of living in safety. The Moors, running their light vessels in-shore, used to rush sword in hand into the gardens and houses which adjoined the sea ; generally attending more closely to the seizing of captives than the acquisition of plunder, from a conviction that the wealthy individuals whom they thus carried into Barbary, and shut up in the slave-yards, or condemned to the hardest labour, would gladly purchase redemption, even at the ex- pense of their whole fortune. In this state of terror, during the reigns of Charles V. and his successors, did the people live who dwelt upon the shores of the Mediterranean sea. Sicily and the kingdom of Naples, not being the residence of their sovereign, were more particularly exposed to the cruelties of the Barbary powers. They were, in fact, without a marine, without a garrison, without resources for defence, in short, without any other than a vexati- ous vice-regal government, which oppressed without protecting them. It was in their gardens, near Trapani, in Sicily, that the liberal lover and his mis- tress Leonisa, were made captives. They meet each other again at Nicosa, in Cyprus, two years after the taking of that city in 1571 ; and their adven- tures possess the double merit of romantic interest and great fidelity of character and description. Cer- vantes, who had fought in the wars of Cyprus and the Greek seas, and who, during his captivity, had become well acquainted with the Mussulmans and with the condition of their Christian slaves, lias given to his Eastern tales a great appearance of historical truth. The imagination cannot feign a more cruel moral infliction, than that to which a man of a culti- vated mind is subjected when he falls, together with all the objects of his fondest affection, into the hands of

OP CERVANTES. 195

a barbarian master. The adventures, therefore, of corsairs and their captives, are all of them singularly romantic. At one period the French, the Italian, and the Spanish writers borrowed all their plots from this source. The public, however, soon became fatigued with the same unvarying fictions. Truth alone possesses the essence of variety ; and the ima- gination, unnourished by truth, is compelled to copy itself. Every picture of captivity which Cervantes has presented to us is an original, for he painted from the memory of his own sufferings. The other descriptions of this kind appear to be merely cast from this first model. Romance writers "should not be permitted to introduce the corsairs of Algiers into their tales, unless, like Cervantes, they have been themselves inmates of the slave-yard.

The third, entitled Rinconctc and Cortadillo, is of another class, though completely Spanish. It is in the Picaresco style, of which the author of La^a- rillo </•' Tn,-i,t<-s was the inventor. The history of two young thieves is related in this novel with the greater humour, inasmuch as the wit of the Spanish writers was peculiarly reserved for the description of vulgar life. It seems that they were only permitted to ridicule such as had absolutely cast aside all pre- tensions to probity. It is from those writers that we have invariably borrowed our descriptions of the social life and organization of the community of thieves and beggars, and it is amongst them alone, we are almost inclined to believe, that they ever existed. The company of robbers of Seville, and the authority possessed by their chief, Monipodio, are pleasantly described in this novel. The most laugh- able portions of it, however, and which are very correct as far as regards both Spain -and Italy, are o 2

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those in which the strange union of devotion and licentiousness amongst these vagabonds is described. In the place where the thieves assemble there is an image of the Virgin, with a throne for the offer- ings, and a vessel for the holy water near it. Amongst the robbers an old woman arrives, " who, without saying a word to any one, walks across the room, and, taking some of the water, devoutly falls upon her knees before the image ; and, after a long prayer, having kissed the ground thrice, and raised as often her eyes and hands to heaven, rises, places her offering on the throne, and walks out again."

All the thieves in turn make an offering in silver, for which purpose they reserve part of their acqui- sitions, to be employed in masses for the souls of their deceased companions, and of their benefactors. Thus a young robber who conducts Rinconete to the meeting, to the question — " Perhaps, then, you follow the occupation of a thief?" replies, "I do so in the service of God and of all worthy people."

In general we are apt to imagine, that this corrupt and unruly portion of society, who violate, without ceasing, all laws divine and human, are infidels in their religious opinions ; as it is difficult to believe that those who feel any sentiments of religion, would attach themselves to such infamous and criminal occupations. When, therefore, in the countries of the south, we remark assassins, robbers, and prostitutes scrupulously fulfilling all the cere- monials of religion, we immediately accuse them of hypocrisy, and imagine that by this show of Chris- tianity they merely wish to deceive those whose eyes are upon them. This, however, is an error ; for in the south of Europe all these people, the refuse of society, are really under the influence of religious feelings.

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These malefactors, when they become numerous, find or form an abandoned priesthood, who, living upon their offerings, and partaking the produce of their crimes, are always ready to sell them absolu- tion. The criminal commits the offence with a determination to repent of it, and in the expectation of absolution ; while the priest confesses him with a conviction that the faith is in him, and that the repentance is sincere. Scarcely, however, does the penitent leave the confessional, when he returns to his criminal habits. By this shocking abuse of reli- gion, the priest and the offender silence their con- sciences in the midst of all their iniquities. Their religion is not a salutary curb ; it is an infamous contract, by which the most corrupt men believe that they may purchase a license to satisfy all their evil propensities. The voice of conscience is stifled by their faith in the act of penitence ; else the infa- mous and infidel robber would never reach the same degree of depravity which we may remark in those villains, so zealous and so pious, who have been painted by Cervantes, and of whom we find the models in Italy, as well as in Spain.

The three first novels are of a very dissimilar cast ; the nine which follow them complete the varied circle of invention. The $/itini.-<l>-EngUsh Lady, it is true, shows that Cervantes was much more imperfectly acquainted with the heretics than with the Moors. The Licentiate of Glass, and the Dialogue of the tico Dogs of the Hospital of the Reszirrection, are satirical pieces, displaying much wit and incident. The Beautiful Char-woman resembles a love-romance ; and the Jealous Man <>f Estrcmadura is distin- guished by the excellence of its characters, by its plot, and by the skill with which the catastrophe is

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brought about. We have in this tale an example of the prodigious power of music over the Moors. An African slave, whose fidelity has resisted every temptation, cannot be persuaded to be unfaithful to his trust, except by the hope of being taught to play upon the guitar, and to chaunt ballads like the pre- tended blind man who every evening rouses him to ecstacy by his music. The novels of Cervantes, like Don Quixote, lead us into Spain, and open to us the houses and the hearts of her inhabitants; while their infinite variety proves how completely their author was master of every shade of sentiment and every touch of feeling.*

CHAPTER XIII.

Characteristics of novel •writing — Its former and present peculiari- ties.— The test of time — Increased popularity of Cervantes — High opinion expressed by his rivals — Tacit admission of Cer- vantes' merit hy Lope de Vega — Opposed to a vicious popu- larity, or vulgar fame — Extended the same high sentiment to the drama — His views of the drama — State of the Spanish stage — Its extravagance — Bad taste — And depravity — Example — Base proceedings of the Licentiate Avellancda — Violent party spirit excited — Moderation and magnanimity of Cervantes — Extreme bitterness and enmity of his rival — Mystery in which it is enveloped — Silence of his contemporaries on the subject — Im- provement of the Spanish language by Cervantes.

THE constant fluctuation of customs and manners must influence at all times the composition and cha- racter of novels, and being drawn from the passing scenes of life, there are persons who, forgetful of these circumstances, prefer modern compositions to

* Literature of the South of Europe, by M. Sismoudi, iii., pp. 392-40G.

OF CERVANTKS. 199

those of Cervantes ; but if they will take the trouble to analyse the one and the other, they will discover, that in the disposition and plot of the fable, in pro- priety of character, the expression of the passions, grace and elegance of style, and appropriate reflec- tions, Cervantes is superior. For in his works we see nature represented with all the truth and all the variety of incident inseparable from human life, while in other writers we find elaborate artifice, and studied affectation. Hence it happens that these early Spanish tales, even after the lapse of two centuries, are now read with relish and interest by persons of culti- vated minds, and that writers of the highest credit, considering them the most correct of Cervantes' works, justify the preference they have received, as fine specimens of genius and eloquence, and as chefs- d'a'uvrc of their kind.

More rivals of Cervantes, who had been roused by the publication of the first part of Don Quixote, and were jealous of the protection shown him by the Count de Lemos, and the Cardinal Archbishop of Toledo, Don Bernardo de Sandoval y Rojas, dis- covered openly their enmity and malice, when they saw the universal applause with which his tales were received ; and in order to justify their proceedings, they pretended to take up the defence of Lope de Vega, at that time enjoying a degree of popular favour un- exampled in the world of letters. They affected to consider that he had just cause of complaint against Cervantes, for his judicious censure on the Spanish put into the mouth of the canon 6f Toledo.

Cervantes does not here require any other testi- mony to his justice and moderation than the confes- sion of Lope de Vega himself, who, defending him- self from the charges which were made against him

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for the new course he followed in his dramatic com- positions, openly acknowledges in 1602, three years before the publication of Don Quixote, the many de- fects and inconsistencies, of his comedies, his extra- vagant and voluntary abandonment of all the ac- knowledged rules of art, the neglect of the examples of Plautus and Terence, and the discredit he should suffer on that account with foreign nations; consi- dering himself so much the more culpable than others, as he not only opposed the principles of the most venerable names of antiquity, but adopted a vicious style, in order to accommodate himself to the corrupt taste of the vulgar, and to insure a sale for his works ; and he then spoke of himself in terms which courtesy and urbanity would forbid others to use towards him.

It was thus that Cervantes, treating of the Spanish stage in a style of judicious criticism, declared how prejudicial it was for the drama to become mere saleable merchandise, as authors were thus compelled to conform to the taste of the players who purchased their works : and as he could not undeceive himself as to the influence which Lope had in supporting such a corruption of public taste, he thus proceeds to ani- madvert on his plays, though without naming their author : " And that this is the case, we may con<- clude from the infinite number of comedies which have been produced by a writer of the happiest genius in all this realm, and which possess such life, such grace, such elegant diction, such excellent plots, such weighty sentences, and finally, are so rich in elocu- tion and grandeur of style, as to have filled the world with his fame ; but in accommodating himself to the taste of the players, he has not carried them all to that pitch of perfection which was within his reach."

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Here we see with what feeling and delicacy he pointed out the defects of many of the plays of this celebrated writer, knowing that they are more pre- judicial when they are accompanied by great talents, supported by a reputation so popular and so extra- ordinary, as that enjoyed by Lope at this time. It was thus the great philosopher and critic Diony- sius Longinus acted, in respect to Plato and Homer; and the same excellent style of criticism, adopted by him in his notice of the Dialogues of Plato, is dis- played by Cervantes, if we may believe the accom- plished and erudite Garces. He observed the same degree of circumspection in his remarks on the other comic poets ; in a way that whoever reads his cen- sures with impartiality will find reason to regard them as an excuse or apology for Lope, rather than a satire, with which he has been charged.

But the extravagances of this prolific writer, and the faults of his dramatic writings, were treated with much more severity by Cristoval de Mera, Mica Andrez Rey de Artieda, D. Esteban flannel de Villegas, Cristoval Suarez de Figueroa, and above all, and more openly, by Pedro de Torres Ramila, professor of theology and teacher of grammar, in Alcala de Henares, whose Spongia, published in Paris, in 1617, depreciates the merit of several au- thors of high reputation, and amongst others of Lope de Vega ; expressing a caustic and injurious opinion of his works, and their influence on manners. This attack was so acutely felt by the passionate admirers of Lope, that they unanimously raised their voice to defend him with zeal and courage, and loaded him with extraordinary praises, particularly Don Fran- cisco Lopez de Aguilar, presbitary and knight of the order of St. Juan, and Alonso Sanchez, professor of

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Greek, Hebrew, and Chaldaic, in the university of AI- cala, in a work which they published, with the title of Expostulatio Spongice, and an Ajipcntliv, where they endeavoured to resent the wrongs heaped on him by the pens of these insolent rivals and calum- niators. In order to comprehend the whole justice of the censure passed by Cervantes on Lope de Vega, and his good temper and moderation, it will be ne- cessary to advert to the state of the Spanish stage at that time, and for this purpose no testimony can be more free from suspicion, nor of higher authority, than that of D. Suarez de Figueroa, who was then living, and who says : —

" The writers of plays of the present day are wholly ignorant, or appear to be, of the principles of their art ; excusing themselves by asserting that they are obliged to conform to the prevailing taste of the public, who, they say, find the more regular plots, as those of Plautus and Terence, tedious and wearisome. Thus to gratify a vicious taste, these pieces are divested of all learning, and morality, and care of language, in a manner that persons may attend them for three or four hours without deriving any im- provement from them at last. There is no persuad- ing these modern writers that, in order to emulate the ancients, they ought to inculcate pure morals, and teach the art of living wisely and well, as is the part of a good dramatist, not unaccompanied with passages of wit and humour. But on the contrary, most of the comic writers evince a poor and con- tracted genius ; each choosing his subject according to his own taste, and executing it without either rule or design. Thus persons, scarcely able to road, aspire to write plays ; as for example, the tailor of Toledo, and the sack-clothman of Seville, and other

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low and wretched pretenders like these. The result of this has been the production of a race of low comedies, filled with indecent dialogue and the poorest attempts at wit, and abounding in inconsistencies and impro- babilities. All respect towards the female sex is disregarded ; a mere licentious freedom reigns throughout, sufficient to outrage a respectable audi- ence. The most absurd thing is, that there are per- sons who seek to create a fresh interest by a new style, and introduce in all the comedies a person under the name of a poet, in whose person they very consistently comprise all possible faults and misfor- tunes."

If such was the depravity of the stage, and its consequences so injurious, we cannot sufficiently admire the sagacity and skill with which Cervantes censures without offending any particular individual, although justly lamenting that the good name of Lope was borrowed to authorise and protect these scandalous irregularities, which, from his genius and unbounded popularity, he was, perhaps, the only person who could remedy and correct.

The testimonies of respect which Cervantes thus manifested towards Lope de Vega, were not feigned; for in his Canto de Caliopelie has bestowed upon him the highest commendations ; and he afterwards re- peated them with the greatest sincerity, in the sonnet which he inserted in the opening of the Dragontea, in the Viar/e al Parnaso, in the interlude of the Guanla Cuidadosa, in the prologue to his Comedias, and in many places in his Don Quixote, where, giving the lie to all who attributed to him malice or ill will, he says that they are wholly deceived, for of such a man (speaking of Lope) he adores the genius, and admires his works, and his commendable labours.

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And Lope, alive to this praise, generously reciprocates it, making honourable mention of Cervantes in his Dorotea, and in La Novela Prirnera ; and comme- morates his merit also after his death, in the Laurel de Apolo. it being very evident that they both cordially united in the cultivation and improvement of letters, and the correction of abuses, with that noble and candid emulation, as in the classic age of gold, and animating each other, and exchanging those friendly expostulations and admonitions which are requisite for the advancement of literature. These facts suffi- ciently prove how remote from the mind of Cervantes were those miserable passions and resentments with which some evil-disposed persons have charged him, who would measure the nobility and dignity of great minds by the littleness and baseness of their own hearts.

Of this class there existed at that time a writer of plays, who, wounded and chagrined at having been included in Cervantes' general censure of the stage, and swelling with envy and anger at the great name and credit which the latter had obtained, and having the audacity to identify himself with Lope, presented himself in the lists, although under a false name, country, and profession, and had the hardihood to publish a continuation of the romance of Don Quixote, while its legitimate author was not only living, but«had already written and announced the appearance of the second part, in the prologue to his tales.

Such was the profligate audacity of this writer, who, vinder the assumed name of the licentiate Alonso Fernandez de Avellaneda, pretending to be a native of Tordesillas, published in Tarragona, about the middle of the year 1614, a continuation, or second

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part of Don Quixote, in the preface to which he pretends to mark out the limits of prudence and urbanity, venting the malice engendered in his heart, and insulting the grey hairs and well-earned fame of Cervantes, whom he designates as a lame, envious, reckless grumbler, and an incarcerated delinquent.

Thus putting his sickle, in an unprincipled manner, into another's harvest, he threatens to deprive Cer- vantes of the profits of his second part, which he was then on the point of publishing ; while the malignant libeller never considered, as Cervantes well observed, that in order to compose histories and books, of whatever kind they may be, it is requisite to possess a sound judgment, and a matured understanding ; and that it requires no common genius to write with elegance. In whatever light we view this pro- logue, we cannot help denouncing it as an infamous libel, deserving the severest vengeance of the law.

"When this medley of contemptuous reproaches reached the hands of Cervantes, at the head of an insipid and indecent production, the second part of Don Quixote was already far advanced, and he mentions it in his fifty-ninth chapter, but with remarkable delicacy in relation to his personal wrongs, and with extreme humour and grace when he touches on the literary defects of his rival ; treating with generous disdain the imputations which he had made, as demonstrating the perversity of his rival's mind, or ridiculing his ignorance and want of talent.

It was in the power of Cervantes to have with- drawn the mask, and to have delivered over this culprit to public indignation, but his natural mode- ration of temper, and other considerations, prevented him. At the same time he offered himself to the

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conflict with a genuine openness and frankness. When we draw a parallel between Cervantes and Avellaneda on this occasion, we cannot but remark the noble generosity and decorum of the one, and the meanness and malignity of the other; as on a comparison also of the two works, the genius, eru- dition, and grace of Cervantes are strongly contrasted with the pedantry, insipidity, and dulness of Avel- laneda.

It was only the universal celebrity and acknow- ledged merit of Cervantes, that could have excited any curiosity respecting the real person hidden under the assumed name of Avellaneda; for he would certainly have soon disappeared, together with his work, if Cervantes had overlooked his conduct, and had made no mention of his wretched adversary ; but the desire to vindicate his own reputation, and to ridicule his rival, was the cause of perpetuating his memory in the same work which bore his, own fame to distant generations; and in proportion as the reputation of his own works is extended, the curiosity increases to learn who the pigmy was, who thus dared to measure himself with the Atlas of Spanish literature.

It could be nothing else, if we examine the matter fairly, than a love of novelty, which led M. Le Sage to publish in Paris, in 1704, the Don Quixote of Avellaneda, translated into French, in a very elegant and pleasing style ; but in order to escape the dis- gust which its insipidity and disagreeable qualities were sure to occasion, he took the liberty of altering the original, purifying it from many dull, as well as indecent passages, and adding many engaging tales and episodes of his own ; for although, according to the French critics, Le Sage possessed little invention

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of his own, hewas yet endowed with a singular talent for embellishing and perfecting the ideas of others, and in this manner making them his own : as he did with the Diablo Cojuelo, of Luis Vekz de Guevara, and with other Spanish tales ; thus eluding the difficulty he found in conforming to the original, either from their inimitable humour and burlesque style, or from want of expression in the French language.

These changes so far improved the work of Avel- laneda as to entitle it to some share of public esteem ; but those who were ignorant of the liberties taken by the translator, and believed it to be a faithful and correct version, blindly praised Avellaneda, consider- ing him exempt from the faults they found in Cer- vantes, and assuring us that the latter had imitated and copied the second part of Avellaneda, and re- proaching him, at the same time, with the injustice with which, impelled by anger and resentment, he had treated his competitor. This was the opinion expressed by the author of the Diario de los Sabios, and also by Dr. Diego de Torres, and others, all judging of Avellaneda from the French translation only, censuring the neglect of the Spaniards who were insensible to the interest of the story, as if, although its style was not very correct, it was valuable for the many beauties of invention which it contained and the corresponding harmony of the narration.

The verdict of persons of such high reputation attracted to his party others not less distinguished in the republic of letters, and more especially Don Bias de Navarre, who, disguising himself under the name of Don Isidro Perales y Torres, who was an ecclesiastical friend of his, republished in Madrid, in 1732 the Don Quixote of Avellaneda with a dedica- tion, which he also wrote under an assumed name,

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ascribing it to a friend of his, who enjoyed a benefice in the parish church of Aliaga, and requiring from the friendship of Don Augustin de Montiano an opinion equally favourable of this writer.

With such a parade of encomiums and panegyrics, Avellaneda appeared in the eighteenth century, as if to revenge himself for the contemptuous neglect he had experienced in the age in which he lived ; but with all this he could not impose on persons of clear judgment, and thus only enjoyed a short-lived and superficial popularity; while the book, which had been difficult to meet with, lost this barren attraction as soon as it became known, and criticism and good taste soon consigned it to the sepulchre in which it had so long remained undisturbed. However, the fame and reputation of Cervantes have given rise to much curiosity in our own time, and led to a new edition of the work of Avellaneda, though the licen- tious narrative and tales which it contained, are omit- ted ; but without in the remotest manner injuring the delightful Don Quixote of his noble rival, whose fame has traversed the habitable globe.

The silence of contemporary writers, or the caution with which the few who speak of Avellaneda men- tion him in his own age, is, in reality, some reflection on the levity and presumption of those, who, a hundred years after him, began to lavish praises which were never merited. The lapse of time and the diffi- culty of ascertaining the real truth, have stimulated the curiosity and diligence of some literary men to inquire who the disguised Avellaneda was ; and although we are too far removed to treat this question with accuracy, we may yet with propriety state what others have done in the prosecution of this question. When Nicolas Antonio makes mention of this dull

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novelist in his B'Mioteca, he openly states the little esteem in which he was held, and the inferiority of his genius to that of Cervantes. Mayans corroborates this censure, for, inclining to find something myste- rious ia the expressions of Cervantes, he judged, from some passage in the prologue to the second part of Don Quixote, that his enemy was a man of rank, and for this reason he did not venture to give his name ; but vacillating in his judgment, he afterwards thinks that he might purposely conceal it, that he might not extend the fame of a mean and despicable person. AVith more correct judgment and greater proba- bility, P. Murillo conjectures, in his Geografia His- torica, that he was an ecclesiastic ; and Pellicer, who laboured with great pains to further this investigation, not only supports this opinion, but adds further, that he was a monk of the order of Predicadores. This is confirmed in part by many of the incidents and passages in his work of Don Quixote — the partiality with whii-h he alludes to the peculiar manners of that order, the zeal to promote its interests, the exact description of its ceremonies and religious practices, and an evident scholastic and theological knowledge, supported by texts and authorities from the holy fathers. It is equally probable that this masked Zoilus was a writer of comedies, and was included in the general censure that Cervantes makes of him in his Don Quixote, and in his Viage al Parnaso, when he calls on Lope de ATega to aid his cause ; and it appears also that he was present at two controver- sies which we find announced in Zaragoza in 1(314, on the elucidation of ten enigmas which were circulated in that city ; and although, from the allusions the judges make in their sentences to various passages of the Quixote, it is ascertained that he was a com- p

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petitor, yet sufficient light is not afforded to say decid- edly which of the many poets who are there named was the feigned Avellaneda. When we reflect on what has heen stated, and the proof we have of his real country, we may conclude that the circumspection and moderation of Cervantes towards his rival, pro- ceeded from the support and protection that this person found in the interest and authority of the confessor of the King, Fr. Luis de Aliaga, a monk of the same order and a native of Zaragoza, who pos- sessed great influence at court in all public affairs ; but who, it is said, behaved with signal ingrati- tude towards his benefactor the duke of Lerma. His manners too, were so gross and disorderly, that they excited the complaint of many persons, the censure of contemporary writers, and ultimately led to the de- privation of his dignities on the accession of Philip IV. It was not extraordinary, therefore, that Cervantes, under these circumstances, finding himself absent from his protector the count de Lemos, who was sur- rounded by the Argensolas, also Aragonians, that might very much influence his situation, should prefer concealing the name and rank of his adversary, out of respect to his station, profession, and connexions, to making known that name, and holding him up to public shame, and gratifying his own just indignation; well knowing, as he says in his tales, that cowards and persons of base minds become bold and insolent when they are protected, and more prone to offend those who excel them. But we have evidence of his being a native of Aragon and not of Tordesillas, as supposed, for Cervantes has not only stated this fact on several occasions, but it is further confirmed in an indisputable manner by Avellaneda's language and style, and the use of certain words and modes of expression peculiar to that province, and which he

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either did not or could not avoid, as other more cele- brated Aragonese of that age did, especially the two brothers the Argensolas, of whom Lope de Vega said, that they were sent from Aragon to instruct our poets in the Castilian tongue.

TheCastilian language indeed began about this time to lose that dignity and elegance which it had acquired in the last century ; and one great cause of its decay and corruption was the infinite number of poets who, without any other principle than their own caprice, or any other guide than their own distempered imagination, profaned the temple of the muses, sub- stituting artful refinements of language for dignified expression, and the ostentation of extravagant meta- phors and a Latinised phraseology for the elegance and perspicuity of the pure Castilian idiom. This contagion spread rapidly even among men of the first genius of that age, and found in the vulgar a welcome and applause as extraordinary as general. To oppose a mound to this evil torrent Cervantes composed his Viage alPamato, in imitation of a work of this kind published in Italy, by Cesar Caporali, a native of Perugia, and who resembled Cervantes not only in his keen and festive wit, but also in his unfortunate life. Cervantes in this work gives the meed of praise to all poets deserving of it, assigning them the rank they were entitled to in Parnassus, and banish- ing thence the multitude of corruptors of the noble Cas- tilian language, some of whom might be said to write in Latin and others in Arabic. But as Cervantes, besides his attachment to letters, considered himself not undeserving from his genius of occupying a dis- tinguished place among the poets of his country, but even was on the other hand comparatively poor and necessitous, ere he had reached the last stage of life, P —

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he availed himself of this opportunity to desire Mercury to acquaint Apollo with his military and literary labours, and how ill they had heen rewarded by those who ought to have remembered him, es- teeming himself a poet, as Rios well observes, in the service of the gods, in order that the favour of them might atone for the injustice and insensibility of mankind.

CHAPTER XIV.

Literary productions — The Viage al Parnaso — Complains of the neglect of his friends — of men of rank — the court — the country for which he hied — The Adjunta al Parnaso — Fresh disap- pointments— Injustice of the Spanish theatre — He composes new plays — Maligned and persecuted — Revises his comedies — Dedi- cates them to the Count dc Lemos — Their cold reception — Characteristics of the drama of that period — Examination of the various subjects treated by Cervantes — His contemporary, Lope de Vega — "Justus Poeticas " — Second part of Don Quixote- Humorous picture of his rival — Pleasant dialogue — Delicate feeling of Cervantes — Contrasted with his rival — His style — Charged with Italianisms by his enemies — His purity and har- mony of style — His works translated and published in other countries.

CERVANTES set a high value on the Viage al Par- naso, which, in fact, is more to be commended for its conception and design, than its style and language. In this piece he gives full scope to the feelings of his heart, and openly avows his extreme poverty and destitution, sets forth his merits as a soldier and as an author, complains of the neglect and forgetfulness of his former friends, the indifference of his noble patrons, and the perverse obstinacy of his evil star. The justice of his complaints is here not less remark- able than the temper and moderation with which he

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enforces them. It was perhaps for these reasons, or from the fear he had that this new work might not be well received by the count de Lemos, that he re- solved to dedicate it to Don Rodrigo de Tapia, knight of the order of Santiago, who in his youth had cultivated letters with assiduity and success.

It was about three years before his death, that Cervantes produced this singular work, more particu- larly devoted to criticism and literary satire. It was composed in terze rime, in eight cantos, of about three hundred verses each, and entitled Viage al Parnaso, or " A Journey to Parnassus." Cervantes is farther represented as being wearied with a state of poverty, and ambitious of obtaining the name of a poet, while he modestly asserts, at the same time, that Heaven has refused him the requisite talents ; but, hoping for the best, he sets out on foot from Madrid to Carthagena. " A white loaf," he says, " and a few pieces of cheese which I placed in my wallet, were all my provisions for the journey ; a weight not too heavy for a pedes- trian traveller. Adieu, said I to my humble habi- tation ; adieu, Madrid ! Adieu, ye meadows and fountains from whence flow nectar and ambrosia ! Adieu, too, society! where, for one truly happy man, we find a thousand pretenders to happiness ! Adieu, agreeable, but deceitful residence. Adieu, theatres, honoured by well praised ignorance ; where, day after day, a thousand absurdities are repeated !"

Upon his arrival at Carthagena the poet is re- minded, by a view of the sea, of the glorious exploits of Don John of Austria, under whom lie had served. While he is seeking for a vessel, he sees a light boat approach, propelled both by sails and oars, to the sound of the most harmonious musical instruments. Mercury, with his winged feet, and his caduceus in

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his hand, invites the poetical pilgrim in the most courteous manner to embark for Parnassus, whither Apollo, it seems, had already summoned his faithful poets ; for it was full time to protect himself, by their assistance, against the terrible invasion of bad taste. At the same time he requests him to inspect the extraordinary construction of the vessel into which he had just entered. From prow to poop he found it composed entirely of verses, the various styles of which are ingeniously represented by the different purposes to which they are applied. The spars were made of long and melancholy elegies ; the mast of a prolix song; and the other parts of the vessel were formedin a similar manner. Mercury next pre- sents to Cervantes a formidable catalogue of Spanish poets,andasks his advice as to the propriety of admit- ting or rejecting each individual. This question gives Cervantes an opportunity of characterising the con- temporary poets in a few brief verses, which, at the present day, are exceedingly obscure. It is often very difficult to determine whether his praises are ironical or sincere. The poets now arrive (as if by enchantment) and crowd into the vessel; but a terrible storm soon whistles about their ears. Many marvellous adventures succeed ; and the mar- vellous is always mingled with a touch of the satiri- cal. The names introduced are all of them of un- known personages ; the production is in many parts obscure ; and, whatever the trip may have produced to the poets, to the reader it is often not a little fatiguing. A few passages, indeed, notwithstanding the frequent satirical allusions which are scattered through them, still display many poetical charms. The opening of the third canto may be adduced as an instance :

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" Smooth gliding verses are its oars; by these

Impell'd, the royal galley, fast and light, Wore her clear course o'er unresisting seas ;

With white sails spread to the extremest height Of the tall mast. Of the most delicate thought,

Woven by Jove himself, in colours bright The various tissue of those sails was wrought.

Soft winds upon the poop with amorous force, Breathed sweetly all, as if they only sought

To waft that bark on her majestic course. The syrens sport around her as she holds

Her rapid voyage through the waters hoarse, Which, like some suowy garment's flowing folds,

Roll to and fro ; and on the expanse of green, Bright azure tints the dazzled eye beholds.

Upon the deck the passengers are seen In converse. These discuss the art of verse,

Arduous and nice; those sing ; and all between, Others the dictates of the muse rehearse."

Cervantes pleads his own cause before Apollo, and sets forth the merits of his different works with a degree of pride which has sometimes been cen- sured. But who will not forgive the proud feeling of conscious superiority, which sustains genius when sinking under the pressure of misfortune? Who will insist upon humility in a man who, whilst he formed the glory of his age, found himself, in old age and in sickness, but little removed from poverty ? "Was it not just that Cervantes, to whom his country had denied all recompense, should appropriate to himself that glory which he felt he had so truly merited ?*

As a continuation to this work, which appeared at the clor?e of 1614, he published the Adjunta al Parnaso, a dialogue in prose, in which he represents, with much freedom of grace and style, a conversation

* M. Sismondi. Literature of the South, &c., vol. iii. pp. 340, 344.

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which he had had with a new poet, who brought st paper for the god Apollo, containing a list of ordinances and privileges for the Spanish poets. The object of this little work seems to have been the same as that of the Viage al Parnaso, but he was here more desirous to make his comedies known, and to publish his complaints of the comedians, who, holding his plays cheap, neither asked for them nor bought them. Some had in former times been represented with general applause, and others he thought might obtain popularity from their novelty, if not from their merit, as they were not yet known to the public. This neglect of the players wounded the self-love of Cervantes in so lively a manner, that in this dialogue he declares his intention of publishing his plays, that the public might form a dispassionate opinion on their merits.

But, in prosecuting the object of his wishes, he exposed himself to fresh disappointments ; for, ima- gining that his plays still enjoyed popularity, he composed some new comedies, but was unable to procure their representation. This disgusted him so much, that he threw them into a chest, and con- demned them to perpetual oblivion. But compelled by poverty, and anxious to derive assistance from every quarter, he offered them for sale soon after to Juan de Villaroel. This person ingenuously con- fessed to him that he should have cheerfully pur- chased them, had not an author of celebrity just said to him — that as to Cervantes the world might expect much from his prose, but nothing from his poetry. He was extremely mortified by this answer, from the desire he had always felt of maintaining his fame as a poet, and under this heavy disappointment he deter- mined to re vise his comedies and interludes, which were

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in his opinion not undeserving of publication. With this view he renewed his treaty with the bookseller Villaroel, with whom he ultimately agreed for the sale of them. In pursuance of this agreement, he published in September 1615, eight comedies, and as many interludes, with a handsome dedication to the Count de Lemos, and a prologue as sensible as learned, and highly valuable for a detailed history it contains of the Spanish stage.

But the public received these works with indif- ference, and the players did not adopt them. This, indeed, was not to be wondered at, as Lope de i had at this time inundated the stage with his popular productions, and many other agreeable and successful writers seconded him in supporting a style of writing which had obtained general applause. Cervantes was aware of this, and confessed it with frankness and sincerity in his prologue ; and it was this circumstance, or the advice of his friends, that led him to view his compositions in their true light. At the same time he asserts that they are neither tasteless nor immoral, that the verse was what was required for this class of works, and the language appropriate to the characters ; but that, to gratify the taste of a fastidious public, and to show his know- ledge of the laws of dramatic poetry, he proposed to correct all his faults in a comedy he was then writ- ing, called el Engano a los ojos (which never saw the light). This would have been a desirable result, as it would have enabled us to jndge whether Cer- vantes, when he found out his defects, had possessed discernment and judgment sufficient to correct them. It is thus that we sometimes see the observation con- firmed, that there are many men of ability in specu- lative theories, who are totally deficient in a disposi-

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tion and aptitude requisite for the application of them to practice, and some have undertaken to defend or acquit Cervantes of some absurd errors in his comedies, by excuses as singular as inconsi- derate. This was the case with D. Bias Xasarre, who, after having published with undeserved eulo- gium the Don Quixote of Avellaneda, reprinted also, in 1749, the comedies and interludes of Cervantes, in order, as he says, to rescue them from the oblivion in which they lay, while the other works of the same author occupied the attention of all civilised nations. It is his opinion that Cervantes composed these plays with the intention of ridiculing the comedies of his own time, intentionally writing them in bad taste to lash and burlesque the defective and absurd pieces which were introduced on the stage ; and by this means correcting the depraved taste and immoralities of the scene, in the same manner as he wrote Don Quixote in order to ridicule the absurd writers of knight-errantry. The Abate Lampillas asserts also, by way of justifying Cervantes, that the male- volence of the printers led them to publish, with his name and prologue, these extravagant come- dies, which were adapted to the depraved taste of the vulgar, and that they suppressed those which were in reality his compositions, substituting others for them.

No stronger proof can be given of the irregu- larity of these dramas, than the strange subterfuges with which their apologists pretend to defend and exculpate them. A single glance at the Spanish drama of the time will convince us that the defects of the comedies of Cervantes were common to all, or the greater part, of those that were then represented, yet were such as Cervantes considered as excellent,

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and composed agreeably to the strictest rules of art. These were performed with the most unqualified applause for many years, as La Isabela, La Fills y la Alejandro,, of Argensola, La Ingratltud Vtngada, of Lope de Vega ; the Mcrcader Amante, of Gaspar de Avila, and the Enemiga Favorable of the Canon Fran- cisco Tarrega. All these abound with faults and improprieties, which have now rendered them insuf- ferable; and the Trato de Argel, and the Numantla, which we have seen lately published, which Cer- vantes acknowledged as his, and which he thought so well worthy of the stage, in spite of the absurdities we now notice in them, confirm us in the opinion that those equally belong to him which were pub- lished in 1615, as, indeed, he acknowledges in his dedication and prologue ; and that it was the change of manners and the greater delicacy and refinement in the public taste, that reprobated and condemned the numerous pieces which, twenty or thirty years before, the public had received with eagerness, and wel- comed with such unbounded applause ; for we find Cervantes mentioned as an author among other cele- brated men who had advanced the Spanish drama, by Agustin de Rojas, in his Viage Entretcnido, and by Dr. Suarez de Figueroa, in his Plaza Universal. A greater degree of merit is due to the entremises or interludes of Cervantes; short dramas or dialogues, jocose and burlesque, which were usually performed between the acts of the play, to render the whole performance more attractive. These were at first simple eclogues, but, as the stage improved, they acquired more dignity and ornament. Kings, queens, and persons of rank, were introduced into them by Juan de la Cueva, and he was followed by Cervantes and others. It then became the custom

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to call the ancient comedies entremises, while the art was in its origin, the scene and characters being laid in low life, as Lope de Vega informs us. Such were the interludes at the beginning of the 17th century, and many years afterwards, until the moderns, with a more extended and complicated plot, adulterated the original simplicity of the piece ; and even these were not wanting in merit, especially the pieces of Ramon de la Cruz.

There prevailed undeniably in these old interludes such well- seasoned jests, so much humour and truth in the low and ridiculous characters, such naivete of manners and simplicity of language, that they have always commanded the attention of an enlight- ened public, as is evident from the collection made of them at different periods. Cervantes composed some of this class ; but he only published eight among his comedies. They exhibit his singular faculty of representing every species of character and custom, and are a proof of his natural and masterly talent for dialogue ; his fine and delicate touch in painting the ridiculous and extravagant, with wit, amenity, and inimitable grace.

A modern writer, not without good reason, laments that with such ample requisites Cervantes did not expose on the stage the social vices and follies of his own age and nation, in which path he would probably have equalled Moliere. M. Florian, who has formed a just estimate of this species of literature, asserts that these entremises of Cervantes are superior to his come- dies ; that they possess a vein of rich comic humour, though some of them are too free ; but that they are admirable productions : above all, the one entitled La Cueva de Salamanca, in imitation of which the French wrote their Enchanted Soldier, and the Table of

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Wonden, which afforded materials to the celebrated Piron for an opera called the false Prodigy, though much inferior to its original.

Thus, Lope de Vega composed, in 1598, his play of Los Cautiros de Argel, .borrowing the story and inci- dents, and even some of the scenes and expressions, from the Trato de Argel, which Cervantes had written many years before. Cervantes too, introduced in his cntremises several subjects he had before touched on in his works, as, the incidents in the house of Monipodio, the adventures of the jealous Canizares, and of Roque Guinart ; and he left for publication others not less pleasing and attractive, as that of the Halladores, which was published in Seville in 16:24. Some have also thought that Cervantes composed some auto* MKfYMMMAUM, and have attributed to him the one entitled las Cortes de la Mucrt\ of which he speaks in the ninth chapter of the second part of Don Quixote, but hitherto we have not met with any proof for this conjecture.

Among the institutions most deserving of com- mendation which were established at this period, for the reward of talent, we may mention the assemblies called Justas poeticsa (literary contests). These were of long standing among the Spaniards, and were established, it should seem, in imitation of those jousts and tournaments where the young nobility of Castile displayed their gallantry and courage. Literary men found, in these contests, a means of distinguishing themselves by an honourable competi- tion ; and thus contributed, by their productions, to render such meetings popular. One of these meet- ings was celebrated in Madrid in the year 1614, on occasion of the pope, Paul V., beatifying Santa Teresa de Jesus ; when the Latin and Spanish compositions

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were directed to be sent to the Procurator-general of the bare-footed Carmelites.

The tribunal of criticism was assembled in the large chapel, amidst an audience as numerous as dis- tinguished. Lope de Vega himself was one of the judges, and he opened the meeting with a speech and a discourse in praise of Santa Teresa, with such grace of language and such propriety of action, such per- suasion, such reasoning, and so much passionate tenderness, as to produce a sensation of delight in the minds of all present ; and in conclusion, after the performance of some excellent music, he recited in a fine voice the verses he had prepared for the occasion. Eight contests were then announced to the public, and in the third three prizes were offered to those who, with the most erudition and greatest elegance of style, should compose a Castilian cancion, in the lyric measure, on the " divine ecstacy" of the saint, in the manner of those of Garcilaso el dulce lamcnlar de dos pastores, so that it should not exceed seven stanzas.

The most distinguished poets of Spain crowded to this assembly, and among others Miguel de Cervantes, with a cancion, so elegant and so strictly conform- able to the laws prescribed for this contest, that it merited and obtained a place amongst the most select in the narrative which F. Diego de S. Josef wrote of this festival, which was published in Madrid in 1615.

Juan Yague de Salas had at this time finished his poem, or tragic epic, as he called it, of the celebrated and unfortunate lovers, Diego Juan Martinez de Marcilla and Isabel de Segura, commonly called The Lovers of Teruel ; and being very desirous of making it a perfect work, he not only submitted it to all the principal poets of Spain, but to all persons of science

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and professors of arts. Among these critics we find Lope de' Vega, Geronimo de Salas Barbadillo, Miguel de Cervantes, and others, whose names are preserved in the sonnets affixed to the work, in commendation of it, as if to propitiate, by their authority, the good- will and applause of the public. It appears that Yague de Salas obtained the royal privilege for print- ing this work in 1615, but it was not published until the middle of the following year, 1616, after the death of Cervantes.

These occasional proofs of his attachment to poetry, and the compliments he bestowed on deserving men of letters, did not withdraw his attention from the composition of works more instructive and engaging, and of greater extent. The principal of these, and that on which his reputation latterly reposed, was the second part of Don Quixote, promised in the year ] 604, and announced as ready for publication in 1613. This second part of Don Quixote was anti- cipated by an anonymous and unprincipled author, with an intention of destroying at one blow the genius and fame of Cervantes. Cervantes was on the point of finishing his work when Avellaneda anticipated him ; but this incident, which surprised and harassed him much, acted also on him as a powerful stimulus to finish his work with all possible despatch, and we find he had concluded it at the beginning of 1615, and was then soliciting a licence for the printing of it ; but it was delayed by his care and correction until the end of October.

In dedicating his Cvmcdias to the count de Lemos in the previous month, he says : — " Don Quixote has just put on his boots and spurs, in his second part, to set out to kiss the feet of your Excellency : I believe he will arrive somewhat out of sorts, for in

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Zaragoza they waylaid and maltreated him," &c., &c., terms which denote not only the just resent- ment of Cervantes, but also the contemptible opinion that he from that time formed of the work of his impertinent calumniator.

It is no wonder that he should thus feel himself in- jured, and we cannot but admire the generosity and prudence with which hegovernedhisproceedings after- wards. To the insolent calumnies of his rivalhe opposed the good sense and urbanity so conspicuous in his pro- logue, which may serve as a model of literary dispu- tation, and the ingenious and humorous inventions which he interweaved with the adventures of his hero, alluding to the apocryphal history of the disguised Aragonian. But nothing could be more well-timed than the apology which he makes for himself and Don Quixote, in his dedication to the count de Lemos, where, speaking of the anxiety with which his book was expected, he explains himself in these terms : — " I am pressed on all sides, by persons who are in haste to get rid of the disrelish and nausea occasioned by another Don Quixote, who, in a fictitious second part, has been running his course under a feigned name ; and the most urgent entreaties have come to me from the great emperor of China ; for, about a month since, he sent me a letter requesting, or rather supplicating me, that I would send him my Don Quixote, as he was about to found a college for the cultivation of the Castilian tongue, and the book he had appointed to be read there was the History of Don Quixote.

"At the same time he informed me he meant to appoint me rector of the college. I then inquired from the ambassador of his majesty, if he had brought any aid or subsidy. He replied, his majesty had not

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thought of it. ' Then,' said I, ' my friend, you may return to China at your leisure, for my health would not allow me to undertake so long a journey; for, licsides being infirm, I am sadly in want of money; and talk as you will of your emperors and kings, there is the great and good count de Lemos in Naples, who, in spite of your colleges and your titles, will support and protect me, and heap more favours on me than I could ask or desire.' "

The object of this petition was not only to call to the count's recollection the destitution he was suffer- ing, by addressing to his benefactor and Maecenas these expressions of his gratitude and acknowledgment for the liberality with which he at all times succoured him, but also to support the reputation of his work, and vindicate it from the malicious and unjust censure of his enemies. The principal charge brought against him by Avellaneda was, that his style or idiom was vulgar, and that he made an ostentatious display of synonymes. Cervantes, who did not con- sider it decorous to enter into an open controversy, chose rather to place the elegance and purity of his language in contrast with the rudeness and vulgarity of that of Avellaneda, under a plea that the most remote countries were anxiously expecting his work, that in it they might study the Castilian tongue, u- the most proper text-book for that purpose ; an opinion confirmed by the lapse of two centuries, by the unanimous voice of the Spanish nation, and the high authority of the Academy of Spain.

It had, in fact, been the constant aim of Cervantes from his youth, to cultivate and improve his native tongue. He endeavoured to demonstrate that it had more variety, facility, and abundance, than the world prenerally allowed, and congratulated himself with Q

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the happy result he found on comparing the style of the Galatea with that of Don Quixote and his No- relas : a decision which is confirmed by those accom- plished and judicious critics who have analysed the language and style of our classic author.

The learned D. Gregorio Garces especially de- serves honourable mention, when, in pointing out the source of the vigour and elegance of the Castilian idiom, he discovers in Cervantes qualities so eminent, that he assures us that it is lie, of all others, who has done the most to enrich it, and that he possesses singular talents for such a task. In this work he has shown the indefatigable skill and diligence of Cervantes in intro- ducing many words to adorn his country's speech, until this time slender and confined, from the objection many persons had to employ it in their works, and from the too great fear of admitting new words, with- out regarding the precept of Horace, as Arias Mon- tano observes. He then remarks how much Cer- vantes contributed to enrich the language by pure Latin words of the Augustan age, thus adding equally to its dignity and perspicuity. He also notices the propriety of these words in expressing things simply and vividly, satisfying the understanding, and pre- senting objects in their natural light, agreeably to their essence, qualities, and circumstances. He admires also that rich vein which consists, not only in an abundance of words, but in that peculiar mode of varying in a natural and opportune manner the same expression, affording additional amenity and grace to composition. And finally, he praises his sagacity in the use of old and new words, conform- able to the rules of Quintilian. Cervantes, in thus enriching his native language, would interweave a foreign word, either as being more expressive, or an-

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swering to the current of his rapid and lively imagi- nation, and the example of other ingenious writers, such as Perez de Castillo, Mendoza, Ercilla, Coloma, and others. We may allege, as a proof of his circum- spection on this point, the pleasant reproof which Don Quixote makes on visiting the printing-house at Barcelona, of the abuse of the translators there, and that of some incautious and conceited young men, who, after travelling in Italy, afterwards interlarded their style with a number of Italian phrases.

lie sometimes adopted obsolete words for the sake of grace and expression, as Cicero and Terence have done in Latin ; but with such propriety, as shows his desire to amuse the reader, and lead him to despise the old romances where such words are to be found. He, nevertheless, placed these words at the side of the new, selecting those that had preserved their spirit, grace and expression, and which a learned author has adopted as an improvement in style. The ^ of Cervantes was on this account remarkable for it< purity, harmony, facility, energy, and propriety, such as gave it an indisputable right to be placed among the first models of the Castilian tongue.

Those who have with so much captiousncss and fastidiousness charged Cervantes with the use of Italianisms, and some expressions which do not carry all the purity and delicacy which a more cc r- rect taste and the refinement of manners require, do not reflect that, until the close of the fifteenth century, the only source of improvement for the Castilian had been from the Latin, and some remains of Arabic in the southern provinces ; but after the reign of the Catholic sovereigns, and durimj the whole of the sixteenth century, the dominion in Italy and Flanders, and the frequent communication Q2

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with those countries, naturalised in Spain many •words and phrases which now form a valuable part of the staple of its language. The author of the Dialogo de las Lenguas wished, in the time of Charles V., that a number of Italian words which he mentions, as manejar, comodo, disehar, discurn>\ entrc- tener,facilitar, and others, should be introduced into the Spanish for the want it had of them, and his desires were some years afterwards fulfilled, when fluelo was introduced for dcsafio, centinela, mochihi, estrada, diquc, marisco, and an infinite number of others, by don Geronimo de Urrea, don Diego de Mendoza, Ercilla, Coloma, Suarez de Figueroa, Cris- tobal de Rojas, and other accomplished writers. And as to the purity, decorum, and dignity of words, it is acknowledged that they augment or diminish in proportion to the greater or less delicacy of the ear, the refinement of manners, the extension and popularity they have acquired, and also the expression which is assigned to them in conversation and familiar dis- course, though they may not have possessed this meaning originally, either in their composition or signification. The natural and ingenious words and expressions of Berseo and of Arcipreste de Hlta, which paint the pure and simple manners of their age, have now changed their meaning, and we no longer use them in the same sense ; and some words of Granada, Siguenza, Ribadeneira, and others of the good old time, we now rank as vulgar, low, and indelicate, though many of the old writers found in them all that dignity, grace, and propriety, which they have now lost by the refinement of taste and revolutions of time. Reflections like these, directed by philosophy and a judicious discrimination, ought. always to attend a just criticism.

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The malignant hostility of Avellaneda failed in its effects, and the pretended embassy to Cervantes seemed the more opportune when the Life of Don Quixote was looked for on all sides with the greatest anxiety, and when there actually arrived at Madrid, at the beginning of the same year, 1615, an ambas- sador from. the king of Japan, requesting that mis- sionaries might be sent to preach the Gospel to his subjects ; on which occasion an Indian of rank, whom that monarch had sent as a witness and proof of his sincerity, was baptised in the royal chapel with extraordinary ceremony in the presence of Philip III. Xor was the parallel less true at an epoch in which the Castilian tongue was held in universal esteem, which indeed it had acquired from the glorious extension of the Spanish empire in both worlds in the preceding century, and from the vast erudition of its learned men.

The Spanish language was at this time spoken at the courts of Vienna, Bavaria, Brussels, Naples, and Milan ; all the world took a pride in cultivating it, and it was thought almost a disgrace to be ignorant of it. The ties of relationship between the princes of Austria and the house of Bourbon in France, ex- tended still further the feelings of friendship, of com- merce, and interest, between the two countries, and gave so much lustre to the language which was the channel of communication, that, according to Cer- vantes, almost every person in that kingdom thought themselves bound to learn Spanish ; and in Paris it was spoken by a great part of the court, and by persons who had never travelled in Spain, according to the evidence of Ambrosio de Salazar. On this account the most able masters were established there, who thus contributed to extend the language, while

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Spanish authors of celebrity were eagerly sought after and read. And it was not uncommon to see the classical writers of this Augustan age in the houses of Frenchmen. Teacher's of Spanish, also, frequently published in several countries Spanish poems, having translated into Spanish the best works of France and other countries. This was the cause that so many Spanish books were printed in Germany, England, France, and Italy ; and that the Spaniards held the same sway over the theatres of Europe as they did over public affairs. We are informed by a French writer, that the companies of players, exercising their talents in Paris and other cities, spread abroad the beauties and excellences of Spain's great dramatists, which being soon afterwards remodelled in the hands of Moliere, Corneille, and other men of genius, became the delight of the civilised world, and the triumph of letters, as far as regards the repre- sentation of character, the delineation of the passions, and the correction of the vices and extravagances of mankind.

Cervantes, too, 'had the pleasure of seeing his novel of the Curioso Impertinente published in Paris, and afterwards translated there for the instruction of those who were studying Spanish ; and he learnt the great estimation in which his Galatea, his other works, and the second part of Don Quixote, were held in foreign countries, while he himself was living in his own country destitute and forsaken. These cir- cumstances give more reality to the allegory which he makes use of in his dedication, in which he gives vent to his complaints, but at the same time with such delicacy and discretion, that, without offence to any particular individual, it was capable of being applied to those who, from their elevated stations

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an,l their opulence, were the natural protectors of letters, but who regarded with coldness and disdain, instead of applauding and reviving, that sublime- hut neglected genius, who had rendered his country illustrious, and his productions indissolubly connected with its glory.

CHAPTER XV.

Popularity of Don Quixote — Neglect of men of letters — Curious anecdote — Compliment to Cervantes — Numerous editions of Don Quixote — Fame of the author — Ariosto — Tasso— Critical re- marks— Violence and injustice of oilier writers — Monsieur Sorel — A bold English critic — El Escudcro Obregon — Character of its author — His crafty and cavilling spirit towards Cervantes — Want of consistency and merit in his own work.

THERE were many writers of that age, who la- mented the indifference of the court, and its neglect of men of letters. A proof of it occurred, which re- lated peculiarly to Cervantes, and which he at onetime thought of relating in the parable before mentioned. As Philip the Third was one afternoon standing in a balcony of his palace, in Madrid, he observed a student on the banks of the river Manzanares, with a book in his hand, the reading of which was every now and then interrupted by his striking his forehead in an ecstacy of laughter and delight. The king earnestly regarding him, instinctively recognised the cause of his extravagant conduct, and exclaimed, — " Yon student is either mad, or reading Don Quixote."

The attendants, eager to satisfy the curiosity of the king, ran to the spot, and found that the scholar was in the midst of the delightful romance of Cer- vantes, but none of the courtiers took this opportunity of mentioning its author to the king, unmindful of

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the poverty in which he lived, loaded with infirmities and misfortunes ; and thus the happiest occasion that ever occurred of obtaining for him a pension, or affording him relief, was overlooked.

We may, perhaps, attribute to this anecdote the manner in which he speaks of the emperor of China, preferring to his praises and compliments the benefi- cence and effective liberality of the count de Lemos, whose noble character and affection for letters led him not only to encourage them, but to honour and succour with his generous aid those who assiduously cultivated them.

Whilst Cervantes experienced this contumely and neglect on the part of his o wn countrymen, andhis ri vals pursued him with rancour, he was the first object of attention to all foreigners who visited Madrid. They remarked him as he passed along the streets, and sought every means and opportunity of being intro- duced to his acquaintance and friendship. Francisco Marquez de Torres, chaplain, and master of the pages to the archbishop of Toledo, who licensed the second part of Don Quixote, has preserved to us an irrefra- gable proof of the honour in which Cervantes was held : — " But a very different feeling " (he says, in his approbation of the 27th of February, 1615) " has been manifested towards the works of Miguel de Cervantes, as well by his own countrymen as by foreigners, for they throng, as to a sight, to see the author of these works, which, for their good sense and morality, as well as for their suavity and bland- ness of style, have been received by Spain, France, Italy, Germany, and Flanders, with general applause." He relates, as a fact, that on the 23rd of February of that year, 1615, " accompanying my master, the illustrious senor Don Bernardo de Sandoval y Rojas,

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cardinal archbishop of Toledo, to return the visit of the ambassador of France, who had come to nego- tiate on a contract of marriage between France and .Spain, many Frenchmen of the archbishop's train, as well courtiers as private gentlemen and friends *f letters, applied to me and the other chaplains of my lord cardinal, to ascertain the works then most in repute, and happening to mention this, which I had just licensed, they had scarcely heard the name of Cervantes, when one of -them pronounced a great encomium on him, and spoke of the high admiration that prevailed in France and the neighbouring coun- tries of his Galatea, which some had almost by heart, his first part of Don Quixote, and his Tales. 1'hey were so warm in their admiration of him, that they intreated me to carry them to see him, as they had the most longing desire to be acquainted with him. They inquired from me his age, his profession, and every minute particular of his life. Being obliged to tell them that he was old, a soldier, a gentleman

.

by birth, and poor, one of them replied, * AVhy is such a man not adopted by Spain, and supported at the public expense ? ' Another gentleman wittily exclaimed in reply, ' If poverty compels Cervantes to write, I hope he will never know abundance, for his poverty thus enriches the world.' These marked expressions displayed the urbanity and good taste of the speaker, conveyed a delicate compliment to Cer- vantes, and a severe, though silent, invective against the indifference with which the court regarded the man of genius who had obtained for Spain such repu- tation and glory in the world of letters."

The result of this general and unbounded admira- tion was seen in the multiplication of editions of the works of Cervantes, in the original language, and in

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translations, in foreign countries. " There have been," says Don Quixote, " thirty thousand volumes of the history of my adventures published, and there will be thirty thousand more, if Heaven is favourable." •• I declare," he had said before, "that at this day there are printed more than twelve thousand books of this history, without mentioning Portugal, Barce- lona, and Valencia, where they have printed it, and there is a report, too, that it has been published in Antwerp ; and it seems to me that there soon will not be a nation or tongue where it is not translated." This prophecy of Cervantes was verified in a manner beyond his hopes, for a very few years after there appeared two editions in Venice, from the Italian translation of Lorenzo Franciosini, a native of Florence.

The French, too, who hastened to translate it, count at this day nine or ten different versions. In England, for the English were at all times passionate admirers of Cervantes, and set a just value on his works, since the year 1620 there have been produced ten different translations, as Shelton, Gayton. Ward, Jarvis, Smollett, Ozell, Motteux, Wilmont, Durfey, and J. Philips ; and all these, excellent in their way, were followed by a diligent and learned commentator, Dr. Bowie. In Germany they have published, in modern times, besides two translations, the one by Ticck, and the other by Soltau, which is the most valuable for its accuracy, a gnat variety of critical and other works upon the subject. Portugal, Hol- land, and other countries, have also naturalised it : and it is to be remarked that, in many countries, being sensible how much the vigour of expression is lost in translating such a work from the original, they have multiplied editions in Spanish, illustrating

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them with notes, commentaries, and treatises, and ornamenting them with choice engravings.

The edition by Tonson, published in London in 1738, with such care and magnificence, deserves par- ticular notice in this place. It was printed in four volumes, in quarto, and contained tho first life of Cervantes tha-t had appeared, which was written by Don Gregorio Mayans and Siscar, at the instance of Lord Carteret ; also that published, as before men- tioned, by Bowie, in Salisbury and London, in 178 1, in six volumes, large 4to ; containing in the two last volumes annotations on the work, and various indexes, among which is a most copious one of all the words in the book, in the manner of the Lest editions of the Latin classics ; also that which in the year 1 b04 was published in Berlin, by Louis Ideler, professor of astronomy in the royal academy of sciences there, in six volumes, large 8vo, and dedicated to Frederick Augustus AVolf, professor of poetry and eloquence in the university of Halle, in which, with a view of giving a correct text of Don Quixote, and facilitating the understanding of it to strangers, he chose for his model the edition of Pellicer, inserting his preliminary discourse, his new life of Cervantes, and the notes to the work ; omitting some digressions and particulars interesting only to Spaniards, and substituting others from Bowie ; with numerous explanations of words, phrases, and difficult proverbs, with the corresponding terms in German and French.

Another edition of Don Quixote was published in Bordeaux the same year, in four volumes 8vo, being an exact copy of the one which appeared in so cor- rect and beautiful a form from the Royal press of Madrid, a few years before. Also that published in Paris, in 1814, in seven volumes, which followed the

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text of the edition of the Academy, uniting a life of Cervantes and an analysis and chronological plan of Don Quixote, written by Rios, with the notes and remarks of Pellicer; and finally the public papers have announced a new edition of the English trans- lation of Jarvis by Mr. Belfour, adorned with magni- ficent plates, illustrated with notes, historical, critical, and literary, as well on the text as on the life of Cer- vantes, and on the state of manners and literature in the age in which he flourished.

The fame of Cervantes, so extended and well sup- ported, has been further confirmed by the A-erdict of the most distinguished men of letters. The learned Peter Daniel Huet declared Cervantes worthy of a place among the first men of genius in Spain. Rapin attested his admiration of Don Quixote by an exquisite satire, superior to anything of the kind in later times. M. Guyot de Pitaval, in his Causes Celelrcs, proposes to the judicial authorities of France the judgment and verdict of Sancho in his government as models in case of extraordinary occurrences, and calls Don Quixote the first work of fiction in the world. The accom- plished St. Evremont declared, that of all the books he had read, he wished to be the author of none so much as Don Quixote, and that he had never ceased admiring how Cervantes had contrived to gain im- mortality from the march of a madman and a clown.

The judicious Abbe du Bos observes, that all nations have their peculiar fables and heroes of romance, and that those of Tasso and Ariosto are not so well known in France or in Italy as those of the Astrea, and less known to the Italians than the French ; and assures us that the romance of Don Quixote alone has the glory of being-equally known to strangers and to the countrymen of the wonderful

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Spaniard who first conceived and gave it to the world. The author of Eloise called the writer of Don Quixote inimitable, and preferred it to all works of imagina- tion. The French translator, M. Florian, asserts that Cervantes is perhaps the only man that by a story, as original as ingenious, compels his readers to follow his footsteps, not only without ennui or uneasi- uo-. but with admiration and delight. The author of 1'Esprit des Lois, the celebrated Montesquieu, even when he treats the nation with marked injustice, cannot deny the merit of Don Quixote, asserting that it is the only good book in Spain ; an assertion as false as it is honourable to Cervantes.

The poet Butler, in his burlesque and satirical poem of Hudibras ; the distinguished authors of this cultivated nation, Pope, Arbuthnot, and Swift, in the Life of Martinus Scriblerus, which they conjointly wrote to satirize pedantry in literature and science ; the French writer, Pierre Carlet de Marivaux, in his work of Les Folies Romanesques, ou II Don Qinchotte MoJerne, the author of the Oufle, and the author of Don Quixote a Paris ; M. de Vissieux, in el nuero Don QuLcote, and in Spain the humorous author of Friar Gei'iimd^ the author of the Quixote of Castile, and many others of these and other nations, have all proposed to themselves the ingenioso liidalgo (/>• l<> Mancha as their model, and have all laboured, though not with equal success, to imitate his life, his adven- tures, and his style. The judicious Justo van Efen, of Holland, recommends this work to be placed in the hands of youth, in order to foster the genius and cultivate the judgment by the eloquence of its style and the agreeable variety of its adventures, for its admirable merit, and wise reflections on manners, for the treasury it contains of judicious censure and

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excellent advice, and especially for the wit with which it is flavoured.

Finally, several public bodies have honoured Don Quixote, by expressing their intention of illustrating it, as well for its chronology and geography, as for its many allusions to persons and historical events.

We must not here forget to make mention of a resolution passed by the Academy of Sciences, In- scriptions, Literature, and the Fine Arts, of Troyes, in Champagne, about the middle of the past century, by which one of their body was appointed to traVel into Spain, for the purpose of ascertaining all 'the particulars attending the death of the Pastor Crisos- tomo, and the place of his interment, and of e"hdea- vouring at the same time to collect further information to illustrate Don Quixote, to regulate the itinerary of his expeditions, and to form a chronological table of his adventures, in order to prepare a French trans- lation more exact than any at that time published, and an edition superior to all antecedent Ones, for its correctness and magnificence.

The earnest intentions of these men df letters were as commendable as their simplicity and credulity were excessive, in believing in the existence of per- sons who had their origin only in the prolific fancy of Cervantes, and in the reality 'of many actions which were merely ideal or allegorical. They did not reflect, as the learned Huet had done, in his Essay on the origin of this class of novels, relative to the idea that Cervantes adopted, in supposing the- original of his romance to have been in Arabic. Being deceived by this stratagem of Cervantes, the academicians of Troyes persuaded themselves that this work actually existed in Arabic among the manuscripts of the library of the Escurial, and they

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directed their envoy to compare it with the transla- tion of Cervantes, thinking that from this careful examination, and the publication of the original, much light would be thrown on the subject, and a great benefit be conferred on literature.

But in the midst of these commendations and testimonies to the merit of Don Quixote, and the universal applause of ages, there have not been want- ing some harsh critics, who, magnifying its defects, have attempted to lessen its favour, and check the current of applause. " But I would beg of these censurers," says Cervantes himself, "to be more com- passionate and more scrupulous in detecting the spots on the bright sun at which they murmur ; " and he suggests, " that those spots that appear so dark in their eyes, might, in fact, increase the beauty of the object where they are found."

In the year 1647, Mons. Sorel published in France a work, entitled Lc. Bcryer Extravagant, with the design of ridiculing books of chivalry, as well in prose as verse, describing the work of Cervantes as full of inconsistencies, as he would prove by the adventures in the house of the Duke and the government of Sancho Panza; where too the curate, and the bachelor Samson Carrasco, leave their village homes to follow Don Quixote ; and in the episodes, of the judgment passed on the writers of romance; with other reflec- tions not less frivolous, and many absurd and repre- hensible remarks; in which he clearly discovers the spirit of a writer, who, carried away by his imagina- tion, criticised and abused his model, with the same petulance and audacity with which he directed his pen against Homer, Virgil, Ariosto, Tasso, Rousseau, and others; without reflecting that the mere circum- stance of placing Cervantes in such high company,

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was an acknowledgment of that great original merit, which, passing from age to age with enthusiasm and admiration, assured him an ever-during name among all generations of men.

From the attacks of an English critic of much the same character as the last mentioned one, Cervantes was defended by the author of a periodical published in Paris, for the year 1 737. This critic, after attacking Bayle, Locke, Mallebranche, the Spectator of Addison, and other authors and books of equal reputation, undertakes to condemn Don Quixote, although he acknowledges the difficulty of passing judgment on a work which had already established itself in the public favour. He pretends to detect inconsistencies and impi'obabilities in the various inci- dents of this romance, as that of the Biscayan, the Benedictines, the galley-slaves, and Dorothea ; and prolixity in the tales of Marcela, Zoraida, the " Curioso Impertinente," and in that of Cardenio, though nothing has been better conceived or related more gracefully ; and, finally, he so magnifies the defects — which Cervantes himself indeed acknow- ledged— that he attempts to contravene the general opinion of his possessing an accurate taste, and con- cedes to him only an agreeable and prolific imagina- tion, without either correctness of taste or solidity of judgment. It is to be remarked that this criticism is confined to the first part of Don Quixote, and it bears so great a resemblance to that of Avellaneda, that we may almost svispect the English critic of having thence derived his principal charges, as the before-mentioned champion of Cervantes suggests. This person adds, that in order to repel such charges it is necessary to confront them with the work thus accused. All readers of sense and good taste will

OF CERVANTES. 241

there meet with such inimitable beauty, such grace of style, such graphic delineation, and propriety of character, that these blemishes, so fastidious-ly repre- sented by malevolence, will disappear, and the sur- prise and delight characteristic of the beautiful and sublime, in works of imagination, will he the best apology for the Spanish novelist.

"NVi- cannot wonder that some foreigners, to gratify their self-love, should speak thus of Cervantes, when even the contemporary writers of his own country, who ought to name him with delight and affec- tion, far from showing such manly conduct, endea- voured to discredit and injure his fame, although with the timidity and dissimulation that distinguish conduct so perfidious. None of these dared to appear openly in the field ; and we may easily imagine that the evil motives which inspired the envenomed rage of Avellaneda, spread also among other literary men, jealous of the public applause Cer- vantes had acquired by his works, and of the honours and distinctions which he met with at the hands of his illustrious patrons, and of which they found it so difficult to obtain a share. This, in the opinion of Pelliccr, was the cause of the invective with which Vicente Espinel attempted to lessen the merit of Don Quixote, in order to elevate his own Escudero ^l HI-COB de Obregon, which he published in 1618. This writer had eulogised Cervantes in his youth, had afterwards treated him familiarly in society and at public meetings, had been favourably noticed by him, and they had both equally shared the friendship of the Cardinal of Toledo, and had obtained from his munificence a pension to alleviate the weight of old age and poverty. Hence might be derived the emu- lation that some pretended to discover in the dedica-

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242 LIFE AND "WRITINGS

tion of that work, and in many passages of the pro- logue, which he endeavoured to support with the opinion of the friends he consulted, one of whom was Hortensio Felix Paravicino, and who in his license, no doubt spoke the opinion of himself and others, asserting that of all books of general entertainment, that of the Escudero Olregon was one that best deserved to be published ; " for, of writings of this nature," he adds, " it seems to me the best our country possesses ;". though this author, as well as his fellow critics, had seen and read the second part of Don Quixote when it was published two years before. The character and genius of Espinel were confessedly those of a crafty and cavilling critic, as Cervantes indicates in his Viage al Parnaso, and it is not improbable that at the same time that he declares he was one of his oldest and most faithful friands, he directed his shafts against the work of Cer- vantes; while the others joined in a verdict which must seem as violent as iinjust in the impartial eyes of posterity ; for however deserving of approbation the Life of the Escudero Obregon may be, it wants the essential requisites of invention, sense, and beauty of style, that have made Don Quixote a classical work amon£ all cultivated nations.

OP CERVANTES. 243

CHAPTER XVI.

New romance of Cervantes — Unpublished during his life — His own estimate of it — By native critics — By foreigners — Bold and ima- ginative character — Strange ideas of the North — Wonderful ad- ventures— The marvellous — Grand extravagances — Humorous incidents — New method of travelling — Specimen* of diablerie — Numerous episodes — Ironical treatment of his own story — Effect of ace, and influence of Catholic priests — Superstitious feelings productive of intolerance — Injustice towards the AlorUcoes — Bad effects of their banishment — Touching lament — Adventures of the hero and heroine — Odd notions of heroic morality.

WE have already had occasion to observe, that shortly before his death, Cervantes was employed upon a work, the dedication to which he composed after he had received extreme nnction. It is entitled The Sufferings of 'PcrsilesandSigismunda, a Northern Story ; and to this work, more than to any other of his literary labours, did he attach his hopes of fame. The judgment of the Spanish critics has placed this production by the side of Don Quixote, and above all the author's other works ; but a foreigner will not, we should imagine, concede to it so much merit. It is the offspring of a rich, but at the same time of a wandering imagination, which confines itself within no bounds of the possible or the probable, and which is not sufficiently founded on reality. Cervantes, who was so correct and elegant a painter of all that fell within the sphere of his observation, has been pleased to place the scene of his last talc in a world with which he had no acquaintance. lie had tra- versed Greece, Italy, Spain, and Barbary ; he was at home in every part of the south. He has, how-

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ever, entitled this romance a northern story, and his complete ignorance of the north, in which his scene is laid, and which he imagines to be a land of bar- barians, anthropophagi, pagans, and enchanters, is not a little singular. Don Quixote often promises Sancho Panza the kingdoms of Denmark and Sopra- bisa ; but Cervantes, in fact, knew little more of these countries than his amusing knight. The king of Denmark and the king of Danea are both intro- duced, though Denmark and Danea are the same country. " One half of the isles of that country," he says, " are savage, deserted, and covered with eternal snows ; the other is inhabited by corsairs, who slay men for the purpose of eating their hearts, and make women prisoners, in order to elect from amongst them a queen." The Poles, the Norwegians, the Irish, and the English, are all introduced in their turns, and represented as possessing manners no less extraordinary, and a mode of life no less fantastic ; nor is the scene laid in that remote antiquity, the obscurity of which might admit of such fables. The heroes of the romance are the contemporaries of Cervantes ; and some of them are the soldiers of Charles V., who were marched with him into Flan- ders or Germany, and who afterwards wandered into these terrible northern and desert countries.

The hero of the romance, Persiles, is the second son of the King of Iceland, and his mistress, Sigis- munda, is the daughter and heiress of the queen of Fricsland, a country which has escaped frem the chart, but which is now supposed to have been the Feroe islands, where the very veracious travellers of the fifteenth century have placed many of their adventures. Sigismunda had been betrothed to Maximin, the brother of Persiles, whose savage and

OF CERVANTES. 245

rude manners were little calculated to captivate the heart of the sweetest, the most beautiful, and the most perfect of women. The two lovers make their escape at the same time, with the intention of tra- velling together on a pilgrimage to Rome; no doubt for the purpose of obtaining from the Pope a dispen- sation from Sigismunda's engagements. Persiles assumes the name of Periander, and Sigismunda that of Auristela ; and during the whole of the romance they appear under these names ; they pass as brother and sister, and the secret of their birth and history, with which we have commenced our account of the novel, is not disclosed until the termination of the work. Their peregrinations through the north are contained in the first volume ; through the south in. the second. Exposed to more dangers than would be amply sufficient for ten reasonable romances; captured by savages and recaptured ; on the point of being roasted and eaten ; shipwrecked innumerable times; separated and reunited; attacked by assas- sins, by poison, and by sorcery, and at the same time robbing all they met of their hearts, they run greater risks from the love they inspire than could be occasioned by hatred itself. The ravishers, how- ever, who dispute for them, combat so fiercely amongst themselves, that they are all slain. In this manner perish all the inhabitants of the barbarous isle, where a whole nation of pirates are consumed in the flames which they have themselves lighted. On another occasion, all the sailors of a vessel fight until none are left ; but this was necessary, that our travellers might have a fit conveyance. This ro- mance is, indeed, a singularly bloody one. Besides those who perish by wholesale, the numbers of those who either die or kill themselves, would almost fill

246 LIFE AND WRITINGS

the ranks of an army. The history of the hero and the heroine is interspersed with a thousand episodes. Before they arrive at the end of their journey they collect a numerous caravan, each member of which in turn recites his adventures. These are always, of course, most extraordinary, and manifest great fertility of invention. Many of them are amusing, but it appears to me that nothing is more fatiguing than the marvellous ; and that there is never so great a similarity as between productions which resemble nothing else in natiire. Cervantes, in this novel, has fallen into many of the errors which he so humor- ously exposed in Don Quixote. We cannot suppose that in Don Belianis, or in Felix Mars of Hircania, more extravagance is to be found than in these vo- lumes. The style of the ancient romance writers, it is true, did not possess so much elegance and purity. Amongst the episodes, there is one which appears to us very interesting, less on account of its own merits, than because it reminds us of an amusing tale of one of our celebrated contemporaries. Persiles in the barbarous isle discovers, amongst the pirates of the Baltic, a man who is called Rutilio de Sienna, •who is a dancing master, like Monsieur Violis amongst the Iroquois. In his own country he had entrapped one of his scholars, and had been imprisoned prepara- tory to his suffering a capital punishment. A witch, however, who, it appears, had fallen in love with him, opened the doors of his prison, and she spread a mantle on the ground before him. " She then desired me to place my foot upon it and to be of good courage, but for a moment to omit my devotions. I immediately saw that this was a bad beginning, and I perceived that her object was to convey me through the air. Although, like a good Christian, I held all

OF CERVANTES. 247

sorcery in contempt, yet the fear of death in this instance made me resolve to obey her. I placed my foot in the middle of the mantle, and she also. At the same time she muttered some words which I could not understand, and the mantle began to ascend. I felt so terribly afraid, that there was not a single saint in the calendar whom, in my heart, I did not invoke. The enchantress doubtless perceived my terror, and divined my prayers, for she again com- manded me to abstain from them. ' Wretch that I am !' exclaimed I, ' what good can I hope for, if I am prevented asking it from God, from whom proceeds all good ?' At last I shut my eyes, and suffered the devils to convey me whither they would, for such are the only post-horses with which witches travel. After having been carried through the air for four hours, or a little more, as I should suppose, I found myself at the close of the day in an unknown country.

" As soon as the mantle touched the ground, my companion said to me, ' Friend Rutilio, you have arrived at a place where the whole human race can- not harm you.' As she spoke these words, she em- braced me with very little reserve. I repelled her with all my strength, and perceived that she had taken the figure of a wolf. The sight froze my senses. However, as often happens in great dangers, when the very hopelessness of escape gives us desperate strength, I seized a hanger which I had by my side, and with unspeakable fury plunged it into the breast of what appeared to me to be a wolf, but which, as it fell, lost that terrific shape. The enchantress, bathed in her blood, lay stretched at my feet.

" Consider, sirs, that I was in a country perfectly unknown to me, and without a single person to guide me. I waited for many hours the return of day,

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but still it appeared not, and in the horizon there was no sign which announced the approaching sun. I quitted the corpse which excited in my heart so much fear and terror, and minutely examined the appear- ance of the heavens. I observed the motion of the stars, and from the course which they pursued, I imagined that it should have been day. As I stood in this state of confusion, I heard the voice of people approaching the spot where I was. I advanced towards them, and demanded, in Tuscan, in what country I might be. One of them answered in Italian, ' This country is Norway ; but who are you, who question us in a language so little known ?' ' I am,' said I, ' a wretch who, in attempting to escape from death, have fallen into his hands,' and in a few words I related to them my journey, and the death of the enchantress. He who had spoken, appeared to pity me, and said, ' You ought, my good friend, to be very thankful to Heaven, which has delivered you from out of the power of wicked sorcerers, of whom there are many in these northern parts. It is said, indeed, that they transform themselves into he-wolves and she -wolves, for there are enchanters of both sexes. I know not how this can be, and as a Christian and a catholic, I do not believe it, notwith- standing experience demonstrates the contrary. It may, indeed, be said, that these transformations are the illusions of the devil, who, by God's permission, thus punishes the sins of this evil generation.' I then asked him the hour, as the night appeared to me very long, and the day came not. He replied, that in these remote regions the year was divided into four portions. There were three months of perfect night, during which the sun never appeared above the horizon ; three months of day-break, which were

OP CERVANTES. 249

neither day nor night; three months of uninterrupted daylight, during which the sun never set ; and lastly, three months of twilight : that the season was then the morning twilight, so that it was useless to look for the appearance of day. He added, that I must postpone until the perfect day my prospect of return- ing home ; but that then Tcssels would sail with merchandise to England, France and Spain. He inquired whether 1 was acquainted with any occu- pation by which I could support myself till my return to my own country. I replied that I was a dancing-master, very skilful in the saltatory art, as well as in the nimble use of my fingers. Upon this, my new friend beganto laugh most heartily, and assured me that these occupations, or duties, as I called them, were not in fashion in Norway, or in the neighbour- ing countries." — Rutilio's host, who was the great- grandson of an Italian, taught him to work as a goldsmith. He afterwards made a voyage for com- mercial purposes, and was taken by pirates, and carried to the Barbarous Isle, where he remained until all the inhabitants were destroyed in a tumult, when he escaped, together with Persilcs and Sigis- munda.

In this episode we recognise the pen of the author of Don Quixote. The insignificance of the hero, and the greatness of the incidents are here as pleasantly contrasted, as in Don Quixote are the dignity of the hero and the petty nature of the incidents. His humorous spirit, however, and this ironical style of treating his own story, only manifest themselves occasionally in the work, which, in its serious marvellousness, is often fatiguing.

In perusing the latter works of Cervantes, the idea has more than once struck us that we could trace the

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progress which superstition was making in Spain, under its more imbecile sovereigns ; and the influence which it was acquiring over the mind of an old man surrounded by priests, whose object it was to render him as intolerant and cruel as themselves. In his novel of Rinconete and Cortadillo, Cervantes makes a skilful and delicate attack upon the superstitions of his country ; and a similar spirit is observable in his Don Quixote. The episode of Ricoto the Moor, the countryman of Sancho Panza, who relates the suffer- ings of the Moors, forthemost part professed Christians, on their banishment from Spain, is highly touching. " The punishment of exile," says he, " which some esteem light and humane, is to us the most terrible of all. Wherever we roam, we lament Spain ; for there were we born, and that is our native country. No where have we found the asylum which our misfortunes merited. In Barbary, and in every part of Africa, where we had hoped to meet with a friendly reception, an abiding-place, and kind treatment, we have been more injured and more outraged than elsewhere. We knew not the benefits which we possessed until we lost them. The desire which we almost all of us feel to return into Spain is so great, that the greater part amongst us who like me under- stand the language, and they are not few, have returned into this country, leaving their wives and children without support. It is now only that we feel by experience how devoted is that love of our country which we formerly used to hear spoken of."

With whatever reserve the established authorities are alluded to in this story, and in the equally affect- ing story of his daughter Ricota, it is impossible that it should not excite a deep interest for so many un-

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fortunate beings, who, aggrieved in their religion, oppressed by the laws no less than by individual tyranny, had been driven with their wives and their children, to the number of six hundred thousand, from a country where they had been established for more than eight centuries ; — a country which owed to them its agriculture, its commerce, its prosperity, and no inconsiderable part of its literature.

In Persiles and Sigismunda there is a Moorish adventure, the time of which is laid near the period of their expulsion from Spain. But in this place, Cer- vantes endeavours to render the Mussulmans odious, and to justify the cruel law which had been put in execution against them. The heroes of the romance arrive with a caravan at a Moorish village in the kingdom of Valencia, situated about a league distant from the sea. The Moors hasten to welcome them ; offering their houses, and displaying the most obliging hospitality. The travellers at length yield to these entreaties, and take up their lodging with the richest Moor in the village. Scarcely, however, had they retired to repose, when the daughter of their host secretly apprises them, that they have been thus pressingly invited in order that they might be en- trapped on board a Barbary fleet which would arrive in the night, for the purpose of transporting the in- habitants of the village and all their riches to the short-s of Africa; and that their host hoped by making them prisoners to procure a large ransom. The tra- vellers, in consequence of this intelligence, take refuge in the church, where they fortify themselves ; and in the night the inhabitants of the village having burned their dwellings, set sail for Africa. Cervantes, on this occasion, speaks in the person of a Christian Moor : " Happy youth ! prudent King, go on, and

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execute this generous decree of banishment ; fear not that the country will be deserted and uninhabited. Hesitate not to exile even those who have received baptism ; considerations like these ought not to im- pede your progress, for experience has shown how vain they are. In a little while the land will be repeopled with new Christians, but of the ancient race. It will recover its fertility, and attain a higher prosperity than it now possesses. If the lord should not have vassals so numerous and so humble, yet those who remain will be faithful catholics. With them the roads will be secure, peace will reign, and our property will be no longer exposed to the attacks of these robbers."

This work leads us to hazard another remark on the character of the Spanish nation. The hero and heroine are represented as patterns of perfection. They are young, beautiful, brave, generous, and de- voted to one another, beyond any thing which human nature can be supposed to attain ; yet with all these rare qualities, they are addicted to falsehood, as though it were their professional business, far beyond the ordinary tales of travellers. Upon every occasion, and before they can possibly know whether the false- hood will be useful or prejudicial to them, they make it their invariable rule to say the thing which is not — in direct violation of the truth. If any one ask them a simple question, they are sure to deceive him ; if any one confides in them, they deceive him ; if any one asks their advice, they deceive him ; and those who are most attached to them, are most surely the objects of this dissimulation. Arnaldo, of Denmark, a noble and generous prince, is from beginning to end made the wretched victim of Sigismunda's dupli- city. Sinforosa is no less cruelly deceived by Persiles.

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Policarpo,whohad shown them great hospitality, loses his kingdom by the crooked policy and operation of their artifices. Every untruth, however, proving successful, the personal interest of the hero is supposed to justify the measure ; and what would to our eyes appear an act of base dissimulation, is represented by Cervantes as an effort of happy prudence.

AVe are well aware that foreigners, who have tra- velled in Spain, and merchants who have traded with the Castilians, unanimously praise their good faith and honesty. Such authorities must be believed. Nothing is more common than to calumniate a people who are separated from us by their language and their manners ; and those virtues must indeed be real, which can triumph over all our national prejudices. The literature of Spain, nevcrth eless, does not strengthen our confidence in the good faith of the Castilians ; not only is dissimulation crowned with success in their comedies, their romances, and their descriptions of national manners, but that quality absolutely receives greater honour than candour. In the writers of the northern nations we discover an air of sincerity and frankness, and an openness of heart, which we may look for in vain among the Spanish authors. Their history bears a stronger testimony even than their literature to the truth of this accusation, which hangs over all the people of the south, and induces a suspicion of want of faith, which their sense of honour, their religion, and the system of morality current amongst them, would seem to justify. No history is sullied by more instances of perfidy than that of Spain. No government has ever made so light of its oaths and its most sacred engagements. From the reign of Ferdinand the Catholic, to the time of the administration of Cardinal Alberoni, every

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war, every public treaty, every relation between the government and the people, is marked by the most odious treachery. Their astute policy, however, gained the admiration of the world, and they con- trived to separate truth from honour.*

CHAPTER XVII.

WDScI vuuuila HIIU unniYolo AH MUSS ui v^t i van Lea i i iva <i iii.in^

of air— Amusing adventures — Becomes worse — Fondness fe literature to the last — Corrects his works — Writes to his patro — His nohle expressions — His death — Sunmiaiy of his charade

nrul mpntc.

and merits.

THE feelings of envy and ingratitude were more openly displayed against Cervantes by D. Cristobal Suarez de Figueroa, a native of Valladolid, advocate- general of the army in Italy, and a deserving labourer in Spanish literature. Cervantes had loaded him with praises in his Viage at Parnaso, and in the second part of Don Quixote, with more indulgence than justice of criticism, had left nothing undone to soothe his dark and vindictive temper. He saw the distinguished and generous protection that was extended towards Cervantes by the count de Lemos, and he was dissatisfied at not being able to obtain a share of it himself, even after having dedicated a work to that nobleman, to secure his favour ; for, when he

* Literature of the South of Europe, by M. Sismonili, iii., pp. 406, 419.

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went to present it in person, an ecclesiastic denied him access to the duke, on account of his numerous engagements, and he afterwards endeavoured to obtain his presentation through a physician, but was equally unsuccessful ; for he found the Duke, he said, so besieged by ingeniosos, as to be quite inaccessible. This is a strange account of a patron so eminent for his virtues, his urbanity and popularity, and his generous protection of literature and its professors, some of whom enjoyed, through his favour, profitable employments, as Salas Barbadillo informs us ; and it is a warning to the great to guard themselves against the evil passions of those who aspire to their favour. This disappointment divulges to us the origin of many critical allusions which he directed against Cervantes in his work entitled El Pasagero, which he published at Madrid, in 1617. In this he indi- rectly censures the Galatea ; the title of the Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha appears to him swollen and pompous ; he dislikes the epithet exem- p lares in the tales ; he ridicules the idea of a man of Cervantes' age contending for a literary prize, as he did at the beatification of Santa Teresa ; he satirises the composition of his Comedias, which, for the want of a purchaser and the neglect of the players, he depo- sited at the bottom of a chest, hoping they might come to be relished in the theatre of Josafat, where they would not, at least, want an audience; and lastly, he animadverts on his having written the dedication of Persiles, as if gratitude and humility on his death- bed were not fit virtues to accompany a man to his grave. "With not less effrontery and rancour, Figu- eroa censured the works of Lope de Vega, Bartolome de Torres Naharro, of Don Esteban Manuel de Vil- legas, of Pedro de Espinosa, and other eminent Spanish writers.

LIFE AND WRITINGS

Cervantes was distinguished for his frank, noble, and ingenuous disposition, was always indulgent to other poets and men of letters, and extremely grateful to his patrons and protectors. He often risked his own reputation for that of others, and connected the glory of others with his own, raising a monument worthy of their virtues, and he considered them as a shield and protection against the shafts of calumny. " May Heaven," he would say, when beset by envy and persecution, " protect the noble duke of Lemos, whose well known Christian benevolence and libe- rality has upheld me against all the frowns of fortune ; and may Heaven, too, protect the illustrious and charitable D. Bernardo de Sandoval y Rojas, and then let my enemies print against me more books than there are couplets in the works of Mingo Revulgo. These few noble-minded persons, without extorting from me either adulation or applause, but prompted solely by their own goodness, have extended their protection and favour to me ; so that I consider my- self richer than if fortune by ordinary means had placed me on the summit of her wheel." Common adulation to the great, would not have excited such warm and energetic expressions ; and very similar are those he made use of to show his gratitude for the favour and benefits he owed to Pedro de Morales, an eminent comic poet and performer of that period, who, to use his own expression, was his refuge in adversity. Nor can the praises which he bestows on the talents, affability, and accomplished manners of his noble patron, be suspected, being supported by those commendations already bestowed on him by Lope deVega and Augustin de Rojas, who knew him.

But, however correct these expressions might be, and however just and sincere these panegyrics, they

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cannot appear so impartial and disinterested as those which posterity has consecrated to the noble conduct of these illustrious men, who, in the midst of the general corruptions of the time, the frivolous education and occupations of the nohility, elevated themselves above their age, cultivating the sciences and the useful arts, favouring and rewarding their professors, and thus weaving for themselves a crown of im- mortality, and an enviable fame among their con- temporaries.

We must ever regard with esteem and veneration the memory of persons, whose pride it was to suc- cour and support the first genius of his age, encour- aging his studies, and aiding him in the publication of his immortal works ; and it will not be less bene- ficial at the present day to hold up so great an example to those who, by the elevation of their sta- tion, or by their opulence and power, are destined to influence the fate of nations, and the culture and happiness of the human race.

Don Bernardo de Sandoval y Rojas, Cardinal Archbishop of Toledo, and Don Pedro Fernandez de Castro, the seventh Count de Lemos, were connected by blood with the most illustrious houses in Spain. They had both received that enlightened course of education, which produced so many eminent men in the preceding age ; the count de Lemos, in the bosom of his own family, a family in which valour, magna- nimity, courtesy, and genius were all united ; while the Cardinal, yet young, had studied in the University of Salamanca, and afterwards obtained for his tutor the celebrated Ambrosio de Morales, the father of Spanish history, as renowned for his wisdom and erudition, as for the austerity of his manners. The one, es- teemed by two sovereigns for his talents, information,

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and high attainments, opened for himself a road to the highest employments and dignities of the monar- chy ; the other, adding lustre hy his virtues to three episcopal sees, obtained, through his merits, from Clement VIII., the honour of a Cardinal's hat, and was elevated to the Archbishopric of Toledo, and the office of Inquisitor- General. The one left in Naples the most lasting proofs of his munificence and love of the fine arts, in the sumptuous palace of the viceroy, the noble edifice of the University, in the great undertaking of converting pestilential lakes and morasses into fruitful and smiling plains ; and in conducting the waters from Vesuvius to supply the city, and fertilise its delightful meadows. The other raised, in Toledo and in Alcala de Henares, lasting monuments of his piety, consecrated to the worship of religion, as honourable to his devotion as to his pastoral care. The first, not being able to endure the insincere and corrupt manners of a court, spontaneously renounced his dignities, and retired to Galicia, where he lived like a Christian philosopher, diligently cultivating letters, and maintaining a friendly correspondence with the learned.

The other, although residing within the precincts of a court, avoided its snares with prudence, and reprehended, by his example, his moderation, and his disinterestedness, the turbulent ambition and contemptuous pride usually generated in the pa- laces of kings. Both were strongly attached to letters, and illustrated and promoted them. The Cardinal sought out in secret virtuous and neces- sitous men, in order to succour them, and encourage them in their tasks, and was considered the father of the poor, and the protector of virtue. The Count de Lemos, who had distinguished himself among

OF CERVANTES. 259

learned men by some elegant verses, and his comedy of the Cam Conftma, which was represented at Lerma before the court with great applause, extended his patronage without exception to all men of genius, and was considered by them as their patron and M;ecenas. The first assigned a pension to Vicente Espinel, and another of equal amount to Cervantes, when old age and infirmity had deprived them of all possible means of support ; and in honour to the memory of his master, Morales, he erected to his memory a magnificent monument, with an elegant inscription.

The Count, being President of the Council of the Indies, wrote a history of one of the provinces, which he dedicated to his father ; directed Bartolome Leo- nardo do Argensolato compose his Conquista de los Moluccas, and stimulated Yalbuena to write and pub- lish his Stylo de Oro, and other compositions, which he dedicated to him ; and when he was appointed Viceroy of Naples, he not only carried with him the three Argensolas, and many other well known poets of the day, making his palace a true temple of the Muses, but extended his aid to those left in Spain, favour- ing some, as Lope de Vega and Gongora, animating others, as Villegas ; and succouring the most distin- guished of all, Cervantes. Both died in Madrid ; the Cardinal at the ace of seventy-two years, loaded with the blessings of all who had experienced the effects of his gentle and compassionate heart ; the Count de Lemos, in the forty-sixth year of his age, with the general regret of all the good, and at a time when Fortune, alluring him from his retirement, seemed to prepare for him a new and more glorious destiny, in establishing the prosperity of his country.

Protected by these illustrious patrons, Cervantes

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prosecuted his studies, and proceeded to the correc- tion and publication of his works during the latter years of his life. lie wished to make amends for the long time that his pen had been idle, or, perhaps, being sensible of his approaching end, he wished to prepare and perfect some work which might raise his name high above the clouds of time and oblivion. The second part of his Don Quixote was the last of his productions which he gave to the world, as well as the most perfect of them ; and this, therefore, we ought, per- haps, to consider the most just criterion of his genius. The variety of the episodes, their judicious length, their connexion with the principal action, and the truth of nature, and grace of style, give this work a decided superiority over all modern productions of the same class. We may adduce, as a further proof, the introduction of a new personage, in the Bachelor Samson Carrasco, whose original character, and mis- chievously playful humour, afford so much plea- santry, and contribute so much to the happy development of the story, that it cannot fail to pro- duce interest and excite curiosity. The circumstance of Gines de Pasamonte appearing under the disguise of a puppet-show man, under the name of Master Peter, proves the care which Cervantes took to connect the interest of the first part of Don Quixote with that of the second ; but, above all, the solilo- quy of Sancho in his distress, when he goes to seek Dulcinea del Toboso, is so original, that it may com- pete with the best monologues to be found among the poets and romance writers of antiquity. How exquisite is the episode of the wedding of Camacho how simple and chaste the description of the country where they assemble, the abundance and elegance of the repast, and the dances and divertisemcnts that

OF CERVANTES. 261

crown the feast ; how excellent the introduction of Basilio, how natural the development ! The narra- tive of the cave of Montesinos belongs to a higher class, where Don Quixote beholds the enchantment of Montesinos, and his squire Guadiana, and the two cousins and seven daughters of the duena Ruidera, thus assigning a fabulous origin to the historical tra- ditions of La Mancha, and applying so appropriately the names of its rivers and lakes to those chivalrous persons celebrated in our ancient fables and romances. This poetical episode, so beautiful, and so judici- ously interwoven with the principal fable, may rival the descent of Ulysses, JEneas, orTelemachus, although adapted with infinite skill to the peculiar circum- stances of the knight of La Mancha. The adventure of the Cavalier of the Green Frock, that of the puppets of Master Peter, and that of the braying, are truly comic, natural, and in harmony with the cha- racter of the principal hero, and the customs and manners of his countrymen. The simple style of these episodes is strongly contrasted with that in which he describes the palace of the Duke and Duchess, with all its accompanying pomp and splen- dour ; the reception of Don Quixote by these noble persons, the apparition of Clavelino, and the unex- pected termination of his flight ; the funeral proces- sion of Altisidora, the preparations for the tourna- ment with the lacquey Tosilos, in which the style is elevated, and appropriate to persons of high rank, who take a pleasure in representing to their guests the marvellous adventures of books of chivalry : — in all these the reader admires the genius of Cervantes, and finds a double pleasure in the madness of Don Quixote, and the simplicity of Sancho. Cervantes, in the second part of Don Quixote, observed more

262 LIFE AND WRITINGS

propriety, and harmony, with a more perfect arrange- ment of the incidents of his story ; and, indeed, takes an opportunity of censuring the inconsistencies of the episodes in the first part ; thus giving a proof that he could accommodate his incidents to the principal action. His judgment was here more refined, his views were more exalted. In the government of Sancho, he not only desired to show, as his contem- porary Faria assures us, the absurd choice of persons who were often appointed to these great posts, hut more particularly alluded to the conduct of the vice- roys and commanders in Italy, who frequently sent as governors people of no consideration, possessing nei- ther talent nor information, to the great prejudice of the country and injury to the governed — a practical observation made by Cervantes himself in that coun- try, and transferred to his work, which, says Faria, "is so far probable, that there are many Sancho Panzas to be found in these days, who are well known, and who deliver their judgments in his style."

Some other of his observations, though concealed under a delicate veil, were of a nature to subject him to persecution, and to throw discredit on his religion and patriotism. "Whoever reads with attention the adventures of the enchanted head, the divining ape, the secret and unexpected imprisonment of Don Quixote and Sancho by the servants of the Duke, the pretended funeral of Altisidora, an adventure of the most rare and novel kind contained in the whole history, will easily perceive they contain some hidden allusions, that it might not be safe or pru- dent to divulge.

The curiosity and interest which Don Quixote excited, and its popularity and diffusion by means of numerous editions and translations, led to its adoption

OF CERVANTES. 263

by several dramatic writers, who brought forward on the stage its entertaining adventures and episodes to gratify the public taste. Already, in 1617, Fran- cisco de Avila, a native of Madrid, published a celebrated interlude of " the invincible deeds of Don Quixote de la Mancha," including the meeting at the inn in the first part, the watching of the arms, and the ceremonies of knighthood. A comedy, entitled Don Quixote de la Mancha, was also represented before Philip IV. and his consort, on the 24th of February, 1637. We have in our own times seen the pastoral drama of the Wedding of Camacho, which possesses rather sweetness of versification and propriety of language, than invention, plot, and de- nouement, acted with applause ; and we know, that in the French theatre, they have at the least seven pieces whose subjects are taken from the same source. The judicious observation of Mons. Trublet may be here opportunely adduced, that Don Quixote, who de- lights us so much in the history written by Cervantes, does not equally interest us when estranged from his native place, and introduced on the boards of a theatre. The difficulty of preserving the humour and interest of the original is in every respect greater among the Spanish adapters, for on one side the popularity of the romance, and the intimacy which every one possesses with the character and manners of the interlocutors, deprive their pieces of many sallies of the imagination ; the spectators do not meet with the incidents which give such attraction to the original, and do not experience that surprise and novelty so necessary to entertain and suspend the mind of the hearers, and conduct them agreeably to the denouement of the action.

Cervantes inscribed the second part of his Don

264 LIFE AND WRITINGS

Quixote to his illustrious protector, the count de Lemos, in a dedication written on the 3 1 st of October, 1615, in which he makes mention of his very infirm state of health, and offers him his Persiles y $i</if- munda, a book, he says, which had been concluded about four months. He had announced the publica- tion of this novel in the year 1613, in which he pro- posed to imitate Heliodorus, rivalling in the passion of Periandro and Auristela, the chaste loves of Theo- genes and Chariclea. There was no mean emulation in such an imitation, as the incidents of this novel are remarkable for their variety and arrangement.

If in some of these, the imitation is apparent, in others, we may remark great superiority and novelty ; and an engaging and playful imagination reigns throughout. The descriptions in the Greek romance are too frequent and elaborate ; those of the Castilian writer are interspersed more sparingly, and possess a character of propriety and nature. The style of the former, though very elegant, is in some degree affected, too figurative, and more adorned than is allowable in prose ; thatof the latter is more subdued and temperate, in both, the loves are chaste, the incidents probable, the catastrophe natural, and the interest increases in proportion as we approach the conclusion. This work is of more pure invention, and of a more equal and elevated style than his Don Quixote, as he here cor- rected his faults in language and construction.

It is not, therefore, surprising, that its author pre- ferred it to all his other works, when he says " This novel is either the best or the worst ever composed in our language in the way of entertaining novels ; and I repent of having said the worst, because, ac- cording to the opinion of my friends, it has attained all possible perfection :" an opinion confirmed by

OF CERVANTES. 265

S-nor Josef de Valdivicso in his licence, dated on the 9th of September, 1 6 1 6, declaring that of all the books Cervantes had written none were of richer invention, of a better style, or more entertaining.

Without deciding on the justice of this opinion, it is certain, that the judgment of the public has decided against it for the last two centuries, assigning the priority and preference to Don Quixote.

This was likely to be the case, if we bear in mind that the story of Don Quixote is far more popular, the speakers are more animated and fewer in number, so that it is easily \mderstood, and the manners, actions, and characters, fix themselves more easily in the memory; the satire and irony are keen without wounding, from the delicacy and propriety with which thev are managed ; the moral is preserved, and it is perceived through a transparent veil; throughout the style is more natural and varied, and, for the same reason, more intelligible and acceptable to every class of persons.

These reflections must have occurred to Cervantes, when he says, "that the history of the Ingenioso Hidalgo is as clear as day-light ; the children handle it, the young delight in it, the men understand it, and the old praise it." But in giving the preference to the " Persiles" he did not so much consult the public taste, or the rules of just criticism, as a natural love for the last offspring of his genius ; though he composed this work with as much fire, vigour, and brilliancy of imagination as any in the most florid years of his youth.

He had just concluded this work, according to his promise, in the spring of 1616, when his increasing malady interrupted his labours, and did not permit him to finish either his dedication or his prologue.

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Such was his situation on Holy Saturday, the second of April, that not being able to go out of his house,25 he made his profession of the venerable order of St. Francis, whose habit he had taken in Alcala on the second of January, 1613 ;26 but as the nature of his protracted complaint allowed him some intervals of alleviation, he thought he might possibly recruit his strength by a change of air and diet, and in the next week of Easter he removed to the village of Esquivias, where the relations of his wife resided. But becom- ing worse in the course of a few days, and being desirous of ending his days under his own roof, he returned to Madrid with two of his friends to attend and assist him on his way. On this journey an inci- dent occurred which he narrates in his prologue, and which affords us the only circumstantial account we possess of his illness.27

Cervantes and his friends had just quitted the village of Esquivias and taken the road to Madrid on his return home, when they heard some one follow- ing them in haste, and calling on them to stop. They accordingly drew in their reins, and in a few minutes there came up a student on a she-ass, complaining that they travelled so fast he could not keep up with them. " We must lay the blame," said one of them, " on Sehor Miguel de Cervantes, whose horse is rather met- tlesome." Scarcely had the student heard the name of Cervantes, of whom he was a passionate admirer, though he did not know him personally, than he threw himself from his ass, and embracing Cervantes, and taking him by the left hand — " Ay, ay," said he, " this is the sound cripple, the renowned, the merry writer, in a word, the darling of the muses." Cervantes, who thus saw himself suddenly over- whelmed with praises, replied with his accustomed

OF CERVANTES. 267

modesty and courtesy, and embracing the scholar, desired him to mount his ass again, and accompany them, that they might enjoy his friendly conversation for the little remaining part of the journey. The student complied, and there ensued between him and Cervantes a dialogue, which affords us some inform- ation on the subject of Cervantes' complaint, and which he himself relates in the following terms : '• We drew in our reins (he says) and continued our journey at a more moderate pace, during which the conversation turned on my complaint, and the good student decided my fate in a moment, saying — ' This thirst of yours arises from a dropsy, which all the water of the ocean, if it were fresh, could never quench. Therefore, Signor Cervantes,' added the student, ' you must totally abstain from drink, but do not neglect to eat heartily, and this regimen will effect your recovery without physic.' ' I have re- ceived the same advice from other people,' answered I, ' but I cannot help drinking, as if I had been bom to do nothing else but drink. My life, indeed, is drawing to a close, and I find by the daily journal of my pulse, that it will have finished its course by next Sunday at furthest, and I also shall then have finished my career ; so that you are come just in time to make my acquaintance, though I shall have no opportunity of showing how much I am obliged to you for your good-will.' By this time we had reached the Toledo bridge, by which I entered the city, while the good student passed over that of Segovia." The subject of this prologue, its negligent style, its interruptions and conclusion, are manifest proofs of the extreme illness of Cervantes when he wrote it. He now fluctuated between hope and despair ; but without any abatement of his gay and cheerful tem- perament, as is shown by his lively description of the

268 LIFE AND WRITINGS

dress and equipage, and behaviour of the student. As he had predicted, his life seemed to be drawing to a close on the next Sunday, the 17th of April, when he took leave of his friends, and bade adieu to the joys and cares of life — nevertheless, soon afterwards some- what reeruiting, he still flattered himself with hopes of amendment.

His complaint, however, soon dissipated all these expectations, as it became materially aggravated, and despairing of any further alleviation, extreme unction was administered to him next day, Monday the 18th.

He retained to the hour of his death his serenity of mind, and his lively and prolific imagination, while a tender recollection of his benefactor^ the Count de Lemos, was impressed on his heart. That nobleman was at this time on his way home from Naples, in order to take his seat as president of the Council of Italy. Cervantes was anxious to have survived this event, that he might in person have manifested his gratitude and respect ; but finding that this was denied to him, he inscribed to him, as a last mark of his attachment, his Persile*: y Siyi*mim<la. in a dedi- cation, says Rios, " which all the great, and all men of letters might be recommended to read : those

O

to learn magnanimity, and these a proper sense of gratitude." " You may remember the ancient couplet," says Cervantes, " in its time so celebrated, commencing, Puesto ya el j>ic en el e#trilo, and I may commence my letter in the same words —

' Pucsto ya el pie en el estribo, Con las ansias de la mucrte, Gran sefior, esta te escribo.'

Yesterday extreme unction was administered to me, and to-day I am writing this : my time is short, my pains increase, my hopes vanish, and yet I believe, if I

OP CERVANTES. 269

could only see your excellency in your native country, it would give me new life ; but as Heaven has decreed it otherwise, we must bow to its will, and all that re- mains will be to acquaint your excellency with the deep feelings of affection towards you which I carry with me to the grave. Still, in prospect I may rejoice at your return, and at the fame and celebrity attending your excellency." The situation of Cervantes, when he wrote or dictated these tender and noble expressions, gives them an energy and sublimity, which render them worthy of the same veneration and respect with which in Greece and Rome they listened to the last words of a Socrates or a Seneca.

With the same composure of mind he executed his will, naming as his executors his wife, Donna Cata- linadeSalazar,and the licentiate Francisco Nunez, who then resided in the same house in the street of Leon. He desired that he might be interred in the church of the monks of the Holy Trinity 28, which had been founded some years before, both from the predilection he had always shown to this order, and on account of his daughter, Donna Isabel, having professed it. After making these arrangements and receiving the con- solations of religion, he expired on Saturday the twenty-third of the above-mentioned month of April, in the year 1616, the same day precisely, as Bowie well observes,29 on which England lost her celebrated poet Shakspeare, the founder of her drama. When afterwards, in the year 1633, the Trinitarian monks removed to their new church in the Street de Canta- rauas, the remains of those who had died in the first establishment were removed thither, as well as those of such of their relations as from custom or devotion had been interred in the church of the first establish- ment. It is natural to suppose that the bones of

270 LIFE AND WRITINGS

Cervantes also were then removed to their final resting-place.

Other illustrious writers, however unfortunate and persecuted during their lives, have obtained after their death the honours that were due to their merits; and their country and their fellow-townsmen have, though late, conferred on them that distinction which was denied them in their lifetime by calumny and malevo- lence. Thus it happened to Milton, Camoens, Tasso, Shakspeare, men of kindred worth, and others. Cer- vantes alone seems to be excepted from this mark of respect. His funeral was poorly attended, no stone or inscription marks the spot where his bones repose ; nor, indeed, in later times, in which letters and the arts have stooped to flatter rank and power, has any person ap- peared to honour the remains of this illustrious man with a worthy mausoleum, on which the fine arts might be employed to inspire a feeling of veneration, which might serve as a stimulus to succeeding generations, and direct them in the paths of virtue and knowledge.

Through similar neglect, we have lost the portraits which were painted by Don Juan de Jauregui and Francisco Pacheco, and which bore a correct repre- sentation of the features and figure of Cervantes. A copy only has survived to our days, which is un- doubtedly of the reign of Philip IV., and is attributed by some to Alonso del Arco, while others pretend to trace in it the style of the schools of Vicencio Car- ducho or of Eugenio Caxes. But whoever painted this picture, it is certain that it agrees in every respect with the portrait that Cervantes drew of himself in the prologue to his Novelas, where he says, " He whom you sec here with a sharp countenance, ches- nut hair, a smooth and cheerful forehead, lively eyes, a nose aquiline, though well proportioned, a beard of

OF CERVAXTKS. 271

silver, though some twenty years ago it was yellow as gold, large inustachios, small mouth, teeth now few iu number, as he has only six left, in height of a middle size, neither tall nor low, of a good com- plexion, rather fair than brown, somewhat heavy in the shoulders, and not very active — this I say is the portrait of the author of the ' Galatea and Don Quixote de la Mancha,' and of him that wrote the Viaye al Parnaso in imitation of Cesar Caporial of Perugia, and numberless other works— known by the name of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra 30." He confesses also that he was a stammerer ; and there is no doubt of the truth of this description, from the candour and ingenuousness which dictate it, and from the inimitable grace with which it is written.

Although Cervantes has derived great fame from his prolific and exquisite genius, he is not less de- servingof the esteem of posterity for the noble qualities of his heart. He was a true Christian philosopher, religious without superstition, zealous in faith without fanaticism, a lover of his country, courageous in war, generous and charitable without ostentation, extremely grateful, but without adulation or self- abasement ; esteeming those who marked his failings, as well as those who praised him ; moderate and in- dulgent with his rivals, never resorting in his invec- tives and satires to personal abuse. Lastly, he never prostituted his pen to favour or interest, it wyas never dipt in calumny, nor did he ever employ it but for the good of mankind. He was prodigal of praise, even so far as to have incurred some censure for this facility, which, however honourable to his heart, threw a doubt on the rectitude of his judgment, and the impartiality of his criticism.

Besides the works which we have mentioned, he

272 LIFE AND WRITINGS

had ready for publication, at the time of his death, IMS 8<>mana$ del Jard'tn, promised since 1613, the second part of the Galatea, since 1615, El Bernardo, which lie announced in his dedication to Persiles, and thecomedy ofElEngcwo a los ojos. It was his intention to have offered the first three to his patron, the count de Lemos, whilst on the brink of the grave, if by any miracle he had recovered his health ; but these intended fruits of his genius perished with him, and the titles alone remain to us.

The only work by him which we may call post- humous, is the Trabajos de Persilcs i/ xiyi«>nund<t. His widow solicited and obtained a license to print and publish it at Madrid, in the year 1517 ; in which year rival editions were published in Va- lencia, Barcelona, Painpeluna, and Brussels, honour- ing with these proofs of respect the memory of the illustrious man whom Spanish literature had recently lost. A few years afterwards, in 1626, this work was published in Venice, translated into Italian by Francisco Elio, a Milanese ; and the French possess two translations, both however deficient in correctness.

Such is the history of the life and writings of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra ; of that enlightened Spaniard who, after courageously shedding his blood for his country in war, and having illustrated it in peace by works as moral and useful as delightful — and having left to his fellow-men an example of virtue in his private life, terminated his days with that tranquillity which is inspired by religion and Christian philosophy ; like the sun which, after hav- ing irradiated the world, descends in majesty to the west, and appears greatest at the close of the declin- ing day. If the base envy of his contemporaries delayed for some time the fame due to his merits,

LIFE AND WRITINGS OF CERVANTES. 273

the clouds of prejudice and ignorance were soon dispersed, and an incorruptible and impartial pos- terity lias spread the name of Cervantes wherever civilization and the love of letters are to be found. On ever}- side he has met with applause, for he may be regarded as one of those privileged men of genius, whom Heaven from time to time gives to mortals, and to whom it has reserved the exclusive prerogative of enlightening the world, and of exercising an influ- ence in reforming the opinions and manners of their species.

APPENDIX.

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

(!) THE question, so long discussed, respecting the birth- place of Cervantes, was not satisfactorily decided till nearly the middle of the eighteenth century. The documents up to that time were of a conflicting character, and were so nearly balanced in point of probability between Madrid, Seville, Esquivias, and other places, as only to excite fresh curiosity and research. Literary men, and his biogra- phers of different countries, redoubled their diligence, but in vain, till at length Don Vicente de los Rios clearly proved, by satisfactory deductions from facts and dates newly brought to light, that Alcala de Henares could alone boast the honour of being considered the native place of Cervantes. The conclusion at which he had arrived by laborious inquiries and comparisons, was soon afterwards shown to be correct by the acquisition of further docu- ments, containing many particulars, which we proceed to give, and which could not be so well embodied in a nar- rative of his life. The most interesting of all is the requi- sition which he himself presented at Algiers, on the I Oth of October, 1580, for instituting a judicial information regarding his conduct and services, and in which h.j ex- T a

276 APPENDIX.

pressly declares, that " he is a native of the town of Alcala de Benares, in Castile." In another information, made by his father, in 1578, at Madrid, it is stated that Miguel de Cervantes is the son of Rodrigo de Cervantes, and of Dona Leonor de Cortinas ; and it is equally apparent from the terms of the ransom, and from the baptismal entry found at Alcala, that his parents were settled in that city ; insomuch that there remained no ground for the subse- quent pretensions which a number of other towns, in the natural desire of obtaining higher honour and considera- tion in the eyes of travellers and strangers, continued so pertinaciously to advance. It would be idle to go into a discussion of claims like these ; but the rise of them is so intimately connected with the distinguished men who, rightly appreciating the merit of Cervantes, sought every means to illustrate the actions of his life, and with notices which throw light upon the literary history of Spain at the period, that it would be inexcusable to pass them over.

The contemporaries of this great man, who had the advantage of either being present at, or having heard, a circumstantial account of the vicissitudes of his career, were not only too proud to place them upon record, but carried their indifference and neglect so far as to remain ignorant of his native place; professed and maintained their ignorance, and whether out of envy or other mo- tives, induced the world to remain ignorant of it, by boLlly assuming that it must continue unknown. Yet, nearly at the same time did Father Haedo expressly allude to it in his Top ngrap hia y Hi^tnria de Argel, published in 1612; and it was shown also by Rodrigo Mendez de Silva, in a genealogical treatise, printed in the year 1618. Neither

APPENDIX. 277

of these could have been road by, or even have attracted the attention of those few who, durL.g the 17th, and part of the following century, undertook to give some notice of the life of the author of Don Quixote. To such an ex- treme was this real, or affected indifference, carried, that Lope de Vega, who was in the habit of personal intercourse with him, was •' inclined" to believe, that Cervantes must have been born somewhere in Madrid.* This opinion he had formed, doubtless, upon the circumstance of the au- thor's protracted residence there at the same time with the court, both during his earlier years and at a subsequent period of his life. De Vargas, upon the other hand, makes him a native of the town of Esquivias, very probably from the frequent allusions in his (inlatca, and the warm praises of the people from among whom he had chosen a wife, to whom he was ever affectionately attached, and from his afterwards continuing to reside there.

Another champion stepped forth to vindicate the title of Toledo " to the honour of giving birth to the comic his- torian of the knight of La Mancha," in the person of the well-known player and poet, Claramonte Corroy ; and not the least curious fact is, that he advocates it in a work which he wrote and published during the life-time of Cervantes. Nicolas Antonio again declared in favour of Seville, because our author had been known to join in the humorous representations there when a boy, enacted by his favourite Lope de llueda, and because numbers of the illustrious families of the Cervantes y Saavedras, were found to have been long established there. This opinion also received the authority, in his own time, of the judges in the prize exhibition of Saragossa, in the year 1595. The

* Illustracioncs y Pocunientos, p. 2^2. Navarrete.

273 APPENDIX.

authority of this learned bibliographer had its weight with Ortiz de Zuniga, who, in his Annals of Seville, places Cervantes among the illustrious sons of that city, notwith- standing which he was excluded by Rodrigo Caro, in his Claros Varones en lelras naturalts de Serilla, though he had the advantage of residing there, and being upon the most intimate terms with Cervantes, — a negative proof, at least, that he considered his friend Cervantes in the light of a stranger. Another tradition, which has been repeated and preserved by D. Gregorio Mayans, assures us that Cervantes was born at Lucena ; but this appears to have been one of the first of those popular errors which disappeared before the light of inquiry ; inasmuch as neither in the parochial books, nor in any other public document, was there found mention of the name of Cervantes.

The success which attended the inquiries of Don Manuel Pingarron, was in a great measure owing to the previous investigations of D. Juan de Iriarte, the learned librarian of the Escurial, and of that erudite Benedictine, Sarmiento, between whom may be divided the lasting honour of hav- ing fixed the true birth-place of Cervantes. This able ecclesiastic, in a letter to Iriarte, dated 30th December, 1748, when speaking of different libraries and subjects connected with them, observes," what can be more lament- able than that at this time we should be actually ignorant of the native place of Miguel de Cervantes, who has made himself so celebrated by his History of Don Quixote ?" This passage shows that the conjectures of Mayans had not satisfied the mind of Sarmiento, and that the inquiry had till then led to no certain result. About the year 1748, D. Juan Iriarte found, among the manuscripts of the Royal Library, an account printed in Granada in the

APPENDIX. 270

year 1581, of one hundred and eighty-five captives, who had been ransomed the previous year in Algiers, and among the first appears " Miguel de Cervantes, aged thirty years, a native of Alcala de Henares." Delighted with his discovery, he ran with it to his son-in-law, Bernardo de Iriarte, who the next day communicated it to Father Sarmiento. From that moment the learned ecclesiastic devoted himself with all the power of his ingenious and subtle mind to the verification of this important docu- ment ; and his unwearied industry was crowned with success. He diligently perused The Topography and History of Aliens, by Haedo, the author's contem- porary, who describes his dialogues or examinations in the evidence of the same persons whom he found captives in Algiers. These we know he printed in 1612, at VaUa- dolid ; but Sarmiento, not yet satisfied, persevered in car- rying his inquiries into all places likely to afford further evidences in support of that interesting fact, nor stopped till he drew forth the entry of baptism at Alcala. Of this we are assured by Don Bernardo de Iriarte, an eye- witness of these exertions; but, whether it was that Sar- miento was still dissatisfied with the strength of evidence which he had obtained, or that the fact of the discovery of another entry of another Miguel de Cervantes de Saa- vedra, at Alcazar de San Juan, had produced some doubts in his mind, lie again investigated all the authorities, en- tered into new comparisons and combinations, all which left the second entry which had been discovered without any ground of application to Cervantes, and brought him with fresh proofs to his first established opinion. It is certain that Don Augustin de Montiano y Luyando, and D. Joseph Miguel de Flores, both give Sarmiento credit

280 APPENDIX.

for this triumphant verification ; and it is no less a fact that in various passages of his works,, this learned eccle- siastic justly appropriates to himself the signal merit of that proof. Nor, with less judicious criticism, does Rios demolish the pretensions alleged in favour of Alcazar de San Juan, a criticism which equally applies to those of Consuegra, adjudging the honour in dispute entirely to Alcala de Henares. And were the proofs he has brought forward in want of corroboration from other circumstances, they might easily be obtained in various passages from the worksof Cervantes, which had not previously been examined or not applied with sufficient consideration and care. The skill with which this ingenious writer has interwoven with his narratives numerous incidents of his life, is acknow- ledged by all ; he took advantage, also, of the most important events of his times, bringing them fresh before our eyes, and making allusions, which are no longer obscure, to his native place. As remarked by the learned Sarmiento, when placed in full light, derived from a knowledge and comparison of previous passages, formerly read without exciting curiosity with reference to combination with other dates well authenticated, these allusions become clear, and the facts more distinct. All these are to be met with, more particularly in La Galatea, in which the author studi- ously sought to represent real personages under feigned names, and under the veil of a pastoral plot and fiction, alludes to real circumstances and events, as by the name of Tirsi he designated his friend Figueroa, an elegant Casti- lian poet — a native also of Alcala de Henares, and who, addressing Elicio (Cervantes), on the subject of Galatea, observes, " upon the shores of our Henares, Galatea en- joyed a reputation for beauty rather than for cruelty ;"

APPENDIX. 281

evidently pointing with the word our to the native spot of both the speakers upon the banks of that river, upon which was seated the city of Alcala.

Nothing is wanting — not even the support of tradition, as Rios erroneously believed, when he declared that there had not remained one trace of the memory of Cervantes or of his family, at Alcalu. This was supplied by Don Manuel de Lardizabel, secretary of the Spanish Academy, who, during a continued residence in that city, procured every document or memorial respecting Cervantes which the most persevering industry could obtain. In a letter, dated the 22d November, 1 804, he expressly states, " The only memorial which I know of in the present day, is the house in which it is asserted that Cervantes lived, — a building which is now enclosed in the orchard of the Capuchins, and of which there remains nothing more than the wall and the entrance from the street; which of itself sufficiently shows that it was the house of a poor man, as Cervantes assuredly was, notwithstanding his surpassing merit and his talents."

There are likewise preserved in Alcala, memorials of different individuals established there of the name of Cervantes, and derivations from that name of Caravantes and Caravantes. In the baptismal books of the parish of Santa -Maria, are found entries of various dates during the 16th and 17th centuries, comprising the first of these names, — a list that would prove more satisfactory than agreeable to re-produce. Some of these appear to have been persons of consideration ; of whom mention is made also in the registry of marriages in trie church of the same place. The name Cervantes had been known there from the earliest times ; and in the Fuero, or book of

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Laws, established by the Cardinal Xirrienes de Cisneros for the government of the city, it has been recorded, that on the 22nd of February, 1509, Pedro de Cervantes, com- mendador of the order of Santiago, was the Corregidor and Justicia Mayor of that town ; and in 1640, another Pedro is dec'ared to have occupied the same post: — proofs, at least sufficient to satisfy us, that the conjectures formed respecting the claims of Alcala are not wanting, even in traditions of the family name and residence; traditions which constituted the only grounds possessed by many other cities, which more boldly advanced their claims-

Again, through the enthusiastic pursuit and untiring diligence of Rios, the world has been presented with still more decided and satisfactory proofs than any traces of residence, or popular traditions, can give. Reflecting upon the captivity of Cervantes, it occurred to him that the archives of the General Redemption were likely to con- tun the particulars of his ransom, and taking advantage of the friendship, combined with the literary taste, of Alonzo Cano, bishop of Segovia, he sent him (1st Sep- tember, 1765) the notices supplied by Haedo, requesting at the same time that he would obtain the registry of the archives, in order to ascertain if it contained any notice, or other entry, which might throw light upon that portion of the life of this celebrated writer.

The good ecclesiastic required no stimulus to urge him to undertake a task so congenial with his pursuits, and on the 7th of the same month he icplied to Rios, enclosing copies of the two entries which he had found ; and adding, that although he saw how exactly the circum- stances described in them coincided with those related by the author of Don Quixote himself— confirming the

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opinion of his ablest friends, who considered him a native of Alcala, he had nevertheless not yet determined to take the same view as Rios, inasmuch as the entry of baptism at Alcazar de San Juan, and the notice of a certain tradi- tion still preserved in that town, held him dubious till such time as he might be able to confirm a date, as to which he suspected that there might be some mistake.

Rios, on receiving the bishop's letter, with laudable zeal to remove his remaining doubts, again wrote to him on the 10th of the same month, giving an abstract of all his deductions and chronological calculations, upon a consi- deratii.n of which the karned Cano expressed his full conviction of the truth of his suppositions, acknowledged that he was a complete convert, and that Rios, by first directing his inquiries to new sources, was fairly entitled to the honour of having confirmed the previous informa- tion which had been obtained upon the subject In one of his excellent letters the learned prelate showed that love of truth and admiration of the great author by which he was actuated : he declared that, in order to collect all, even the least traces, which Cervantes had left of himself in his own works (owing to the circumstance of his not having perused the whole of them for a period of twenty years), he had communicated the subject to one of the members of the Academy of History, his friend, De Flores, secretary to that institution, who, seizing this favourable opportunity, published in the 26th Number of the Aduana Critica de fox Salios dc Espaiia, one of the original entries of ransom, being so fortunate as to be the first who had those documents in his hands. In this article he went fully into the claims of Alcala, with a force of reasoning which must bring conviction to every unbiassed mind, although

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it is to be remarked that there is an error in the date of the letter in which the information is given, as, upon examination of the original letters, and the observations of Rios himself in his Vindication, it appears that the entry was published for the first time by the author of the Aduana Critica, many years previous to the Life of Rios, and even to the Noticias Litcrarias of Pellicer.

(2) There are few details respecting the youth of Cer- vantes. It required all the efforts excited by his posthu- mous fame, with the aid of tradition, unwearied research, and the collation of numerous documents by men like Pellicer, De los Rios, and Navarrete, and their followers of every country, who have embodied every particular known, to form an authentic and connected narrative of his early years, and of his subsequent long and eventful life. There yet remain doubts, — deficiencies which can never, probably, be supplied ; but without resorting to conjecture, there is ample material to interest and to amuse us, as well as to excite our interest in the leading incidents and adven- tures of his chequered, but brilliant career. The English editors of his greatest work, both old and modern, are indebted almost entirely to Spanish industry and research for any additional light thrown upon his life and labours ; but as regards the new and pleasing views opened up, and the excellent use made of such materials, the writers of no country have surpassed our own. The names of Bowie, Jarvis, Motteux, Smollett, and also of Lockhart and Inglis, will naturally occur to the admirers and cherishers of his memory ; of all who wish to follow the footsteps of Don Quixote.

(3) So great was the uncertainty and even obscurity which involved this question, that when Queen Caroline,

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the consort of. George II., was collecting for her ow;i entertainment a series of the most interesting works of fiction, which she gracefully entitled the " Library of the sage Merlin," Lord Carteret, an enthusiastic admirer of Cervantes, while informing her that she had omitted one of the most lively and humorous stories in the world, was at a loss to tell her where (in what city) the writer was born. His lordship instantly received a commission to prepare a splendid edition of Don Quixote. To her majesty's taste for humour, therefore, we are indebted for the magnificent Castilian edition as it is called published in London (1738}, with the Life written by Mayans, who supplied his want of material by running in to discursive inquiries, and dilating upon pleasant points connected with the literary history of the author's times. He had not the advantage of possessing either the work of Father Haedo, or the other numerous documents which up to that period had remained neglected in the different Spanish archives. But as the first historical view of a writer whose fame is so widely spread, the work of Mayans was highly appreciated ; multiplied editions of it appeared, both in Spain and elsewhere, and it was consulted by all, eager to learn something more of the great genius whose inimitable labours it commemo- rated. It enabled Jarvis to enrich his translation of Don Quixote with that able and amusing preface upon the origin of books of chivalry, accompanied with notes and plates, besides a life of the author, extracted from that cf Mayans, published the first time, with so much elegance and splendour, under royal auspices.

It is curious to trace the progress of those inquiries which led to the farther discovery of the little which we know respecting Cervantes. The Life by Jarvis was translated into Dutch by Weyerman, and published at

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the Hague in 1746, to accompany those admirable plates by Coypel, engraved by Picard and others, with descriptions to each plate. The articles upon Cervantes in our biographical dictionaries, are chiefly drawn from such sources, especially a correct and well written account in the Encyclopedia Britannica, 1778. These labours had the effect of stimulating fresh inquiries in Spain ; the archives of convents and palaces were ex- amined, new documents were gradually produced up to the period when the Spanish secretary, Navarrete, collected and arranged the whole of these scattered materials, now for the first time given in full, in a connected narrative of events.

(4) It is very probable that the early taste acquired by Cervantes for this species of compositions, arose from the circumstance of his being a native of Alcala, to which, from the fame of its university, so many young people of Spain, and even students of other countries, resorted ; and where poetical essays, as in our own colleges, were given out, both for honorary distinctions and for prizes. Besides his fondness for old ballads, we are informed by himself that his extreme avidity for books, and for perusing every MS. or printed work that he could lay his hands on, especially in his younger days, induced him to pick up the scraps of paper in the streets as he went along. He im- bibed as early an attachment to the drama, and especially comedy, from so frequently witnessing, both at Alcala and Madrid,, within four leagues of each other, the perform- ances of that ambulatory comedian, the father of the Spanish theatre, Lope de Rueda.

(5) It was from his early residence also at this once famous seat of learning, at a subsequent period, when he had already gone through his elementary s'udies, that Cer-

APl'KXDIX. 287

vantes received those marled and permanent impressions of the localities, the peculiarities of the people, and the manners of the students, which after the lapse of thirty years, seem to have remained as fresh in his memory as if he had heen always on the spot, and delineated their distinctive features but the day before. In his por- traits of the " Licentiate Vidriera," of the "Supposed Aunt" and the Niece, in the musicians, and the old-fashioned squire, there is all that truth and depth of colouring, that vigour of masterly hand, and vivacity of expres- sion, which serve to convince us that he was making his finished pictures from the studies and sketches of younger life.

(6) There is every reason to conclude from these state- in ents that, subsequent to his residence at Salamanca, Cervantes again studied under IIozos the lighter branches of literature and the fine arts, with their peculiar applica- tion to exhibitions of the kind as they are here described, a custom then so very popular upon all festive, and even tiolemn occasions ; and we perceive that in the progress of his extraordinary career, Cervantes, owing to the pleasing recollections he had retained of these incipient flights of his muse and their first success, was inspired with a strong love of popular praise, and of excelling in all he undertook. He never omitted an opportunity of coming forward to celebrate with his pen any remarkable events, whether of an important or of a light and ludicrous character.

(7) Poetry, as deriving its chief beauty from vigour of imagination, and energy of passion, has been generally cultivated with most enthusiasm and success, even by the greatest writers, during early life. The reflective, the moral, the philosophical, the critical — which follow but

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too soon, — all detract something from the young glow of life, the sweetness of sentiment, and exuberant fancy, which charm us so much in Romeo and Juliet ; the Mid- summer Night's Dream, in the Lycidas and Comus of Milton, and in the early effusions of Dryden and Pope. It was the same with the writers of antiquity, with Virgil and Ovid as with Lope de Vega arid Cervantes. Of the latter it may be said, like Pope, " He lisped in numbers as the numbers came ;" and he observes in his preface to the Galatea, when anxious to exculpate himself from the charge of rashness in giving it to the world ; " with regard to this I might also allege, the disposition I have always felt for poetry, and my youth, both which seem to urge one to these under-age pursuits ;" and again, when, after a lapse of years, he supposes himself holding a conversation with Apollo, in his Viage al Parnaso he passionately exclaims :

"Even from my tenderest years, the art divine, By Thee beloved : — with its most potent charm, Say ! sought I not to please and make it mine ?"

It is evident, moreover, from his own confession, that he was fond of assisting in dramatic representations, even before he was able to form an opinion of hisold master's com- positions, though he treasured them carefully in his memory, and often recited, and even repeated them in one of his comedies. Doubtless, it was this poetical sentiment which early pre-occupied his mind to the exclusion of severer studies and more worldly pursuits, with the encomiums which he heard bestowed on the reading aloud of the best dramas, poems, or tales of fiction, that had such marked influ- ence in directing him to the more agreeable and imaginative character in his literary compositions — to the well-feigned pastoral, the comedy, the novel, and the humorous por-

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traiture of persons and customs, in their minutest lights and shades.

(8) That Cervantes joined the train of the Cardinal in quality of gentleman of the bedchamber, we have the best assurance in his own words affixed to the Galatea, and addressed to Ascanio Colonna: " there uniting with this motive the reverence which I felt towards your Excellency on hearing from the lips of the Cardinal, some things which sounded very like prophecy, when I was his chamberlain in Rome." To form aright idea of bis introduction to, and his connection with Aquaviva, we should enable the reader to judge of the character of the latter, who took an active part in the ecclesiastic negociations of the times. He was the son of Juan Geronimo, duke of Atri ; was made cham- berlain to the pope, Pius V., and sent ambassador to the court of Spain in 1 568, to offer condolences on the sudden decease of Don Carlos, an event involved in much mys- tery, and which had produced great excitement in the public mind. The refusal of Philip to observe the usual etiquette on this occasion, and the death of his young queen, produced uneasy feelings and suspicions in all men's minds. It was the object of the young ambassador to obtain some remission of the arbitrary exactions of the Spanish court. In the Latin history of the Pontiffs by Chacon, is contained a narrative of this embassy, which places the merits of Aquaviva, not more than twenty years of age at that period, in a very pleasing point of view. He spent the intervals of business in cultivating literature, and in the society of learned men ; he was highly educated, of fine and noble feelings, and strict morals. It was at Madrid he first became acquainted with Cervantes ; and delighted with his wit and parts, was unwilling, after so

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brief a sojourn — one which proved little agreeable to Philip — to leave his new friends. He frequently invited them to his table, heaped favours upon them, and was accus- tomed after the cloth was removed to sit discussing literary questions, and other topics worthy of a nobleman and prince. It was, therefore, a distinction, not a little honour- able to Cervantes, that he should, so young, have been selected by a man of distinguished merit, to fill a confi- dential situation.

(a) Upon his return to Italy through Arragon and Va- lencia, Aquaviva continued his route through Catalonia and the southern provinces of France; and we find that Cervantes, in his narrative of Pcriandro and Aumtela, mentions having himself seen the most remarkable objects upon the same route, accompanying his two pilgrims through the cities of Valencia, Catalonia; through Perpig- nan, Languedoc, Provence and Dauphiny to Piedmont ; Ihence to Lombardy, describing by the way the wonders of Milan, Lucca, Florence, until they terminate their pere- grinations at Rome. Again his Don Quixote — Las do< DonceUas, and La Galatea, all contain descriptions of the coast scenes, and grand works of Catalonia, the vicinity of Barcelona, and in particular of the bandos and bandoleros, with other particulars relating to the old customs and manners, such as could only be described, with the masterly touches given to them, by an eye-witness. Descriptions like these show that at that early age, Cervantes possessed the eye of the painter as well as the soul of the poet, and the observation of the traveller, the gentleman, and the man of the world.

(10) Up to a recent period, when the able and enlightened Navarrete, by comparing the various authorities upon the

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point, was so fortunate as to arrive at a correct view of it, it was the general opinion, that Cervantes entered the ser- vice of the Pope, joined the papal troops, embarked in the pontifical galleys commanded by Marco Colonna, and fought under that commander in the celebrated battle of Lepanto. The preceding writers of his life, founded their opinion upon some expressions made use of in his dedica- tion of the Galatea, to Ascanio Colonna, the son of that distinguished General: " May your Excellency give a good reception to my request, which I send,like an avant-coureur. to announce and give recommendation to my little service. And if for this I should not merit your favour, let it be awarded me for having followed, some years, the victorious banners of that military sun whose beams were but yester- day withdrawn from our eyes; but not his glory from the memory of those who know how to esteem great and worthy actions, such as illustrated your father's life." As Cervantes, too, resided at Rome in the service of Aquaviva, those writers naturally inferred that he had enlisted as a volunteer in the troops of Colonna. Both those excellent biographers, Rios and Pellicer, laid great stress upon the circumstance announced in the preface to the novels, that he had seen service during those years, under the standard of Don Juan of Austria. " J lost," says the author, speaking of himself, " my left hand by an arquebuss, in the naval battle of Lepanto, fighting under the conquering banners of the son of that thunderbolt of war, Charles V., of happy memory." As this appeared at variance with the assurance given us in the Galatea, they adopted the plan of recon- ciling both statements, observing that Colonna led one of the three divisions which composed his fleet — all of which were under the general command of Don John as the U 2

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Generalissimo. They next come to the conclusion, that Cervarrtes, upon recovering from his wound, joined the Spanish troops in garrison at Naples ; because mention is made in the deed of ransom that Cervantes had spent much time in that city serving his majesty, and again in the Viage al Parnaso it is stated that in his youth he had for more than a year trodden the streets of the same town. After a close examination of these statements, Navarrete is of opinion that Cervantes intended to express two ideas very different by " following the banners, or righting under the banners," for the first did not carry in its signification the enlisting as a volunteer, or the subject of place, like the second ; and as Colonna, although the Pope's general, commanded the combined squadron in the year 1570, and also in the summer of 1512, while Don John was in Mes- sina, it is highly probable that Cervantes, a soldier of the Spanish regiments who had also embarked in the galleys of Spain, should serve in those and, perhaps, other cam- paigns under the Roman General. Besides it appeared very unlikely that Philip II., the master of almost all Italy, holding so many troops in Lombardy, Naples, and Sicily, should place a Spanish gentleman of repute in the ranks of foreign armies. It moreover appeared next to impos- sible, that ha\ ing been wounded and lost the use of a hand and arm in the service of a foreign potentate, he should afterwards be admitted into the ranks of his native prince, in the face of all national rules and customs to the contrary. And what is more, and seems to have escaped all his bio- graphers, it was upon this very service in the Spanish army from the beginning, that he founded his claim to some recompense.

Granting, at the same time, that he engaged under the

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banners of the Church in the battle of Lepanto, it is most probable that the papal troops were reinforced by the Spanish regimentofFigueroa, of which we could cite many examples; and in this sense he fought under the banners of Colonna. There are many circumstances mentioned in the correspondence of Don Juan which tend to show that this was actually the case ; and these, when compared with other historical evidences not less strong, go to prove that Cer- vantes was employed only in the service of his country.

(u) There are some curious particulars relating to the early part of Cervantes' military career, given in the evidence of the witnesses engaged to facilitate his ransom when a captive in Algiers. When compared and taken together, those particulars present an interesting picture of the disposition and character of the young soldier, and of the manner in which he was regarded both by his com- panions and by his superiors. As evidence, too, they possess a force and impartiality, as well as truth of colour- ing and circumstance, freed from bias or interest of any kind, which make them more valuable and more attractive. Thus Mateode Santisteban, a native of Tudela in Navarre, and ensign in the company of captain Alonso de Carlos, deposed, " that he was a comrade of Cervantes in Italy, serving with him in the same company under captain Diego de Urbina; was witness to the heroic action of Cer- vantes at the moment he was wounded in the breast, and when disabled of a hand ; that he heard him say previously to the battle, when his captain, de Santisteban, and other friends, entreated him to remain quiet in the cabin because he was ill of a fever : ' What will be said of me, should I not perform my duty — I would much rather die fighting for God and for my king than consult my health by re-

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tiring to a place of safety !' He subsequently saw him fighting, like a valiant soldier, at the head of the men, and in that part of the vessel allotted to him by his captain. He was near him in the same vessel, named ' La Mur- (juesa,' commanded by Juan Andrea Doria ; he again saw Cervantes in Naples, in 1575, when upon the point of returning to Spain in the galley .SW with Carrillo de Que- sada ; and he was also acquainted with Rodrigo de Cer- vantes, the brother of his comrade Miguel."

The deposition of Gabriel Castafieda to the same purport, is more full with regard to the reply made by Cervantes, when pressed by the captain and his friends to remain quiet. "Gentlemen !" lie exclaimed with considerable heat, '• upon all occasions up to this day (alluding it would seem to some previous services in Italy) I have served his majesty as a good soldier, and now I will not do less, though I confess that I am sick and ill of lever ; it is better to fall in the service of God and of his majesty, and so to die, than to retire to a place of shelter ; I must entreat of the captain, therefore, to place me in the most exposed and dangerous pest he can assign me, for there will I be till I shall fall, fighting to the last." Seeing his indomitable spirit, the captain instantly gave him twelve soldiers and the post of most honour and danger. It was further de- clared by Castaneda, " that he afterwards saw this brave soldier enter a captive into Algiers ; being at that time in captivity himself ; that he read the letters brought by Cervantes from Don Juan of Austria, in which he recom- mended to his majesty to give Cervantes a company in the army of Italy as some recompense for his merits and services, and that owing to these letters the captain by whom he was taken placed his ransom very high." Is o

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less satisfactory, as throwing light upon his earlier days, was the account given by Antonio Godinez de Monsalve. He had been upon friendly terms with Cervantes during the year 1573, and they were together in the voyage of Tunis. While himself a captive in Algiers in Io75, he saw the captain Dali Mami, and another captain of a galley, having with them, captives, Miguel and Rodrigo de Cervantes, brothers ; he knew that the latter was ransomed in 1577, and that the former was still in captivity the year following, being the slave of Azanaga, Dey of Algiers.

" Don Beltram del Salto y de Castilla, resident in Madrid, was captured by the Turks in La Gnleta in 1.57-1, and carried into Algiers. He there became acquainted with Miguel de Cervantes, and observed that he had lost his left hand. From him, and other persons worthy of credit, he was informed of everything relative to the inquiry. When in consequence of being ransomed he left Algiers in 1577, Cervantes remained at that time a captive in the hands of a Turk, called Arnaute Mami, a captain in that city, who held Cervantes in high estimation upon account of certain letters \\ Inch he had found on his person from Don Juan of Austria and the Duke of Sesa, in which they both recommended to his majesty that he should confer upon Cervantes the command of a company, which he had well deserved."

(u) All the most interesting particulars relative to the captivity of Cervantes remained unknown up to the middle of the 18th century, and his biographer, Mayans, confessed that he was wholly ignorant upon this point, observing that " he knew not how, nor where, Cervantes fell into the hands of the Moors, and was carried to Algiers." It is

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evident that he was unacquainted even with the doormen's furnished by Father Haedo, and Alendez de Silva. For the firsttime,in 1752,FatherSarmientometwith "The History of Algiers," by Haedo, and perused the '' Dialogue of the Martyrs," with the narrative given by Dr. Sosa of the ad- ventures of Cervantes in Algiers; particulars both proved and illustrated by the document containing the conditions of ransom, lodged in the archives of the Redemption Society. From these we learn the day and the year when he was captured, by whom and in what vessel he had embarked for Spain, all which added to the evidence of Haedo, put an end to the conjectures of those who, like Father Sarmiento, believed that the hero of the story in the " Captive," was intended for Cervantes. A mere compa- rison of the adventures of the two, shows at once that such was not the case. The Captive, when recounting his own history, speaks of a certain Spanish soldier called "Saave- dra,'" and Mayans was aware of this distinction, and Pellicer made a parallel which set the matter at rest. In- deed, such is the artifice and the frequent repetition with which Cervantes mingles his own experiences with those of his companions, as to render it necessary to be very familiar with his works, and with the history of the times, to be able to discern the true from the fictitious, the real from the feigned. But with documents so inestimable, besides other information found in the archives of Seville, the whole of Cervantes' life, his actions and trials during his imprisonment at Algiers, are at once amongst the most interesting and best authenticated which we possess. At the same time it will throw much light upon this im- portant period, which raised his reputation so high in the opinion, not only of his country, but of all the world, to

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enter into a brief analysis of some of the incidents which, while they illustrate remarkable circumstances and events of the times, display the enterprise, skill, judgment, and magnanimity of the captive in a very forcible point of view. The following view of the circumstances, founded upon the Historia y Topographia de Anjd, will be found to reconcile much of the remaining difference of opinion upon this subject, ami we shall first endeavour to show how its chief author, Don Diego de Haedo, a noble eccle- siastic, who rose to the dignity of archbishop of Palermo, became possessed of the materials of the work. He was accompanied to his see of Palermo by his nephew, Diego de Haedo, a Benedictine of Valladolid, who assisted in obtaining for him information respecting the Christian captives at Algiers from all those who had arrived there; particularly from Dr. Antonio de Sosa, Captain Geronimo Ramirez, the Cavallero Sarjuanista Antonio Gonzales de Torres, whom he introduced as interlocutors in his Dia- logues, in which they relate all the incidents of which they were witnesses during the years they continued cap- tives in Algiers along with Cervantes himself. Having obtained materials, and modelled the form of his work with equal candour and veracity, he gave it over to his nephew to correct, polish, and prepare it for the press : the royal privilege was obtained the 18th of February, 1610, and it was published at Yalladolid by Diego Fer- nandez de Cordova, and again in 1612 in folio. When Father Haedo in 1604. and 1605 was preparing it at Valla- dolid, Cervantes was there at that exact time, busily engaged in bringing out his first part of Don Quixote, in which was contained his novel of " The Captive ;" and it is inferred by Sarmiento, with some probability, that

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the two authors were in communication with each other ; for it was doubtless the desire of Haedo to have the narra- tive which had been supplied by Dr. Sosa and others, sanctioned and approved by him of all others to whom it chiefly related, and this supposition is strengthened by a variety of collateral authority which has been adduced.

It is also an indisputable fact that the " History of Algiers" was published at least foul years previous to the death of Cervantes, mid that all the incidents relating to his exploits, his trials, and sufferings, while in captivity, and upon which he always laid so much weight, being contained in it and known to the world, it is next to impossible that he should not have read and examined it, so as to authorise the correctness of the narrative by the tacit admission of its truth. But Haedo says not a word of how, where, and by whom Cervantes was taken, and there is some contra- diction in the meagre statements whichhe adduces; in one of which it is said that when the Turks had got possession of the ship, they saw two other vessels approaching, and abandoned her ; an incident resembling that mentioned in the Persiles, by a pretended captive, while in the other it is asserted that they took her into Algiers, which last is confirmed by eye-witnesses, among whom Cervantes is one. The former had its origin in some vague reports which reached Naples, where Hernando de la Vega, also a deponent, then was. Juan de Valcazar,who was captured at the same period as Cervantes, appears in what he says to confirm the statement of Vega.

It would appear from the testimony of the witnesses, that the Turks had a regular engagement with the galley, which it must be inferred there must have been, as she had on board men of high military reputation, like Carillo

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de Quesada, Cervantes, and some of his companions; and upon this point the certificate of the duque de Sesa leaves us no room for doubt ; for " Cervantes," he says, " having embarked in the galera Sol was taken by the Turks and car- ried to Algiers, where he is at this time a slave, after having fought the battles of his country with the valour becoming a great soldier, and resisting the barbarians to the last."

Here is sufficient evidence, not only that the galley made a defence, but that Cervantes, in particular, fought nobly upon this occasion, an assertion which is quite consistent with his subsequent conduct, his repeated and persevering efforts to accomplish the freedom of himself and his com- panions, and the generous manner in which he took upon himself the consequences. Though we have no particular account of the sea-fight, there is no doubt that Cervantes subsequently gave more than one spirited and graphic sketch of it, availing himself of its minutest circumstances, both in his Galatea and his other works ; descriptions which bear that impress of truth and reality which could have been given them only by an eye-witness, and a dis- tinguished actor in the scene.

When Dali Mami, the Greek renegade, captured the galley Sol, he was simply master of the pirate vessel, while Arnaute Mami had the rank of sea-captain, and commander of the corsairs, who were bound to obey him in whatever part they fell in with him, to follow him at his call, and not to part company without his special com- mand. This power could be conferred only by the Sultan ; he had one of these sea-bashaws at Algiers, another at Tunis, and a third at Tripoli ; he had a legal title to one- fifth of the spoils, although he was usually satisfied with the portion which they thought it politic to

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assign him. This accounts exactly for the way in which Cervantes, though captured with the vessel by the sea- master, Dali Mami, might have been claimed by the " Captain of the sea," in the subsequent division of the spoils, had not circumstances which called the king of the corsairs to other enterprises, left him in the temporary power of the captor. In the first account of the ransom- money sent by the mother and sister of Cervantes, it is expressly stated that he was then in the power of Dali Mami ; which is confirmed by the captive himself, in replying to the fourth question in his examination, and by his companions, Vega and Valcazar, who were all slaves of the same master. It appears, also, on the evidence of another witness, Monsalve, who saw Cervantes and his brother dragged captives into Algiers by Dali Mami, that there were three Algerine vessels engaged with the galley, commanded, as we may naturally conclude, by Arnaute Mami, as chief of the other corsairs ; and in this character Cervantes himself speaks of him, when intro- duced into his novels of La Galatea, El Cautivo, and El Trato de Argel.

(1:i) It was customary with the Algerines to treat their prisoners according to the expectations they had formed of their rank and value in the ransom market. In some instances the captives were indebted to the avarice of their masters for an alleviation of their lot ; but in the case of Cervantes it was different; he was at first treated with extreme severity, in the idea that imprisonment and chains would compel him to obtain means of ransom ; while Cer- vantes, with a soul above his personal trials and sufferings, was anxious to effect his escape without drawing upon the slender resources of his relatives and friends.

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The plan which the cunning masters generally adopted was this. At first they attempted to ascertain the quality, profession, and fortune of their captives ; if they found that they were Fidalgos, or " sons of something " which was all they looked for, they directly gave out an exagge- rated statement of their rank and wealth. If doubtful of the fact, they still held it forth and maintained it for a time very resolutely. If the unhappy men denied it, they proceeded to extort the truth by severity, and there were always infidels and traitors enough at hand to aid them in their nefarious design. Of the tricks and inventions they thus resorted to, in order to fasten a good price upon their victims, we have a very touching account, and which on any other subject would be considered exceedingly amusing, from tlie pen of Dr. Sosa, one of those who unfortunately participated in their lot. " What are we to think," he says, " of the depth of their infernal devices, when out of me, who am a poor clergyman, they have already, upon their own authority el plcnitudine potestatis, made a bishop ; and soon afterwards secretary to his Holiness, his great counsellor and plenipotentiary; nay, closeted me together with his Holiness for eight hours a-day at a sitting, treating together of most grave and weighty matters connected with the interests of Christen- dom ! When I denied having ever attained to such great honours, they made me a cardinal. When that also I dis- claimed, they declared me to be governor of Castelnuovo, at Naples ; and as that would not serve their turn, thev now make me Father Confessor and master, as they call me, to the queen of Spain. To establish this fact, as they stoutly maintain it, they have not scrupled to suborn both Turks and Moors who should affirm it ; and there were not

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wanting bad Christians, in this house, as well as out of it, who the better to please my master, averred that they knew it to be the case ; nay, so great is their assurance, as almost to confound me, for they brought forward some Turks, lately escaped from Naples, who being confronted with me, declared that they had been engaged in my service when governor of Castelnuovo, at Naples, as cooks and scullions. In the same way they have made you a great lord, a most wealthy knight of Malta, and a relation of the first noblemen and prelates of Italy and Portugal ; and poor Juan Botto, who is now at my elbow, is not only a very ricli man, but a celebrated knight of Malta; and our friend, Antonio Garces, one of the most distinguished nobles in Portugal."

In this ingenious manner they contrived to raise the price of ransom, and when Father Gracian was negociating for his release, there came forward some Christian rene- gades, who assured the Bey of Tunis that they knew him well ; that he was an archbishop who had been on his way to Rome to obtain the dignity of a cardinal : upon which he was immediately taken from his former master, who would have accepted moderate ransom, carried before the great monopoliser of captives, and a price of thirty thousand crowns set upon his ransom ; insomuch, that his return home was accounted a miracb by all who heard of it In his delightful novel of " EL Amante Liberal," Cervantes makes Ricardo give an account of this notable custom in the narrative of his adventures. His master Fetale is continually complimenting him upon his high rank, and urging him from a sense of honour to give a handsome sum for his release. He assures him that his own soldiers and attendants are perfectly aware of the fact,

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and that it is little becoming the character of so distin- guished a man to remain in so idle a condition ; and he laughed at the repeated disclaimers of his captive.

It is notsurprising, then, that the letters of recommenda- tion carried by Cervantes from the first public personages of the day should have caused him to be so hig/i/t/ valued, and that when the money was not forthcoming he should have been consigned to close custody, with all those mortifying trials and insults calculated to bring him into their views. There were appropriated, for the more obstinate and refractory, certain buildings or court-yards, called the " Baths." In those named La Basturda were confined captives belonging to the magistracy, or the commune, and at times individuals distinct from professional or public functions, for the purpose of holding them in safer cus- tody. They were daily taken to the public works, or other employments for which they were thought best adapted. But the captives in the royal baiin, continued always in durance, and under vigilant guard, were never condemned to hard labour with the herd, and subjected only in case of long delayed ransom, to some degrading employment, such as carrying wood, or to be walked about for the amusement of the spectators.

This royal prison, in which Cervantes lingered in chains till the year 1577, was about seventy feet by forty, with numerous chambers and apartments round the sides of it ; in the centre was a cistern of good water, and at one side in the lower end was placed the chapel, or ora- tory, where mass was celebrated ah1 the year round by the captive priests; the usual services were performed, the sacra- ment administered, and sermons regularly preached. Some- times they were so thronged that it was necessary to perform

304 APPENDIX.

mass in the open air; the jailers and attendants taking advantage of the influx of the Christians to levy upon each and all contributions to the farthest extent of the ability of each prisoner ; and although the means of many were very small, yet the sum of these extortions amounted to a good deal. And as Azan Aga commenced his government like a true prime minister, taking all the offices into his own hands, all the captives, with few exceptions, fell likewise to his share. He soon found that he had got a complete army of them, amounting to up- wards of two thousand, congregated in his own royal prison. Hence arose his well-founded fears, when he discovered the plotting genius and courage of Cervantes, and which at length made him tremble for the safety of his ships and of the city itself. It was one powerful prison company; and combining their various talents and resources, they endeavoured to relieve the weight of their chains and the sorrows of captivity by inventing games, making various kinds of exhibitions, such as a mock assem- blage of the cortez, a council, a royal commission .debates, trials, theatrical representations, and especially processions and religious solemnities, so as to preserve the shadow, at least, of liberty, and that semblance of activity and anima- tion which they did not possess. Thus we are told by Cervantes in his comedy Los Banos deArgel, that after the ceremonies of the church, supposed to be celebrated with a grand concert of music, they determined to have a comedy, and that they first heard a colloquy in verse, from Lope de Rueda, recited, by his friend, Juan de Timoneda, who, though very old, was a great curiosity, and had a most humorous way of speaking the bucolic language of his country. Lope de Vega, too, in his comedy, Los Cau-

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liens de Argel, took the same subject, and treated at length of the songs that were sung, and the comedies enacted according to Spanish fashion, in the prisons of Algiers. But a still more interesting picture is given in La Gran Sullana Dona Catalina de Oviedo, where Cervantes gives a narrative of that lady's life ; how she went with her parents from Malaga to Oran, and was captured when quite a child by Morato, who sold her in Tetuan to a wealthy Moor. Meantime, her mother had died, and her father was carried into Algiers. In the course of four years Morato returned to Tetuan, and struck with the surpassing beauty of the girl, scarcely yet ten years of age, repurchased her for four times the sum which he had sold her for. Delighted with his new prize, he instantly set out for the city of the Sultan, where he arrived in the year 1600; she was pre- sented to the Grand Signor, then quite a boy, and ordered to be placed in the Seraglio, where the young Spanish beauty, however, would never consent to adopt the name of Zo- raida, bestowed upon her by her captors. After a variety of incidents the Sultan, in the course of time, again saw the fair Spaniard, highly educated and accomplished, and struck no less with her singular discretion than with her charms, he ordered her to be proclaimed Grand Sultana. She became a noble benefactress of the Christians, and attached herself to all their customs, manners, and entertainments. " The captives," he relates, " from a sense of gratitude, as well as to cultivate her favour, sang theCastilian songs and exhibited the musical dances which were then in vogue upon the Spanish boards, and carried to such per- fection by Alonzo Martinez ; and they imported new Spanish comedies, purchased from Venetian merchants, an d even from the viceroys of Italy." To do honour in the

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same manner to the Sultana's taste, there was exhibited in the Seraglio by the captives and several banished Moors, the comedy of "La Fuerza Lastimosa," which has been cited by Lope de Vega in his "Peregrino en su Patria," as his own.

(M) Of all conditions, that of the captives of superior rank and consideration was the most deplorable. From their in- fluence and character, they were always the most exposed to risk, by being at the head of the others, and engaging in plans to regain their freedom, the failure of which led to still greater privations and sufferings.

The Moorish dungeons had three depths of caverns, like subterraneous granaries for the preservation of corn. In mockery of the light of heaven, at one opening above there was a skylight, and that also encircled with bars. The sun and air were never polluted by entering such terrific abodes, nor could the glad face of the heavens be seen from them. The only sights were sights of woe : the only company was that of convicts, thieves, murderers, and the lowest Moorish rabble ; and the sounds and voices, mingled with blasphemies and execrations, were re-echoed as if among the vaults of the dead ! Every sense was overwhelmed by the intolerable horrors that combined to disgust, to terrify, and to distract the imagination and the soul. Hunger, nakedness, thirst ; — heat, damp, and cold, — all natural things seemed to conspire with the cruelty and neglect of the infernal janitors and masters, to swell the catalogue of their woes. It is thus that Dr. Sosa complained of being left naked, hungry, and loaded with fetters, tied to a stone pillar in a lone spot, — dark and cold, — cut off from all communication with his wretched companions ; and from which he was three times carried away as dead.

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(") We may^ therefore, picture to ourselves the sufferings of Cervantes, whose state of bondage and privations for a long period of his captivity, are described as being of the most severe which even Algiers could inflict. No wonder that he conspired so many times to free himself and his friends from so desperate a condition ; and that he evinced so much skill and courage in these enterprising eRorts. The extent of these sufferings appears in the evidence taken before the commission, showing, in the words of Haedo, that Cervantes ran the utmost risk of his life ; that he was four times upon the point of being empaled, hanged, or burned alive for his daring attempts to liberate his comrades ; a statement which agrees perfectly with that put into the mouth of the captive, and confirmed by public and authentic documents.

(16) The first intended flight to Oran had been projected by others before the arrival of Cervantes. In the beginning of October, 1568, an Italian renegade, de.-irous of recon- ciling himself to the Christian religion, left Algiers dis- guised as a Turk, but having been taken by some pea- sants of Mostagan, he was brought before the dey, who ordered him to be put to death with every refinement of cruelty. In May, 1572, two Spaniards, who were sur- prised in a like attempt, were brought before the same tyrant, who is stated to have put them to death by the bastinado with his own hand. Facts like these, and others which occurred during the captivity of Cervantes, tend to exhibit his constancy, courage, and magnanimity in a very forcible point of view. Many of these cruelties, perpetrated before his eyes, are alluded to in his Trato de Argel, in which he represents himself in consultation with Pedro Alvarez upon the project of flying to Oran, x 2

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being unable longer to endure the oppressions of his mas- ter, who believed Pedro to be a person of rank, whose pro- perty had been taken possession of by his brother ; and persecuted him the more cruelly, in order to extort a handsome ransom. He is then represented as having made his preparations, setting out along the sea-shore to avoid the peasants, and, being overcome with fatigue, taking rest in a cavern, where a lion enters and lies down beside him, and afterwards very kindly engages in his ser- vice as a guide.

Cervantes, when describing the escape of Zoraida from the gardens of her father, simply details his own plan, attempted in 1577, when he had ransomed his brother Rodrigo, and given directions for a vessel to be sent, and to hover about the coasts, till they should join it from their place of concealment.

(17) With regard to the circumstances attendingthiseffort, there is considerable variation in the documents and con- temporary authorities. It seems that when the vessel, under cover of the night, approached towards the shore, a number of Moors, who, according to F. Haedo, happened to be passing near, saw the vessel, and, raising a great outcry, were the cause of its again putting to sea, without effecting its object ; adding, that the Christian fugitives concealed in the cave were not aware of the arrival, any more than of the departure, of the said vessel. But, in the examination that followed, the cause is stated to have been want of courage in the sailors to put to land, and inform the unhappy men of the relief at hand. By another wit- ness it was declared, that the sight of a fishing-boat caused the men to take the alarm ; while Alonzo Aragones, on the side of the sailors, avowed that the frigate returned

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and twice ventured towards the shore — an authority which was strengthened by that of Dr. Antonio Sosa, a man well worthy of credit.

(18) Of the second attempt to escape in the year 1 579, and of which Haedo makes no mention, some account has been given in the novel of " The Captive." " We then," it says, " gave five hundred crowns to the renegade with which to purchase the vessel ; eight hundred were given to a Valencian merchant who happened to be then at Al- giers, who pSid my ransom to the Dey." It appears from the evidence subsequently given, that Cervantes having divided between two Valencian merchants, Onofre Exarque and Baltazar de Torres, residents at Algiers, a sum suffi- cient to purchase an armed vessel, one was actually pur- chased in the name of the renegade Giron, who prepared everything secretly to convey Cervantes and sixty other captives of most repute to their own country. The inven- tion and ingenuity requisite for carrying on such a trans- action in all its details and bearings are remarkable traits in the character of this extraordinary man, whose happy and fertile genius seems always to have supplied him with resources in those emergencies from which only his prompt wit, courage, and discretion could rescue him, and save the lives of his companions. Some of these succeeded in making their escape; and with regard to those who were compromised by the failure of their efforts, Cervantes not only defied all threats to make him give up their names, but maintained that he alone was the author of the plots which alarmed the Dey for the safety of his ships and cities.

(19) But of all the enterprises which entered into the ima- gination of this daring soldier — for such he really was — to

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conceive, — the most generous, grand, and important as re- garded its results, at a period, too, when Europe trembled at the clank of the Ottoman chains, and some of her noblest and bravest pined away their days in hopeless captivity — was that of rising upon their tyrants and oppressors, and destroying them in the very strongholds of their execrable power and cruelty.

There is not a doubt that the suspicions of Azan, which he expressed with so much anger, were, in this respect, well founded ; for, though neither the examination nor the declarations of witnesses touch upon the subject, there is ample reason to believe that such a design was entertained, and also to account for the silence of the different de- ponents respecting the project. Even when ransomed and at liberty, Cervantes was most cautious, while in Algiers, for the sake of the unfortunate captives as well as for other motives, not to allude, even in the most distant manner, to a subject so hateful in Moorish ears, and when he had already done enough to make his memory, as he himself asserts, live long in Algiers, where " the lame soldier," like another diable bolteux, seemed to have the power of looking into the houses and penetrating the motives and designs of the most exclusive inhabitants. " He did some things in Algiers ;" says the novel of " The Captive," " that will remain in the remembrance of that people for many years, and all to achieve the blessing of liberty."

C20) There is farther the authority of Father Haedo, of Dr. Antonio Sosa, and Captain Geronimo Ramirez — the two last, friendsof Cervantes and witnesses of his actions — for believ- ing " that if the good fortune of Cervantes had been equal to his courage, perseverance, and skill, the city of Algiers would by this time have been in the power of the Christians ;

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for that his bold and resolute projects aimed at no less a result. Moreover, that if he had not been sold and betrayed by those who undertook to assist him in his grand and noble project — to liberate the captives of so many lands — as well so many future sufferers — his own captivity might have proved a fortunate event."

It is well known that in the history of Algiers there are numerous examples of conspiracy against the government — even by Christian slaves, but few of the same determined and persevering character as that of Cervantes and his friends. I n the time of Barbarossa and towards the close of 1531, Juan de Portundo, in concert with six other Spanish captives, organised a rising in Algiers, taking ad- vantage of the great number of Christian slaves who were then in the city, and hoped to succeed in their project by means of a soldier called Luis de Sevilla — a man of great skill and courage — a slave of Barbarossa, and confined in one of his state prisons. Measures were taken with D. Alonzo de Peralta, for a supply of arms ; keys were forged with which to open the prisons, and all materials were in readiness, when on the eve of the outbreak, a traitor in the camp — the old story — out of some pique, went and revealed the whole plot to the Dey. Francisco Almarza, who had twice before changed his religion, was this traitor ; and now betrayed the unhappy prisoners to their doom. Seventeen of the chief men, of high worth and talent, were put to death by the bastinado, and their friends and companions at the stake.

Another no less fatal and lamentable example of these disappointed efforts to regain freedom— which shows how deeply implanted is the desire of liberty in the human breast — occurred in the year 1359, when in consequenceof the dis-

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astrous day of Mostagan, more than eight thousand Spanish captives were brought into Algiers ; besides the same num- ber of various nations, a crowd so great as to make them the terror of their captors. Their numbers inspiring confi- dence in the chief captives, a plan was formed, and the time and place were agreed upon for a general rising to seize the gates and citadel, when a Valencian called Morellon ac- quainted the Dey with the plot. Don Martin de Cordova, son of the Conde de Alcandete (afterwards marquis de Cortez) himself a captive, was accused of being the author of the conspiracy ; some renegades of rank, also, were alleged to be his accomplices. Don Martin was placed in strict cus- tody in a neighbouring castle, the value of his expected ran- som protecting him from the fate he must otherwise have undergone. But the greater number of the conspirators suffered ; and at the same time the celebrated corsair, Juan Canete, who had long been the scourge of the Al- gerines, fell into their power and was put to a cruel death. These and other failures, as related by the learned Sosa, could not be unknown to Cervantes, and were doubtless influential in stimulating rather than depressing the courage of such a man. The number also of the captives then in Algiers was another incentive, amounting, as they did, to upwards of 23,000 ; and in the prison of the Dey only, there were nearly 2000 captives more. Though malice and ingratitude caused the failure of his best con- certed plans, the suspicion and alarm of the Algerine ruler were so great that he would undoubtedly have put him to death, had it not been for the hope of a high ransom, and a certain admiration which the greatest of oppressors some- times feel for men of undaunted bravery and matchless virtue.

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(21) It was natural, therefore, that the head of these bar- barians, if only to preserve public tranquillity and his own power, should desire to have the person of Cervantes in his safe custody, and the result of the conspiracy of 1577, in which Cervantes was the principal actor, afforded him an opportunity which he did not neglect. No sooner were the unhappy fugitives retaken, than he ordered them to be sent to his own prison, to be strictly guarded ; and he con- sidered them — regardless of previous ownership — every way as his own. But the author of the plot he ordered to be brought to his own house. After an interview in which the tyrant sought to extort confessions, Cervantes was sent to the same prison and securely guarded ; but it would seem that so great an outcry was made by the different masters of the slaves, at the loss of their property, that the Dey, unable to resist the combination, says Haedo, was compelled to restore several of them, among whom was Cervantes, to their former owners. In support of this sup- position it was declared by serjeant Antonio Godinez and .D. Baltazar del Salto, in the examination taken before the commission in 1578, that at the period when they were ransomed and left Algiers, Cervantes was in the hands of the Turkish captain who made him prisoner ; but that both had subsequently heard that he had been given up to the Dey Azan Aga, who considered him — (to use an equi- valent phrase)— a man of sterling worth. To put it, at the same time, to the proof, and hasten the arrival of the ransom, he ordered " the lame soldier" to be treated with severity, but not so great as to endanger his life; and in this miserable state, half alive and half dead, did the im- mortal Cervantes continue, during the space of five months. At the expiration of that period, it appears, according to

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Haedo, that the Dey found himself compelled, by the agita- tion of the slaveowners, either to buy or to restore Cervantes to his first master ; and it was then that the sum of five hundred crowns was given, and the price of a thousand, at which he was ultimately ransomed, set upon his liberty. He was then guarded with redoubled vigilance, and his suffer- ings, with the view of ensuring the speedy return of the five hundred, with the interest of five hundred more, were rendered still less tolerable. Cervantes seems to have been himself aware that king Azan, as the Moors, and all the Spanish writers, including the captives, always termed him, was now determined to have his life, or the supposed value of his life, and he was moreover preparing to sail for Constantinople, whither he would have carried his prisoner, had not a sudden and great exertion been made by the society of liberators as well as by all his friends and relations.

(") It required, indeed, the utmost promptness, the local influence, and the charity of Father Gil, who perceiving the malevolent intentions of the Dey, drew from a variety of sources, as well as from the funds of the Redemption Society, from merchants and their friends, the stipulated sum to satisfy the cupidity of his master. After all, the speculation did not answer his expectations, for being called away to Constantinople, he seems to have accepted less than he intended. Haedo is doubtful whether it did not amount to one thousand gold crowns of Spain ; but the con tract expressly states it at five hundred — " which Father Gil, moved by compassion, gave to the said king, who gave his captive liberty upon the very day and hour when the king set sail to return to Constantinople." This, however, was contradicted, no less by Dr. Sosa, than by

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several other deponents ; but the precise moment was scarcely worth contesting.

(23) Cervantes continued for some time after his restora- tion to liberty in Algiers, as we gather from the agreement concluded by Father Gil, dated the 22cl of October, 1580; but we are not justified in concluding that his residence there was prolonged till the spring of the follow- ing year, according to the calculation of Rios and Pellicer. They probably inferred this to be the case from what Cervantes himself says, in his preface to the " Novels,'' of " having been a soldier many years, and a captive during five years and a half, during which time he had learnt to be patient under adversity." It is undoubted that, having been taken prisoner on the 26th of September, 1 575, these five long years and a half will be found included within that term and the end of March, 1581 ; but at the same time, it should be remembered that in the examination taken before the commission appointed, Cervantes himself stated he had been five years a captive, and this assertion was confirmed by the witnesses. The Alcalde also of a place in La Mancha, who is introduced in the Persi/es, and who, in the opinion of Pellicer, is meant for Cervantes, observes " that he had been five years a slave in Algiers;" a calculation which answers exactly to the dates, — that of his ransom being the 10th of September, 1580, which makes the term five years less by seven days, from the day when he was taken.

(24) The period, however, of the return of Cervantes into Spain has been fixed with more certainty. He reached his native country before the end of the year 1580, and most probably set out within a few days after the different documents to which we have alluded had been drawn up

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and signed. In the memorial, of which he was desirous of possessing copies, bearing the date of October, the same year, it is stated, " that being now prepared for his return to Spain, it was of importance to him to draw up a state- ment, and make an attestation witnessed by others." And D. Diego Benavides, one of these witnesses, declared " that on the 14th, he was living with Cervantes, already ran- somed, in Algiers, in the same hostelry, until the time when, blessed be God, some vessels should arrive which might carry them both into Spain ; for that he also was ransomed and a freeman."

(25) This passage shows that Cervantes and his compa- nion were at that date prepared to take advantage of the first opportunity ; and as that occurred almost immediately, there is no reason to doubt but they immediately availed themselves of it, especially as by that step they were put- ting an end to a long and painful captivity. If we dwell for a moment upon the lofty wisdom, the beautiful morality, the tender regard to relatives and early friends, and all those practical and unostentatious virtues, which inspired the - sentiments and governed the actions of this great man, we must suppose that he was eager to re-unite him- self with all those social ties which had been so rudely torn asunder. If " high thoughts seated in a heart of courtesy" ever inspired ambition to run a race of honour, to illustrate by deeds the noble and gentle blood from which he sprang, they found their permanent seat in the heart of Cervantes.

It has already been remarked that Cervantes is not the hero in the novel of El Caulivo, as was for some time supposed. There are, nevertheless, several passages in that interesting narrative which are perfectly true, and

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which only those familiar with the details of his life can distinguish from the more inventive portion.

For instance, it is well known that the author was never with the Duke of Alva in Flanders, — never served, either in his or in any of the armies, during those terrible cam- paigns, and, therefore, he could not have been present at the deaths of the Counts Egmont and Horn ; he could not have been taken prisoner, as there supposed, in the battle of Lepanto, — was never the slave of Ochali ; nor, on the decease of his master, became the property of Azan Aga, who, it is declared, carried him along with him in his voyage from Constantinople to Algiers, about the middle of 1577, nor did he ever become a captain ; all which cir- cumstances belong to the ideal portion of Kui Perez de Biedma, a native of Leon, and perhaps a companion of Cervantes in his captivity ; this was the true hero and actor in the novel of " The Captive."

But from that epoch, the intervention of the real incidents connected with Cervantes becomes more marked ; of the reality of which the Captive himself assures us, entertain- ing his listeners with an account in the following terms : — " If your excellencies will but give your attention you shall hear a true narrative, compared with which the most rarely imaginative, and finely invented, will appear as nothing in your eyes !" And in the comedy of Los Banos dc Argel, where these events are brought before our eyes, the last act closes with the information that " the piece is not a feigned story — the child of imagination, but that it was born far from the regions of fiction ; wild and roman- tic as it was, in the very heart of truth. That the story still survived — of sweet affections— of gentle love and me- mory, in Algiers. That it is well for truth and history to

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delight the fancy; and that to this day there will be found in Algiers, the same window and the garden ; and that no less matters of fact were the strange things which passed around them in Algiers.''

Were other proofs wanting as to the reality of these adventures, and the deep impression which they made upon the mind of Cervantes, they might be adduced from his other works, in addition to the evidence from the lips of the Captive, " that of all the singular events and acci- dents which befel him, not a single one had been erased from his memory, nor could they be forgotten by him till the last moment of his life. '' It is farther observed, that, although the Moorish ladies do not permit them- selves to be seen by Turk or Moor, or by any of the male relatives of their husbands, except by special command, they have none of the same reserve, nor is it insisted upon, towards the Christian captives. When speaking of Zoraida, he says, "she appeared to think nothing of ap- proaching the spot where 1 was speaking with her father." Alluding to the jealousy of the husbands, Haedo observes, that '* they are even careful to have no windows opening upon the streets ; and that if by any chance a .Moor, a Turk, or a renegade, were to enter a house, there would be a great outcry — the women from all sides running to hide themselves in their chambers. Yet," he adds, " that these ladies entertain no idea of running away from the Christians, whether slaves or freemen ;" that it is only among those of high rank, as the wives of state ministers and governors, — from a feeling of pride and dignity, that an opposite conduct is observed. For this reason the ad- venture of Zoraida, — her abduction and arrival in Spain, are in no way at variance with probability,— such occur-

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rences, according to the testimony of Sepulveda, repeated by Pellicer, having not unfrequently taken place. Both refer to the instance of a German lady, the principal wife of the Dey of Algiers, who, in the year 159,3, taking advantage of an opportunity when enjoying the air in one of the palace-gardens a little way out of the city, eloped with more than twenty other ladies, and with all valuables upon which they could lay hands, made clear off to sea, and fortunately arrived in Spain ; presenting a sin- gular and daring exception, not a little in favour of female courage and wit, to the numerous failures in such at- tempts. Upon this occasion a vessel had been despatched by orders of Philip II. from the coast of Valencia, to facilitate their escape, and a very handsome pension was assigned them, upon which, with the store of jewels and other valuables, of which they had eased his Algerine Deyship. they long flourished in the environs of that delightful city.

So with the adventures of Zoraida in the novel, Cer- vantes preserves throughout a degree of probability and truth in regard to character, customs, and manners, com- bined with a richness and vivacity of imagination, which throu a spell over the heart, and rivet the attention of the reader. He at once takes the fancy captive by the charm of his descriptions, and the exuberant beauty of his style. The only daughter and heiress of Agi Morato, who had borne the rank of a magistrate, is supposed to have been edu- cated by a Christian slave. Hence she imbibed her love of Christianity ; as the most lovely and wealthy lady in all Barbary, her hand was sought by the first personages, and all the viceroys in the country — among whom the famous Muley Maluk, then aspiring to the throne of Fez,

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transcended all his-rivals by his singular merits and accom- plishments ; and he is united to this '• brilliant beauty" at the close of the story.

Now, it appears from the Histories of Algiers, that " there was an Agi Morato, originally a renegade slave, who became a wealthy governor, and flourished in the year 1581." He was in possession of one of the best houses in the city, had a daughter married to Muley Maluk : "a discreet man/' says Haedo, " and, according to what I heard from many persons who were well acquainted with him, a man of excellent judgment and kind disposition.'' In his Historia de Po»7t/g«/,Herrera also speaks with enthusiasm of the noble qualities of Muley Maluk, especially of his humanity towards the Christians; adding, that he was eloquent, discreet, learned, a great linguist, and particularly versed in the Castilian and Italian languages.

Muley Maluk fell in the great battle of Alcazarquivir, fought with Don Sebastian of Portugal, upon the 2nd of August, 1578; and it is stated by the same historian, that being sick and suffering from the effects of his extreme exertions, long anxiety and watching, — when no longer able to sit on horseback, he ordered himself to be borne in a litter, where he expired before the close of the day, and without enjoying the victory which he had so much desired.

Nothing, indeed, is more remarkable than the skill with which the author blends truth and fiction, so as to give the effect of a perfect picture to the whole. It is equally apparent in the Valencian merchant, who then happened to be at Algiers ; and to whom the 800 ducats were en- trusted which purchased the captive's freedom ; that mer- chant was Onofre Exarque, who was actually there in

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1579, and who gave upwards of 1,300 doubloons for an armed frigate, in which Cervantes and his companions had taken secret measures to effect their escape. From this, and from a variety of other circumstances, it may be concluded that the hero is no other than Rui Perez de Biedma, a companion of Cervantes in the prison of Azan Aga, and that his adventures are happily intermixed with other descriptions and incidents, best calculated to bring into relief the peculiar customs and manners of the people amidst whom the author acquired so exact a knowledge of everything which he wanted to give an additional charm to his story. The opinion, therefore, of Sarmiento, that this novel was a disguised history of the adventures of Cervantes, is no longer admitted by the best critics to be correct.

OPINIONS UPON DON QUIXOTE, &C., BY JM. VIARDOT.

(--) " Montesquieu puts into the mouth of Rica (Lettres Persanes, ATo. 78) the following words : ' The Spaniards have only one good book, that one which has made all the others ridiculous.' This is one of those happy railleries which pleases the more by its very exaggeration, and which our neighbours, the Spaniards, ought not to have taken in a serious point of view. Nobody, for instance, at Paris, was pleased to be offended when the same Rica observes at the close of his letter : ' at Paris there is a house where they put fools. . . . Doubtless the French, finding themselves extremely decried by their neighbours, shut up some fools in this house, that they may persuade people that those who are out of it are wise men.' Of the two the raillery bears hardest upon the French ; for in the mention made by Montesquieu of Don Quixote, the praise

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given to that work ought to weigh against the reprobation of all the rest. We need no ghost to tell us, that if Don Quixote had been a mere parody upon the romances of chivalry, it would not very long have survived their fall. The triumph once achieved, the conqueror must have been laid to rest by the side of his victims. How little do we now care for his criticisms upon Amadis, Esplandean, Platir, and Kyrie Eleison, with all the pinks of knight- hood belonging to the same class! Not that we doubt it was counted by the author himself among his chief merits, to run a sharp tilt at his chivalrous adversaries, and lay all their wild absurdities and extravagance in the dust. He destroyed the favourite rage— for it could hardly be called literature — of his times. His work, in this sense, is one continued moral, which combines in the highest per- fection those two qualities of true comedy — to correct, while it amuses. Don Quixote consists of something better than a satire on the old stock romances, and we shall endeavour to show some of the peculiar changes which this subject had undergone in the author's own mind.

" I am of opinion," says M. Viardot, " that in under- taking his work, Cervantes had no object in view beyond that of attacking with the weapons of ridicule the prevailing chevaleresqtie literature of the day. He indeed formally announces his intention in this preface. Besides, it forms sufficient evidence, to observe the strange negligence, the contradictions, even the absurdities, with which the first part of Don Quixote abounds ; we find in these inadverten- cies, manifest proof that he began it in a moment of irrita- tion, or for a whim, without any fixed plan, giving free scope to his imagination — as a writer of romance by nature, just as La Fontaine was a fabler — and lastly, without attach- ing any definite importance to a production of which he

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does not seem at that time to have comprehended the extent and grandeur. Don Quixote appears at first simply in the light of a madman, a madman who required both chains and stripes, for the poor gentleman receives more cuffs, and blows , and kicks, both from four-footed and two-footed animals, than even the back of Rosinante himself could have sus- tained. Sancho Panza figures simply as a vulgar clown, always running his head, either from interest or pure folly, directly against that of his master. Butall this soon wears oft'. It was impossible for a genius like that of Cervantes, to de- vote its powers to folly and ineptitude. He soon attaches himself to his heroes — to those whom he terms ' the children of his brain' — shortly he gives them his best advice, his wit playing the part between them of a fair umpire and considerate parent. To the master he gives that elevated and extended power of reasoning, the result of a noble mind well cultured with study and reflection ; to the valet, a sort of limited instinct, yet strong and sure, innate good sense, natural uprightness, when his interest does not interfere, just such as every one may happen to be born with, and which common experiencesufficestosharpenfor use. Don Quixote then seems to have only one side of his brain affected ; his monomania is that of a well-educated man who revolts at injustice and exalts virtue. He fondly dreams of becom- ing the consoler of the afflicted, the champion of the weak, the terror of the proud and the perverse. In every other re- spect he reasons admirably, he discourses with eloquence; he is indeed fitter, in the words of Sancho, to become a preacher than to practise knight-errantry. On his side, Sancho seems to have put off ' the old man;' he is no longer the simple clown; though still gross, he sharpens his wit, and though still naif in his manners he has acuteness in him, and is alive to trickery. In the same way as the Don retains

Y2

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only a single delusion, Sancho preserves only his credulity, which sets in relief the superior knowledge of his master, and justifies the attachment of the knight to his squire. Thenceforth we are treated to an excellent comedy. We see the two adventurers become inseparable as body and mind, entering into mutual explanations, and shining by each other's light ; combining to attain an object at once noble and absurd, doing the most foolish things, and speaking the wisest ; exposed to the ridicule and often to the brutality of those whom they meet, and holding up to view the vices and follies of the persons by whom they are laughed at and ill-treated ; at one time exciting the mockery of the reader, at others his pity, and not unfre- quently his liveliest sympathy ; now affecting and now en- tertaining him, mingling gaiety and amusement with good example ; and lastly presenting, by the continual contrast of one with the other, and of both with the rest of the world, the untiring variety of a vast drama, always stirring and always new.

" It is more particularly in the second part of Don Quixote that we perceive the new intent fully developed of the author, matured by age and experience of the world. The question of knight-errantry is no longer entertained except just so far as to connect it with the first part, in order that the same general plan may unite and embrace them both. It is, however, no more a simple parody of the books of chivalry : it is a work of practical philosophy, a collection of maxims, or rather of proverbs, a mild and judicious criticism of all mankind. That new personage, the bachelor Samson Carrasco, brought before us in familiar converse with the hero of La ]\lancha; what is he, but the personification of a sceptic incredulity, which, without any limit or respect, jeers at everything ? And to give

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another example, to what reader has not the thought oc- curred in perusing for the first time the second part, where Sancho is invested with the government of the island, Barataria, that he is going to be infinitely amused by his folly ? Who would not imagine that the new-crowned potentate will be guilty of greater absurdities, while presid- ing in his court of justice, than Don Quixote himself when doing penance in the Sierra Morena .' Yet we are de- ceived ; the genius of Cervantes looked farther than the mere diversion of the reader, without at the same time losing sight of it. He wished to prove that the so much boasted science of government is not the secret of a family, or of a caste ; that it is quite accessible to all ; and that it is necessary, for its proper exercise, to possess qualities more valuable than the knowledge of laws and the study of politics, namely, good sense and honest intentions. Thus, without departing from his character, and without passing beyond the sphere of his own mind, Sancho Panza is enabled to judge and reign like another Solomon.

" The second part of Don Quixote did not appear till two years after the first, and it is clear that Cervantes did not originally intend to carry the work any further. It was customary at that time not to complete such productions of the imagination. An author finished his book like Ariosto the cantos of his poem, in the very midst of the most complicated adventures, and in the most interesting part of the action. The Lazarillo de Tonnes and Le Diable Boitcux are left incomplete, and so is the Galatea. A ro- mance of our own, also, Gil Bias, was finished in three several fragments. Finally it was not the circumstance of Avellaneda having continued the first part which deter- mined Cervantes to enlarge his own work, for the latter had nearly completed his second one before the former had

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published his spurious part. Now had Don Quixote been simply a literary satire, it would have remained un- finished. It was with the evident design which I have attributed to him that Cervantes resumed his pen, and continued the subject. This, too, accounts for the two halves of the work offering an exception unique in the annals of literature— a second part originating in an after thought, which not only equalled but far surpassed the first. While the execution is in no manner inferior, the original idea is much more noble, extended, and prolific ; it is thus that the work is addressed to the literature of all countries, to all times, and that it speaks to humanity in a language universal as the author's fame ; it is finally thus, perhaps of all known books, that which elevates to the highest possible summit, a quality so rare and pre- cious above all those with which the human intellect is endued, namely, common sense, — yet so little common ; good sense, — so good, in fact, that nothing is better.

"It has been my wish to give one explanation, in some respects an historical one, of this work of Cervantes ," for to what purpose should we sing his praises ? Who has not repeated with Sir Walter Scott, one of the greatest admirers Cervantes ever had, and the best of his rivals, that it is one of the ckffi-cfceuure of the human mind i Is there anywhere a history more delightful to all ages, to all tastes, to all characters, to all conditions; a tale of fiction more popular and attractive ? Cannot we always conjure up to view, so as to behold in all his glory, that famous Don, tall, spare, and grave; that pink of squire- hood, short, fat, and pleasant; the staid housekeeper of the former, the wife of the latter; and then the curate, the barber, master Nicholas, the servant Maritornes, and the bachelor, Carrasco; all the engaging personages, in

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short, of this history, including Rosinante and Dapple, another pair of inseparable friends? Is it possible to forget how this excellent book was conceived ; how it is executed ? Can we have failed to admire the perfect unity of its plan, and the wonderful diversity of its details ; that imagination so fertile, so lavish, that it satiates the curiosity of the most insatiable novel reader? And think of the infinite art with which the episodes succeed and interlace each other ; the ever-varied interest which animates them, still increasing ; and yet which one leaves without regret for the pleasure of rejoining and proceeding side by side with the two heroes. We observe the accordance and the contrast, both so singularly amusing, which exist between them ; the sonorous sentences of the master, the happy sallies of his squire ; a gravity never dull, a badinage never futile ; an intimate and natural alliance between the ridiculous and the sublime, laughter and emotion, amuse- ment and morality. Is it possible, too, not to have felt the charm and the beauty of that language, at once so magniloquent, grand, harmonious, easy, and graceful ; adapting itself to all the shades and peculiarities of expres- sion, to all the tones and modes of mind ; of that style, which, embracing the best of every style, from the most familiar and comic to the most eloquent and majestic, has extorted the admiration of the most competent judges, for the book thus ' divinely written in a tongue divine!'

" But to appreciate these qualities, and partake the en- joyment which only in the original they can confer, we must be able to understand, as well as to read, the language well. Such readers are rare on this side the Pyrenees. We no longer live in the days when Spanish was spoken at Paris, at Brussels, at Munich, at Vienna, at Milan, and at Naples, in all which cities it was adopted as the language

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of the court, of politics, and of fashion ; the French has driven it from the throne. It is easy, however, for every one to imagine that he is reading Don Quixote while he is reading a work transferred into his own language. Of this kind, no book can lay claim to having had so many readers ; and none can boast an equal number of trans- lators.

" In France the number was greater than in other c un- tries, if we estimate the different versions which appeared, from the first attempts of Caesar Oudin and of Ilosset, contemporaries of the author, up to the two translations published in the present age. That given out by Fillean de Saint Martin, towards the middle of the last century, is, if not the best, at least the most popular and generally diffused. In an introduction added to it by M. Auger, in 1819, he remarked that the number of editions of this one translation, published in France, amounted to the incre- dible number of fifty-one. Since then the fifty-second has made its appearance. This success, which is almost without precedent, shows triumphantly the surpassing merit of the original work, and the untiring interest and curiosity which, from generation to generation still in- creasing, continue to spread its fame. Indeed the work must be gifted with an extraordinary degree of vitality — must have received the stamp of immortality, to have been enabled to resist so gloriously all the efforts of its transla- tors to mutilate or burlesque it. It was, in fact, written v.-ith too great refinement and address to be understood by every one ; for these were necessary to avoid coming into unpleasant contact with the very comprehensive rules and harsh spirit of the Inquisition. Hence those adroit turns of speech, those double meanings, those fine allusions, and de- licate ironies ; ingenious disguises, under which Cervantes

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sought to veil from the eye of the Inquisition, thoughts too bold, too satirical, or too profound, to permit of their being expressed openly. It was requisite two centuries ago to read Don Quixote as if it had been the epitaph of the Licentiate Pedro Garcias, and to do like the student in Gil Bias — raise the stone from the tomb to ascertain whose was the soul that lay interred beneath. It wanted a key ; and this was to be found only in the commentaries of men like Bowie, Pellicer, and Members of the Spanish Academy, Fernandez Navarrete, Delos Rios, Arrieta, and Clemencin. No translator had hitherto been able to profit by their annotations, for the comprehending of Cervantes, and making him comprehended by others. It was precisely such assistance as was wanted, nay, indispensable to a modern translator. With the help of these valuable labours, on one part, and with a knowledge of the errors and the disadvantages of my predecessors on the other, I have had the hardihood to enter the lists, and joining, for the first time, the commentary to the text, to render to the author of Don Quixote all that homage for which my passionate admiration was long prepared.

" Still ardently engaged, at sixty years of age, with as much vigour and enthusiasm as if he had been a young man, Cervantes was meditating new undertakings of no inconsiderable extent. In that beautiful dedication, at once so noble and so worthy of him, which he addressed, with the second part of Don Quixote, to his patron, the Conde de Lemos, in the month of October, 1615, he acquainted him with the speedy completion of another ro- mance. This was his ' Persiles and Sigismunda/ (Los tra- bajos de Persiles y Sigisuumda) ; and he had already, on other occasions, promised the second part of his Galatea, besides two other new works, of which we are unac-

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quainted with the object, namely, the Bernardo, and Las Semanas del Jardin. Of these last three not a fragment has survived. With regard to his Persilcs, $c., it was ' published by his widow in 1617. A singular production; for at the very time that the romances of chivalry were dying by the strokes of his ingenious satire, with the same pen which dealt these murderous blows, he was writing a romance, almost as extravagant as any of those which had puzzled the brains of his hidalgo. The censure and the apology, the antidote and the poison, came almost together; he imitated those whom he had blamed, and was the first to fall into the sin which he had anathematised in others. Not less wonderful, he reserved for this disjointed work his especial regard and commendation ; resembling those fathers whose blind affection leads them to prefer the weak offspring of their decrepitude to that of their robuster years. While speaking of Don Quixote with becoming modesty, almost with diffidence, he announces to the world in pompous terms the merits of the Pcrsiles. It was like Corneille placing Nicomcde in a higher rank than his Cinna.

" This romance, which it is difficult to compare with any production, or with any class, for it seems to combine all kinds without belonging to any, consists of a tissue of episodes, intermingled and involved like one of Calderon's intrigues, full of strange adventures, unheard-of encounters, prodigies, miracles, false characters, and extravagant sen- timents. Cervantes, so correct and judicious a painter of nature both physical and moral, did well at least to trans- port the scene to the Hyperborean regions, for it is truly an imaginary world, unlike everything which he had seen with his own eyes. For the rest, in perusing this grand wandering of a noble spirit, in which might be found

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matter for twenty dramas and one hundred tales, one's admiration is still extorted by the vast fertility of fancy evinced by an almost septuagenarian, rich and lavish as the imagination of Ariosto himself; and also his elevated sentiment, eloquence and daring, veiling the absurdities of the narrative under a magnificent display of diction. The Persilcs is more correct and chastened in its style than Don Quixote ; in fact it is in many parts a model of finished composition, and, perhaps, one of the most classical works which Spain can boast of. It may be compared to some palace formed wholly of marble and cedar, but with- out a regular plan, without proportions, without figure, and offering to the view only a confused heap of precious ma- terials, instead of an architectural work. When we con- template the subject of the work, and the name of the author, the preference which he bestowed upon it, and the fine qualities which he so lavishly expended upon it, we are authorised in considering it one of the most grand aberrations of the human mind.'' — Notice stir la Vie et les Outrages dc Cervantes.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OF VARIOUS EDITIONS AND TRANSLATIONS OP DON QUIXOTE.

The Don Quixote of Cervantes, in the words of the learned Rios, has enjoyed that advantage peculiar to all excellent works, namely, of never becoming rare, because they are always in perpetual demand, and sought for by the people of all nations. This high appreciation, and the impress of public approbation so soon stamped upon the work, according to Navarrete, not only verified the predic- tions of Cervantes himself, respecting the multiplicity of its editions and translations, which he has put into the

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mouth of his hero, (Part II., c. 3 and 16). but the more extraordinary applause bestowed upon his adventures, by the lips of his accomplished squire, Sancho, who says : " before much time goes over our heads, there will not be a single inn, ale-house, road-side house, or hostelry, any barber's stall, or stall of any kind, where we shall not see held up the history of our wondrous deeds."

And it is curious, continues the learned editor, to observe how these amusing prophecies were soon in course of fulfilment ; when even during the life-time of Cervantes thework was so highly estimated in foreign coun- tries, that if we may believe Caesar Oudin, the licentiate Morguez Torres y de Salas Barbadillo, it would appear well substantiated that its general perusal by the middle and lower classes far exceeded anything of the kind before known, while its admission among personages of rank and the fashionable circles, was far more limited ; much resembling in this respect, it would seem, the universal fame in England, and elsewhere, of old Bunyan's " Pil- grim's Progress." Cervantes has himself alluded to the popularity of his adventurous knight among ladies and their domestics ; and it was owing not a little to this cause, that the early editions of his book in Spain were so very inferior and incorrect, appearing without the slightest extrinsic advantage of any kind, either from beauty of typography or other illustration. The example had not been set by other countries, and the epoch of good taste had not arrived ; but it had still everything in its native humour and .sterling worth to make it the favourite of all times. And when, in the eighteenth century, emulation was once excited to set off and adorn this " pearl of great price," to the best advantage ; when the wit and ingenuity of the learned, and the taste and genius of the ablest

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artists combined to display its characters to the eye, in all that truth and force of which their art was capable; editions, at once magnificent and correct, followed each other with rapidity in every country of Europe. Of these it will be interesting to take a chronological and critical view, and to mark the progress made, no less with regard to typographical beauty, and the art of embellishing them, than to showing the rise and rapid increase of the author's reputation, apparent in an exact ratio with that of the new editions so fast multiplied up to our own times. We are the better enabled to accomplish this object by the indefatigable industry and erudition of the able Navarrete, the enlightened secretary of the Royal Academy at Madrid, whose life and ample illustration of the works of the author, in comprehending all previous information and discoveries, seem to have left scarcely anything, even in the way of gleaning, for his followers; and to him, the editor is bound to express his extensive obligations in common with every one who wishes to obtain the most particular knowledge of the subject in all its bearings.

EDITIONS OP THE FIRST PART OF DON' QUIXOTE.

First edition. — Dedicated to the Duque de Bejar, Mar- quis de Gibraleon ; published by Juan de la Cuesta, Madrid, 4to, 1 vol., 1 605. Cervantes applied for a license to publish this first edition of his work, soon after the middle of the year 1604. The impression was struck off by the 20th of December, but the privilege for its publi- cation in Portugal was not obtained till the 9th of February, 1G05, which is thought to prove that the work was not given to the public till the opening of that year.

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It is known that Cervantes was accustomed to sell his works to the booksellers, and this in the first instance was bought by Francisco Roblez, who, printing it during the absence of the author, it appeared disfigured with numerous errors. The author divided his book into four parts, though he observed without interruption the numeral series of the chapters ; and this circumstance, and that of having called the continuation a second part, pub- lished in 1615, show that he. originally intended to divide the work into two parts only ; and, for the same reason, the Academy adopted this division in its editions.

Second edition. — By Juan de Cuesta;"! vol. 4to. Madrid, 1605. This edition is remarkable as having appeared in the same place, year, and form, and by the same publisher, as the former one. It shows the manner in which it was received by the public, and how quickly it followed the first. It is observed by Mr. Bowie, after alluding to the preceding one, that it was ascertained that a second had been published the same year, at the same place, and in the same form ; but Pellicer, though he alludes to this notice of it, could never succeed in testing the truth of it. Navarrete was more fortunate ; he examined and collated the impressions of both, and not only found them to be distinct, but in the edition of the Academy took ad- vantage of such variations in the second as were deemed to be improvements.

Third edition. — By Petro Patricio Mey ; 1 vol. 8vo. Valencia, 1605. This edition received its imprimatur horn the religious superintendant there, Fra Luis Pellicer, on the 18th of July, 1605. It was the same that supplied the text for many of the editions which afterwards appeared at Hamburgh and at Brussels.

Fourth edition. — Published (as usual) with license from

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the Holy Office, by Jorge Rodriguez. 1 vol , 4to ; Lisbon, 1605. In pursuance of the privilege granted to Cervantes to publish his work for ten years in the domi- nions of Portugal., he obtained a license from the Inquisi- tion on the 26th of February, and from the government of Lisbon on the 1st of March, 1605.

Fifth edition. — By Roger Velpius, printer ; 1 vol., 8vo, Brussels, 1607. The privilege of publication for the space of six years was given to Velpius by permission of prince Albert and princess Isabel Clara Eugenia, dated Brussels, 7th of March, 1607.

Sixth edition. — By Juan deCuesta; 1 vol. 8vo. Madrid, 1608. The license for this edition bears the date of June 16th, 1608, at Madrid, when Cervantes was resident there, and was thus enabled to correct the errors and other ble- mishes which had crept into the former, printed during his absence, and in the presentone hesupnressed some passages, and made some additions. For this reason the text of the sixth was almost invariably adopted in the ulterior editions, and among all the early ones is that most sought for and appreciated, both in Spain and in other countries. — (Dic- tion. Uib/iof/., imp. Paris, 1791, tome i. p. 260.)

Seventh edition. — By the successor of Pedro Martir Locarne, and Juan Bautiste Bidello ; 1 vol. 8vo. Milan, 1610. In this edition the original dedication by Cervantes is omitted, and that of the printers to the Conde Vitaliano supplies its place. In mentioning the count's known attachment to the Castilian tongue, it notices the fact of its study having become very general among the chief people of that city, and it is added that the work is given in the original language, the better to preserve its peculiar grace and spirit, which could not be nearly so well retained in an Italian version ; and in order to set an example of the

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kind, with the hope of its becoming generally adopted

throughout Italy.

Eighth edition. — By Roger Velpius and Uberto Antonio, printers; 1 vol. 8vo. Brussels, 1(511; published with the same privilege as that of 1607. Another printer was here admitted to a half share in it; and the corrections of the Madrid editions of 1608, appear to have been in part adopted by the joint publishers. This was also the last edition previous to the appearance of the second part of Don Quixote: showing that in the short period of three years, eight editions of the work, in its unfinished state, had been already given to the public, a fact which, taken as one criterion of its merit, though a novel which hit hard at the prevailing bad taste of the times, speaks volumes in favour of its entertaining quali- ties, its genuine wit and humour.

EDITIONS OP THE SECOND PART.

First edition.— Segunda Parte del Ingenioso Caballero Don Quijote de la Mancha, por Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, autor de la Primera Parte. Dirigida a D. Pedro Fernandez de Castro, Conde de Lernos, &c. Ano 1615. Con privilegio, en Madrid, por Juan de la Cuesta. Un tomo, en 4to. When this first edition of the second part appeared the work by Avellaneda was already published, and had been received with deserved indifference and neglect. This made Cervantes very careful in stating that his own was by the author of the preceding part. It is to be observed also that he no longer retained the title of ingenioso cabal- Icro, and that he gives his reason for the alteration in a passage contained in the second chapter, in the following words:— "The gentry inform us that your Excellency, no

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longer confining your excellence within the ordinary limits of gentility, has aspired to knighthood, adopting the sounding title of caballero, with four branches for your escutcheon, and two roods of land ; also a new coat of arms, one before and another behind."

Cervantes finished the second part, and had it presented for approbation early in 1615. The approbation was granted on the 17th March, and on the 30th of the same month the author received the privilege of printing it for a period of ten years, and the work appears to have been published towards the end of that year. The event of the author's death having taken place in April 1616, it is evi- dent that this is the only edition of the second part which had the benefit of his corrections, and, consequently, that it became the model upon which the succeeding editions of the same work could alone be formed and regulated.

Second Edition.— By Pedro Patricio Mey. One volume, 8vo. Valencia, 1616. This edition received a license for publication on the 27th January, 1611.

Third edition.— By Huberto Antonio, sworn printer. One volume, 8vo, Brussels, 1616. The privilege of publication for six years is dated the 4th of February, 1616.

Fourth edition. — By Sebastian Mathevad. One volume, 8vo, Barcelona, 1617. This edition was after the text of Valencia, with a Latin dedication to the Bishop of Bar- celona, as in the former.

Fifth edition. — By Jorge Rodriguez, with the usual license. One volume, 4to, Lisbon, 1617. In this edi- tion the text employed was that of Madrid; but with the omission of the preliminary contents, supplied by those of the Portuguese authorities, and of the publisher.

338 APPENDIX.

EDITIONS OF THE COMPLETE WORK.

First edition. — Primera y Segunda Parte del ingenioso hidalgo, $c. Cervantes had announced his intention (pre- face to the first part,) " to destroy the authority and repu- tation of the books of chivalry so much in vogue in the world and among the common people ;" and, by substi- tuting the pleasant and useful reading of his new work, he so far succeeded in his object, that, in the year 1637, when Faria had concluded his commentary on the Lusiados, that writer observed, " that already, by virtue of the happy genius of Miguel de Cervantes, those works, so abounding with superfluous matters," &c. (Canto vi. fol. 138.) The license for this impression was given at Madrid, on the 31st October, 1634, in favour of Pedro Coello, described as a dealer and chapman of books ; but the edition was not published till the end of 1636, and there were several omissions of the original one, such as the dedication by Cervantes, and the verses by which it was preceded.

Second edition. — From the Royal Printing Office ; dedi- cated to Don Antonio de Vargas Zapata, &c. Marques de la Torre. Two volumes, 4to, Madrid, 1647. This edi- tion was prepared at the expense of Juan Antonio Bonet, and Francisco Serrano, — also mercadores de libros — and the text was taken from the preceding one.

Third edition. — Vida y lieclios del ingenioso hidalgo, by Juan Mommarte, printer. Two volumes, 8vo., Brussels, 1662. This is the first edition in which, besides other alterations, we find even the title of the work itself altered ; for Cervantes having with much propriety affixed to it the one we meet with in the early editions, instead of being retained, we see that in all those which followed the

APPENDIX. 339

present one it appears as " The Life and Exploits" — a title wholly inapplicable and foreign to the purpose of the work ; just as if the Odyssey of Homer were to be called " The Life and Exploits of the Prudent Ulysses :" as was clearly shown by the Academy in the edition of 1780, which corrected this egregious error, with many more not . less absurd and lamentable. This of Brussels was, never- theless, the first which was illustrated with copper-plates, as the printer assures us in the dedication to Don Antonio Fernandez de Cordova, a Lieutenant-General of cavalry in Flanders. At the same time, the burin was a bad one, and the engravings are sadly deficient in truth and power, both as regards costume and character. The privilege (or in other words, copyright) granted to Mommarte, was to print this work in Spanish and in other languages for twelve years, (in which we see the gradual extension of literary property,) and bears the date of Brussels, 4th September, 1660.

Fourth edition. — Parte Primera y Scgunda del mgetiioso hidalgo, fyc., by the Royal Press ; dedicated to the most noble lady Catalina de Loyola, daughter of J. D. Blasco de Loyola, &c., &c. One volume, Ito, Madrid, 1668. This edition was got up by the mercador de libros, Mateo de la Bastida. The license dates in 1668. It contains the same omissions and mistakes which disfigure that of 1 637. In the dedication it is observed, among other things, that " this work has proved wonderfully agreeable to all the world, as shown by the still continued and fre- quent editions, and which have driven the books of chi- valry, so prejudicial to good manners, from their shelves."

Fifth edition. — 1'ida y hechos del ingcnioso Cuballero, D. Quijote, $-c. A new edition, corrected and illustrated with a variety of prints very appropriate to the matter z 2

340 APPENDIX.

by Pedro de la Calle. Two volumes, 8vo., Brussels, 1671. The printer, Mommarte, it appears, ceded his privilege to La Calle to bring out this edition, which is conformable to that of 1662, both as relates to the text and to the plates.

Sixth edition. — By Geronimo and Juan Bautista Ver- dussen. Two volumes, large 8vo, Hamburgh, 1673. The heirs of Mommarte transferred the privilege of this work to Geronimo and J. B. Verdussen, in Brussels, on the 5th September, 1669, and accordingly in this edition were given the text and also the plates of 1662.

Seventh edition. — By Andrez Garcia de la Iglesia. Two volumes, 4to, Madrid, 1674. This edition, prepared by the widow of the bookseller, Juan Antonio Bonet, ob- tained the privilege on the 16th September, 1674, and the impression was finished on the 19th December fol- lowing. It is observed in the dedication, that the works of Cervantes had now spread throughout the entire world, with the greatest applause ; that the first and second Parts at present engaged the printing presses of other nations, and that the editions in Spain continued to be renewed every year. Here the type and plates appear to be copied from those of Hamburgh and Brussels ; but they were prepared and engraved by Diego de Obregon, with considerable taste and beauty ; and they are the first plates of Don Quixote that had hitherto appeared in Spain.

Eighth edition.— By Henry and Cornelius Verdussen. Two volumes, 8vo., Hamburgh, 1697. It appears that the privilege continued vested in the family of Verdussen, for they applied to have it renewed, and we thus observe that in this edition, which is founded upon that of 1673, is contained the removal of the right given by Charles II. for the space of nine years.

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Ninth edition. — By Faukler. Two volumes, 4to, with plates. London, 1701.

Tenth edition. — Two volumes, 4to, the same. London, 1706.

Eleventh edition. — By Antonio Gonzales de Reyes. Two volumes 4to, Madrid, 1706. The bookseller, Francisco Laso, who got up this edition, says in the dedication, " that the work of Don Quixote, after so many impressions, continues, and will continue, to make the presses sweat and groan with the toil of new editions." His license is dated 8th October, 1 705 ; and it appears founded upon the preceding one of 1694; the plates are the same, although much worn and evidently greatly retouched. The dedication, and also the verses by Cervantes in the first part, are both omitted.

Twelfth edition. — A new edition, corrected and illus- trated by thirty-five plates, very beautiful and appropriate to the matter. With license, by Francisco Laso, dealer in books. Two volumes, 4to. Madrid, 1714.

Thirteenth edition. — By Henry and Cornelius Verdussen. Two volumes, large 8vo, Hamburgh, 1719. The privi- lege was granted by Charles VI. (the pretender opposed .to Philip V.) dated at Brussels, the -2nd of November, 1712, for permission to print the first and second parts during the period of nine years.

Fourteenth edition. — By the Brotherhood of San Gero- nimo. Two volumes, 4to. Madrid, 1723. The plates here are taken from those of Obregon.

Fifteenth edition. — A new edition, for the widow of Bias de Villanueva, but got up by Juan Antonio Pimentel. Two volumes, 4to, Madrid, 1730. From this edition is perceived the manner in which interpolations of passages, not written by the author, began to creep in. The dedi-

342 APPENDIX.

cation to Don Quixote by his chronicler, Cid Hamet Benengeli, put forth here, is a poor imitation, and the style is wholly unlike that of Cervantes. According to the advertisement it is made to appear, that it was pub- lished for the first time, and the forgery was repeated in the subsequent editions. The plates in this edition, though considerably worn, were the same as those in the preceding. The license appears dated on the 28th No- vember, 1719, and it was concluded on the loth April, the year following.

Sixteenth edition. — A new edition, corrected, &c., by Antonio Sanz. Two volumes, 4to, Madrid, 1 735. To such a pass, says Navarrete, had the corruption of text and other errors incurred by the work of printers and a num- ber of ignorant editors by this time arrived, that not only did many apocryphal passages appear, but portions of the original text (as with the plays of great writers) were actually suppressed ; and in the face of these they still gave out that they presented corrected editions to the world, illustrated — and, what is bolder, with additions from the original work of the author ! Besides, the spu- rious dedication of the chronicler (repeated in this edition), the verses which precede the second part are given out in the title as " the reliques of the poetical works, by the Academicians of the Argamasilla, brought to light by the most celebrated discoverer of our times," are wholly un- worthy of the work. At the same time, the original dedication of Cervantes, and the ingenious verses which precede Part I. are entirely omitted.

Seventeenth edition. — By Bonnardel. Two volumes, 8vo , Leonde Francia, 1736. This edition was taken from those of Hamburgh and Brussels ; the designs are the same, but re-engraved, with the name of the artist, on copper.

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Eighteenth edition. — By J. and R. Tonson, 4 vols., royal 4to. London, 1738. This is the splendid edition brought out at the expense, and under the direction, of Lord Car- teret. But notwithstanding the care bestowed upon its cor- rection, many mistakes are observable in the text, and even the title is faulty ; — faults indeed which are often unavoid- able in the edition of a foreign work, and they are accord- ingly noticed in the preface to the edition of the Spanish Academy of I 780. The same may be said with respect to the plates, which are greatly deficient in point of spirit and propriety. It contains the life of Cervantes written by Mayans.

Xineteenth edition. — By Juan de San Martin, 2 vols. 4to« Madrid, 1741.

Twentieth Edition. — By P. Gosse, and A. Moetjens. A new edition, with fine plates, after the designs of Coypel. 4 vols. l'2mo, La Haye, 1744. This is an excellent edition, taken from that of London, as regards the text, rivalling it in point of typographical beauty, and far surpassing it in the design and beauty of the plates, which are the same as published by Pedro de Hondt. The Life of Cervantes, written by Mayans, is also given.

Twenty-first edition. — By D. Pedro Alonzo y Padilla. 2 vols. 4to. Madrid, 1750.

Twenty-second edition. — By Juan de San Martin, 2 vols. 4to. Madrid, 1750. From the advertisement to this edition, it is evident that the bookseller had seen the edition of London ; he has copied, without reference to it, various reflections and observations from the dedica- tion of the English editor. He included, likewise, the life of Cervantes, written by Mayans.

Twenty-third edition.— l&y D. Pedro Alonzo y Padilla. 2 vols. 4to, Madrid, 1751. Among all the unfounded

344 APPENDIX,

representations made by booksellers or editors, in the titles to their new editions of " most recent correc- tions, emendations, and additions," the most remark- able is that contained in the present one, asserting that it is the most complete of any that had yet appeared ; an assertion which only leads to the inference, that so far from these numerous additions proving emendations, they had a directly contrary tendency, by corrupting and de- facing the original work. Indeed it is difficult to say in what these additions by the editor consisted, inasmuch as the life of Cervantes, by Mayans, had been reprinted more than six times; the plates, too, are wretched impressions of those which accompanied the previous editions pub- lished in Madrid.

Twenty-fourth edition. — By Arkstee and Merkus, 4 vols. 12mo, Amsterdam, 1755. This admirable and valuable edition is wholly after that of the Hague, 1744, and the designs and plates are the same.

Twenty-fifth edition. — By Juan Jolis, 4 vols. 8vo. Bar- celona, 1755. The license of the council of Madrid is dated llth of May, 1755, and the privilege or right in this edition is limited to one impression.

Twenty-sixth edition, 4 vols. 8vo, Tarragona, 1757, (from the English of Benjamin White.)

Twenty-seventh edition. — By D. Manuel Martin, printer, and at his expense. 4 vols. 8vo, Madrid, 1765. — This edition contains forty-four prints in wood. The editions of this were repeated several times.

Twenty-eighth edition. — At the expense of the company of printers and booksellers of the kingdom, by D. Joaquin de Ibarra, printer de Camara to his majesty. 4 vols. 8vo, Madrid, 1771. — An edition much esteemed for its typo- graphical merit. The subjects also selected for illustra-

APPENDIX. 345

tioii are very considerately varied, and they are regularly and appropriately engraved by D. Manuel Monfort. In vol. i. is included the life of Cervantes, written by Mayans.

Twenty-ninth edition. — From the press of D. Antonio de Sancha, at the expense of the company of printers and booksellers. Madrid, 1777. This edition was prepared with equal care, and with the same plates as the pre- ceding; it includes also the life of Cervantes.

Thirtieth edition. — El ingcninso hidalgo D. Qiiijote de la Mancha. A new edition corrected by order of the Royal Academy of Spain ; from the press of D. Joaquin de Ibarra. 4 vols. large 4 to. Madrid, 1780. The magnificent edition of London excited the emulation of the Marquis de la Ensenada, who resolved to spare no expense to equal, and even excel it in Spain. But in point of splendour and embellishment this he could not effect, and it re- mained for the Spanish Academy, in 1773, to realize this spirited nobleman's plans, and neither expense nor dili- ence was spared to render its edition the most sumptuous, and, at the same time, correct and complete, that had hi- therto appeared. The text for Part I. was taken from that of Cervantes' own edition ; for thesecond, that of Madrid, 1 65 1 , and to both were added the variations and readings given in the best preceding editions, or that of Valencia, 1616. In respect to the orthography, the Academy made use of its own. After correcting and purifying the text, it was the next object of the Academy to make the illustration worthy of it, by giving every possible advantage to native genius and talent. The entire designs and engravings were the work of Spanish artists, and were prepared in Spain. The paper also, the type, and all things apper- taining to its essential use or exterior embellishment, — the former impressions by the famous Ibarra, the repre-

346 APPENDIX.

sentation of characters, of coats of arms, a map of the country where Don Quixote performed his exploits, — entirely the production of Spanish professors, and the whole was executed in a very creditable manner ; to say nothing of the beauty and magnificence of the work. There was an admirable portrait of the author, supplied by the liberality of the Count del Aguila, and at the com- mencement of the work was inserted the life of the author, and a full analysis of his writings by the able and erudite D. Vicente de los Ilios.

Thirly-first edition. — By the Rev. Dr. John Bowie, A.M. S.S. A.L. 6 vols. royal 4to., of which vol. 1. was printed in London, and the others appeared in Salisbury, from the press of Edward Easton, at the expense of the editor. London and Salisbury, 1781. Among the nations of Europe not any one has equalled England in its ap- preciation of the merit of Cervantes, and his ingeni- ous story of the Knight of La Mancha. It is well known, that when the poet Rowe was asked by the Earl of Oxford if he understood the Castilian language ? he replied no ; but that he hoped to understand and speak it within a very little time. And immediately, in the idea that he was about to be employed in some important commission, from the Earl's manner of speaking, the poet retired to his study and began to apply himself to the Spanish tongue with such vigour, that he was au fait in the course of a very few months, and lost not a moment in obtaining another interview, and acquainting his lordship with the agreeable fact, " What a lucky fellow you are !" exclaimed the Earl, " for you will now be able to read Don Quixote in the original ; and to taste its real charm and beauty !" This just appreciation of its excellence by the Earl of Oxford continued to increase, not only among

APPENDIX. 047

people of high rank, but on a more popular scale, aud with every order of the people ; as the repeated editions and translations, multiplied every year, sufficiently testified.

Dr. Bowie, in particular, devoted himself to the study of the Castiliau language ; he made an excellent collection of Italian and Spanish romances of chivalry, and of all other works which could tend to illustrate his favourite study of Cervantes ; a study which he pursued with enthusiasm during a period of fourteen years, by which he had become familiar with its least beauties, was enabled to illustrate it with ability, formed a complete index of its peculiar words and phrases, collated the various editions, and supplied some interesting notices of its author.

In his dedication to the Earl of Huntingdon, dated the 13th of April, 1781, Dr. Bowie observes, that Cervantes had already had the singular fortune, at different periods, of having his work brought out under the auspices of two of the mobt distinguished among the English nobility, who showed their good taste by producing editions in the author's native language. This ingenious writer, so warm and enthusiastic in the author's praise, at the same time expresses his doubts of having satisfactorily attained the object which he had in view, for various reasons : such as having never had the advantage of residing in the country, of having been the first who ventured to encoun- ter difficulties which many learned men had shrunk from, and from the circumstance of there being a number of passages in the work of Don Quixote relating to points of cosmography, fiction, and histories, some of which are allowed to have been corruptions, if not interpolations of the original text. Before he had quite completed his work, the Doctor had the satisfaction of finding that his plan was the same as that recommended by M. Sar-

348 APPENDIX.

miento, when he observes, — " It is of consequence that they who speak should know what they speak of, that they who read should understand what they read, and that they who write should know what they write about. Now there are numberless words little, if at all, understood in Don Quixote ; and it is quite a popular error to conclude, that because the work goes into everybody's hands, every- body can read it. There are very few, in fact, who possess the previous information necessary for understanding, to say nothing of relishing, the peculiarities of Cervantes. A s regards his modes of expression, it is hardly too much to say, that to write such a work as Don Quixote, or to de- scribe it even as it ought to be described, an author must have read the books which Cervantes himself had read ; and would still have to supply his felicitous and peculiar genius. It was the Spaniard's object to burlesque the bad books — forming about nineteen out of every twenty — which fos- tered the rage for so many of those wretched productions, the commonplace romances of chivalry ; and this he could not have done in so pleasant a manner if he had not pre- viously made himself as familiar with their contents as ' household words.' It is thus that his work abounds in proper names, and terms adopted only in similar descrip- tions, and even the style and expressions are often exactly such as are to be met with in the most celebrated of these romances ; and particularly in the fou» books of the Amadis of Gaul. And as these books, and those by which they were followed, have become rare, insomuch that scarcely any one has read them, so are there few who can read Don Quixote with the heart-felt reli*h and delight to be enjoyed by one gifted like Cervantes. To supply this want would require a discerning and persevering mind, able and willing to connect the entire history of

APPENDIX. 349

Don Quixote, and to expound the whole with literary notes. But let no one unversed in Amadis, and books of the same class, attempt so laborious a task. In the first instance he ought to make a glossary of the most doubtful and diffi- cult words used by Cervantes ; of the professional words adopted in the romances of chivalry, and of all expressions according with those in Amudis, &c , with other curiosities and peculiarities of a like kind. If it be contended that such a comment upon Don Quixote would be ridiculous^ it may be replied that it is still more absurd for any one to read a work which he does not understand."

Thirty-second edition. — El ingenioso hidalgo D. Quijote ; from the press of D. Joaquin de Ibarra, at the expense of the Spanish Academy. A corrected edition, 4 vols. 8vo, Madrid, 1782. — This edition was printed with extreme care in a more portable shape, and with new plates, which were well designed, beautifully engraved, and the im- pressions very clearly printed off. .

Thirty-third Edition.— Life and Exploits of El Ingenioso Hidalgo, &c,, by D. Manuel Martin, with 14 impressions from wood, 4 vols. 8vo. 1782.

Thirty-fourth edition. — El ingenioso hidalgo D. Quijote de la Mancha, third edition corrected by the Royal Aca- demy— from the press of the Academy. For the widow de Ibarra, Sons and Company, 6 vols. 8vo, Madrid, 1787. This edition is uniform with that of 1780, with the sole variation of its being divided into G volumes, to render each more light and portable to the reader.

Thirty-fifth edition.— From the Royal Press, 6 vols., 12mo, Madrid, 1 797. The director of the Royal Press, D. Andrez Ponce de Quinones, undertook this edition with the view of showing how much correctness and beauty could be attained by that establishment; and Don Quixote was selected as the

350 APPENDIX.

work at once the most excellent in point of language, and as showing a vast number of editions, none of which could be recommended as combining perfect clearness and beauty of type, with a convenient size. The text was taken from the editions of the Spanish Academy, and the passages were introduced as corrected and improved by the author, and with variations in several places. It con- tains a well-written notice of the Life of Cervantes, with his portrait and some beautiful vignettes, and it is also valuable for its typographical beauty and that of its plates. Thirty-sixth edition. — With corrections, new notes, new plates, a new analysis ; and with the life of the author, newly augmented by Don Juan Antonio Pellicer, &c., published by D. Gabriel de Sancho, 5 vols. 8vo, Madrid, 1 797. In the lifetime of Cervantes, notes and illustrations to accompany a work so generally popular as Don Quixote, were properly considered superfluous, and the author him- self gives us to understand (Part II. cap. 3), " that it was so evident there could no point of difficulty occur." But according to the opinion of Sarmiento, " we know from ex- perience, that many matters quite plain — and to be read even by those who run — during the author's life- time, such as characters, personages, customs, books, &c., have at this day become involved in doubt, and often in obscurity." Pellicer, well aware of this truth, considered it requisite to illustrate Don Quixote with historical notes, with critical, moral, grammatical, and other observations ; restoring the text to that of 1608, correcting it by that of 1605 in Part I., and adopting the edition of 1615, for the second part. To explain the passages imitated from Amadis dc Gaule, and from the Latin and Italian poets, he availed himself of the labours of Doctor Bowie, and by inquiries in the Royal Library and elsewhere, he succeeded in clearing up

APPENDIX. 351

several important passages, and explaining incidents and events in the story before comparatively obscure. He referred us to the explanations given of the authors cited in the book ; pointed out the sources from which Cervantes had taken the idea of some incidents and passages ; and also the meaning of many satirical allusions ; explaining, at the same time, many national customs and peculiarities, as well as obscure words and phrases, the want of which so much detracted from the relish and beauty of the story. He gave, moreover, a life of Cervantes, with a learned preliminary dissertation, in which he takes a retrospect of all that had already been done to elucidate the genius of the author and his work ; the merit of the several edi- tions, the translations, &c., and a curious account of the first book of chivalry printed in Spain, the hero of which was remodelled in the person of Don Quixote ; adding to it a complete analysis of its fable, its duration, and the objects which it had in view. At the end appears a very useful historico-geographical account of the journeysof Don Quixote (the model of Mr. Inglis's " Travels in the Footsteps $c.") and in which lie gives a description of the antiquities of La Mancba ; of part of Aragon, particularly of the cave of Moniesinos ; of the lakes of Ruidera, and other numerous places referred to in the story. These he has fully explained so as to throw considerably more light upon the entire work, and to add immeasurably to the reader's delight in perusing it. The type is also clear and good ; the designs by Paret, Camaron, N avarro, and Jimeno, are very appro- priate; the subjects are well selected and varied, and engraved in a fair style by Moreno Tejada at Madrid, and by P. Duflos at Paris. Taken as a whole this edition is one of the few which bore out the high reputation and merited the popular circulation which it obtained, and it

352 APPENDIX.

maintains its rank among the best that have ever ap- peared.

Thirty-seventh edition. Newly corrected, with new notes, new vignettes, and a new analysis ; also with the life of the author newly augmented : by D. Juan Antonio Pellicer, &c., from tlie press of D. Gabriel de Sancha, 9 vols., 12mo, completed in 1800, Madrid. This edition is conformable in every respect to the preceding one with the exception of the form; the number of volumes being considered more convenient and portable, and the small editions continuing still to increase with the increasing popularity and reputation of the author.

Thirty-eighth edition.— By Heinrich Frohlich. 6 vols., large 8vo, Berlin, 1804-. Herr Luis Ideler, astronomer of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Berlin, proposed to illus- trate this work in its original language, and dedicated it to Frederick Augustus Wolf, professor of poetry and eloquence in the University of Halle. In order to give the most correct text and to promote a knowledge of the original, as well as a relish for its perusal, he selected the above edition of Pellicer ; he also introduced his " Life of Cervantes" as well as his preliminary discourse. He appropriated his notes, omitting, however, such as he conceived were least interest- ing ; incorporated several observations by Dr. Bowie, and explanations of doubtful expressions and of proverbs ; and in these he availed himself of the academical dictionary and the assistance of several Spanish residents at Berlin, insomuch that he was enabled to assert in the Castilian tongue, " that he had made a new commentary written wholly in the Spanish tongue, although he had never visited the country, and had acquired that fine language by means only of books." To render this edition less costly he left out the engravings altogether ; retaining simply the portrait of

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Cervantes from the burin of II. Lips. The first four volumes contain the text, the fifth the Life of Cervantes, preliminary discourse, and notes to Parti. ; the sixth con- tains notes of Part II. The entire edition is extremely valuable, not less for its literary illustrations than for its typographical merit.

Thirty-ninth edition. — From the press of Juan Pinard. 4 vols., small 8vo, Bordeaux, 1804. This edition, at once beautiful and correct, is taken, word for word, from that of the Royal Academy of Madrid, 1797, even to the adver- tisement of the editors, and the notice of the life of Cer- vantes, written by I). Manuel Quintana.

Fortieth edition. — Life and Exploits of the ingenious Knight, Don Quixote de la Mancha. From the press of Vega. 6 vols., 8vo, Madrid, 1804. Here again appears the ill- in vented dedication to Don Quixote, by his chroni- cler ; also the Life written by Rios, but sadly mutilated, and without the introduction and the proofs.

From this it is evident how far mere book-selling spe- culations, got up without due care and discernment, are instrumental in corrupting and defacing the ablest produc- tions of the human intellect, even with the advantage of possessing the best models.

Forty-first edition. — By the widow of Barco Lopez. 4 vols. 8vo, Madrid, 1808.

Forty-second edition. — El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de La Mancha. 4 vols., 18mo, London, 1808.

Forty-third edition. — A new edition, uniform with that of the Royal Academy of Madrid, in 1 782. 6 vols., by Bossange and Masson, Paris ; and in 7 vols. 8vo. London, 1814. This edition is embellished with beautiful plates, and was prepared under the direction of Joseph Reno Masson : it contains the "Life of Cervantes," the analysis of Don

A A

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Quixote, a chronological account and plan of his travels written by Rios ; and the notes of Peliicer, ice.

To these forty-three editions of the en tire work, besides those of the first Part up to the year 1814, in the original language, might here be added the numerous valuable ones since published iuGermany, inEngland, and in France, with the numerous lives and commentaries upon the writings of Cervantes; the mere enumeration of which would involve an almost endless task. Among the different translations, not included in these editions, eleven were made in Eng- land alone, eight in France, and the others in Portugal, Italy, Germany, and Holland. The fine old version of Shelton, and that of Motteux, more recently edited, with a very able dissertation upon the writings of Cervantes by Mr. Lockhart, are deservedly the most esteemed. In the year 1654, Sir Edmund Gayton produced a folio volume, entitled — rather oddly, we should now consider it, for a folio— " Pleasant Notes upon Don Quixote;" but they are often rather heavy than humorous, and, in the opinion of Peliicer, are useless with regard to throwing any light upon the work. They contain a few amusing allusions to con- temporary writers, strictures upon the catholic church, and references to the events of the day, but are very deficient when touching upon matters appertaining to Spain.

The translation by Philips in one volume folio, also in 1687, is rather a paraphrase, but written in a lively spirit, with much ease, and some native grace and humour— his design being avowedly only to inform, by diverting his readers. His burlesque preface forms a pleasant specimen of his style.

Another singular method of misrepresenting the original was adopted in a poem entitled "Don Quixote in Verse, by

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Ned Ward ;" or, Ward's Don Quixote in Hudibrastic Verse, in the style of Hudibras, by Ward, 2 vols., 8vo, 1711. Then followed other commentators or translators, with a rapidity which showed how much more highly Cervantes was esteemed in England than in any other coun- try of Europe; and we meet with the names of Collyer, Ozell, Durfey, Jarvis, Motteux, Smollett, Wilmot, Bowie, all engaged nearly at the same period in supplying the public demand for new and more portable, as well as popu- lar editions, of the favourite novelist of all days.

One of the most able and indefatigable of these com- mentators, Dr. Bowie, addressed a letter to Dr. Percy, relative to Don Quixote, (1 vol., 4to, London, 1777) which had the effect of exciting the attention of the public, and diffusing a more general appreciation of the character of the author and a more correct taste as regarded his works. Inspired by the enthusiasm and admiration thus generally evinced, several writers of superior talent about this period adopted Cervantes for their model, in those works of ima- gination, or mingled wit and satire, then so much re- lished by the English aiistocracy and by the court. At the head of all these, "facile princeps suorum," stood Butler, whose rare genius and fertile invention placed him the nearest upon an equality with his admirable original, insomuch, that it is observed by one of our most judicious critics, that " Hudibras is the Don Quixote of the English ;" to which testimony we may add that of Pope, Arbuthnot, and Swift; that of the ingenious author of the "Spiritual Quixote," besides numerous other authorities of the same class, even so far as to make it a question whether we should ever have possessed the works of Fielding and Smollett, and those of their successors of the present day, so universally popular, had the Don Quixote of Cervantes never been A A2

356 APPENDIX.

written, or never esteemed by us as it deserved. Without the reform which it wrought in public taste, we might have lingered under the spell of chivalry, and false sentiment, for a much longer period, if not to this very time.

Among others who assisted in diffusing a more just taste was Lady Harriet Kiernan, who obtained the prize offered by the Royal Irish Academy, for her "Dissertation upon the influence of historical fictions on the customs and habits of the moderns."

CERVANTES A MEMBER OF THE ACADEMY CALLED " SI.LVAGE."

The licentiate Pedro Soto de Kojas has left us the fol- lowing singular account of this literary society in his work entitled Ueaengano de Amor, published at Madrid in 1623: "In the year 1612 there was first opened in Madrid the Academia Selvage, so called from the assembly of its members in the house of Don Francisco de Silva, that lucid wit, that generous spirit, — inherent qualities of the house of Pastrana, the ornament of the muses, of Mars the more splendid trophy, and who only for the sake of honour courted Bellona in many a hard-fought field. In its formation he was assisted by the greatest geniuses of Spain, who at this period adorned the court of Madrid ; and among others that most prolific, abundant, always overflowing, and ever versatile wit, Lope de Vega Carpio. They bestowed upon it the name of El Ardlente ; and they opened their first session with the discourse which I proceed to give in prose."

The licentiate in fact opens his book with the Prelimi- nary Discourse upon the poetic art and composition, on the opening of the Academia Selvage por El Ardicntc ; and Lope de Vega, in the eulogium which he bestows upon the author, has also observed : " It will be twelve

APPENDIX. 357

years since he strung together these verses, and as long since I treasured them up, with the hope to do honour to, and increase the abundance of our language with varied locutions and phrases, and to delight and profit our best wits with so much beauty and such variety of conceits. In our own Academy we called him El Ardicnte, a name which the prince of Portuguese poets, famous Luis de Camoens, also took unto himself when he exclaims:

' Evas Tagides iniiihas, pois ciiudo It-tides en uii hum novo engenho Ardente.'

And well did a title like this express his genius, for in the language of old Rome ardiinte was inyeninso, and in the words of Cicero to Celius, ardor mentis ad glorinm. In that vein was composed the Discourse of the poetical and perfect measure of the Castilian verse, and which emulates Tasso himself, in the oration which he made before the Academy of Ferrara."

It would appear that, previous to the formation of this Academy, but towards the commencement of the same century, another had been opened at Madrid, under less favourable auspices, inasmuch as after a few sessions, owing to a want of good understanding, and the irri- table disposition of a few of the members, it was wholly discontinued. Christobal de Mesa, in one of his letters printed at the end of the poem entitled El Patron de Es- pana, alludes to it ; and at the same time complains of the lamentable neglect shown by the great and titled towards the noblest spirits and the best wits of a country so fertile in every branch of literature and the arts.

HOUSES IN WHICH CERVANTES LIVED DURING HIS RESI- DENCE AT MADRID.

It has been proved from the documents published by Pellicer, that on the 8th of June, 1609, Cervantes was

358 APPENDIX.

living en la calle de la Magdalena a Ins cspaldas de hi Du- quesa dp Pastrana, in the street of the Magdalen, behind la Duquesa de Pastrana. Shortly afterwards he is found a /«? espaldns de Elorito, behind the college of Our Lady of Loretto ; on the 9th of October he was again in the street of La Magdalena, in front of Francisco Daza, a coach- maker; on the 27th of June, 1610, he had removed into the Calle de Leon, in front of Castillo, baker to the court, and to the house which, according to Pellicer, (p. 1 98) was that of number 9, (lodge 226); and in the year 1614 he was in the street called de las Hiiertas, in front of the buildings where El principe de Alarmecos had his resi- dence at that .period ; a circumstance which appeared from the address of a letter, of which mention is made in the Adjunta nl Parnano. That he also resided in the street of the Duquede Alba, not far from that of the Estudio de San Inidro, is equally clear from what is termed I'd Proceso de Desahucio, known to be in the office Don Juan Antonio Zamacola. Pellicer also discovered the house in which Cervantes died in la calle de Leon, \\hich belonged to an ecclesiastic, Don Francisco Martinez Marcilla, and that this house was situated in the corner of the calle de Fro'icos, where the entrance now is, and which is num- bered 20.

CERVANTES A MEMBER OF SEVERAL PIOUS FOUNDA- TIONS.

(26) The religious wars which raged so fiercely both in England and France, from the middle of the 16th cen- tury, and which produced so many disastrous conse- quences in those countries, were never heard of in Spain. There a supreme Catholic church exercised an absolute power, wielding in its right hand the terrors of the Inquisition, to which the kings themselves being in part

APPENDIX. 359

subservient, became instrumental in the preservation of religious peace, and the promotion of institutions often useful under the existing state of things. There were some of them of that class consisting of congregations, such as have continued up to the present time in Madrid, in the chapel of El Cavallero de Graciu and in that of la Calle del Olivar, or de Canizares, the members of which assumed, as a stigma upon the impiety and pride of the heretics, the appellation of Indignos A'sclacos del sanlissinio Sacramento. The first was founded in the church of the Franciscan nuns with the same name, by that venerable ecclesiastic, Jacobo de Gracia, Cabellero de habito di Christo. It was afterwards transferred to the said chapel ; it received the approbation of the Cardinal Archbishop of Toledo, the friend and patron of Cervantes — D. Bernardo de Sandoval y Rojas — the 13th November, 1609, and its institutions were likewise confirmed by the supreme Pon- tiffs, Paul V. and Urban VIII. From its foundation it was fostered and encouraged by kings, popes, and pre- lates, who all entered their names as members; among others were Philip III., his consort, Paul V., and many more, both lay and clerical, of the highest rank and reputation throughout Europe. In the list of eminent Spaniards occurs the name of Lope de Vega ; and though there exists no document, there appears every reason to conclude, from the interest Cervantes took in its prosperity, and in similar institutions, especially towards the close of his life, that he belonged to it in common with his most distinguished contemporaries.

The foundation of that of the chapel of la Calle de Olivar was laid in 1608; it receded the support of the court, the chief men in the country, and it was subse- quently placed under the protection of the Duque de Lerma, and next of the Cardinal Archbishop of Toledo.

360 APPENDIX.

Besides the names of ecclesiastics, it contained those of the first literary men and celebrated artists of the times. The name of Cervantes is found second in the list at foliol'2, and his entry into the society is expressed in the following terms : — " Miguel de Cervantes was received into this holy brotherhood as a slave (por esclavo) of the most holy Sacrament; and he vowed that he would guard its holy institutes, as ratified by him at Madrid, on the 17th day of April, 1609. Esclavo del Santissimo Sacramento. (Signed) MIGUKL DE CERVANTES." — His name occurs in other societies of the same kind.

JOURNEY TO ESQUIVIAS.

(c") We shall not apologise to the reader for repeating this interesting anecdote, so characteristic of the genius and disposition of Cervantes under such interesting cir- cumstances, in full and in his own words, taken literally from the preface to the Labours of Peniles and Siffumunda, as published by the author's widow after his death.

" It happened afterwards, dear reader, that as two of my friends and myself were coming from Esquivias, a place famous for twenty reasons, more especially for its illustrious families and for its excellent wines, I heard a man coming behind us, whipping his nag with all his might, and seemingly very desirous of overtaking us. Presently he called out to us and begged us to stop, which we did; and when he came up he turned out to be a country student, dressed in brown, with spatterdashes and round-toed shoes. He had a sword in a huge sheath, and a band tied with tape. He had indeed but two tapes, so that his band got out of its place, which he took great pains to rectify. ' Doubtless,' said he, ' Senors, you are in quest of some office or some prebend at the court of my Lord of Toledo, or from the King, if I may judge

APPENDIX. 361

from the celerity with which you get along; for in good truth my ass has hitherto had the fame of a good trotter, and yet he could not overtake you.' One of my compa- nions answered, ' It is the stout steed of !?enor Miguel de Cervantes that is the cause of it, for he is very quick in his paces.' Scarcely had the student heard the name of Cer- vantes, than, throwing himself off his ass, while his cloak- bag tumbled on one side and his portmanteau on the other, and his bands covered his face, he sprang towards me, and, seizing me by the left hand, exclaimed, ' This, then, is the famous one-handed author, the merriest of all writers, the favourite of the Muses ! ' As for me, when I heard him pouring forth all these praises, I thought my- self obliged in politeness to answer him ; so, embracing his neck, by which I contrived to pull off his bands alto- gether, I said, ' I am, indeed, that Cervantes, Senor, but not the favourite of the Muses, nor any other of those fine things which you have said of me. I'ray, Sir, mount your ass again, and let us converse together for the small remainder of our journey.' The good student did as I desired. We then drew bit, and proceeded at a more moderate pace. As we rode on, we talked of my illness ; but the student gave me little hope, saying, ' It is an hydropsy, which all the water in the ocean, if you could drink it, would not cure; you must drink less, Senor Cer- vantes ; and not neglect to eat, for this alone can cure you.' ' Many other people,' said I, ' have told me the same thing; but it is impossible forme not to drink as if I had been born for nothing but drinking. My life is pretty nearly ended, and, to judge by the quickness of my pulse, I cannot live longer than next Sunday. You have made acquaintance with me at a very unfortunate time, as I fear that I shall not live to show my gratitude to you for your obliging conduct."

362 APPENDIX.

" Such was our conversation when we arrived at the bridge of Toledo, over which I was to pass, while he fol- lowed another route by the bridge of Segovia. As to my future history, I leave that to the care of fame. My friends, no doubt, will be very anxious to narrate it ; and 1 shall have great pleasure in hearing it. I embraced him anew, and repeated the offer of my services. He spurred his ass, and left me as ill inclined to prosecute my journey as he was well disposed to go on his : he had, however, sup- plied my pen with ample materials for pleasantry. But all times are not the same. Perhaps the day may yet arrive when, taking up the thread which I am now compelled to break, I may complete what is now wanting, and what I fain would tell. But, adieu to gaiety, — adieu to humour, — adieu, my pleasant friends ! I must now die, and I wish for nothing better than speedily to see you — well contented in another world.''

Such was the calm gaiety with which this admirable man and Christian contemplated his approaching end ; and, in the words of Sismondi, we may safely assert that in this unaffected fortitude we recognise also " the soldier who fought so valiantly at Lepanto, and who so firmly supported his five years' captivity in Algiers.'' In fact, he felt that in whatever situation he had been placed, he had endeavoured to discharge his duty manfully to his God, to his country, to society, and his friends.

PLACE OF BUniAL.

(2s) In one of the registries for deceased persons, pre- served in the parish of San Sebastian, in Madrid, is en- tered the name of Cervantes, for which we have the au- thority of Navarrete, Pellicer, and Rios. From this docu- cument it appeared, that the body of Cervantes was ordered

APPENDIX. 363

to be interred in the ground of the Trinitarian nuns; an institution respecting which the historical accounts of the city contain little or nothing which can be relied upon with any degree of certainty. There are, indeed, as in most cases of this kind, traditions which have been carefully collected by the different biographers of Cervantes, and from among which the judicious and indefatigable Navar- rete lias extracted and combined every trace which tended to throw further light upon a subject so strangely obscure. Of the very extensive and minute inquiries into which he entered, with most circumstantial and antiquarian care and industry, we shall simply give the result — still unsa- tisfactory, but all that can now be snatched from the oblivion in which the unhappy circumstances and spirit of his age seemed to combine to bury the most interesting details regarding one of the noblest and best sons of Spain. At the period of the death of Cervantes, in 161 6, it is believed that the Trinitarian nuns resided in the street of the Ilumilladero, and that it was consequently there that the order was given for his interment. Such, at least, was the tradition which long prevailed in the convent; and, from the circumstance of Dona Isabel, the daughter of Cervantes, having joined that sisterhood, it is inferred that, on their removal to the street of Cantarranas, in 1633, the remains cf her father were transferred with those of the other relatives of the nuns, as was custo- mary, to their new place of repose. Do»a Catalina de Salazar, the wife of Cervantes, who died on the 31st October, 1626, was also interred in the convent of the Trinitarian nuns, where, according to the existing obitu- ary, she had founded a tneinoria, most probably some tri- bute to the memory and virtues of her deceased consort. It is farther stated, that this mcmona, as it is termed, had

S64 APPENDIX.

for a long time past been disused ; and there is ho authentic document of the community, which alludes in any way to the actual interment either of the author or of his consort.

"The misfortunes," says Navarrete, "which pursued Cervantes during his. life, seemed to follow him even into the tomb ; and to conceal the spot where he lay in the silent seclusion of the cloisters. The same doubt and uncertainty which attached to the circumstances of the daughter, extended to the fate of the father ; the actual spot where they repose must ever continue unknown ; but the obscurity in which so interesting a fact remains in- volved cannot, fortunately, diminish the lustre of that fame which fills the world ; and it should rather act as an inducement to his grateful countrymen to repair, as far as may be, the injustice of fortune and of his contempora- ries, by erecting to him a monument every way worthy his genius, which is yet to be done."

THE PORTRAIT OF CERVANTES.

In a work called Las Grandezas de Enpana by M. Pedro de Medina, and extended by Diego Perez de .Mesa, pub- lished in 1 590, there is the following observation, when treating upon the subject of Seville (fol. 122), "there are now in this city a number of men distinguished for their wisdom, and whose literary talents confer honour upon the erudition and learning of our times."

Cervantes, at the time here described, was residing at Seville — already known by his Galatea, by his comedies, and other compositions ; and it is a curious coincidence that the painter and poet, Francisco Pacheco, who was then also just beginning to make himself known by his productions, had a house and studio not far from him,

APPENDIX. 365

and which, according to Ilodrigo Caro, was frequented by the most cultivated and able men who happened to have re- sorted, nearly at the same period, to this agreeable city or its environs. In his Arte de la Pintura (B. III. c. 8.) Pacheco himself says, that " he had already taken more than one hundred and seventy portraits, amongst which a hundred consisted of men eminent in all the professions — and not a few of women ; that (according to Caro also) he was accustomed to attach a eulogium to each of the portraits of his celebrated men, and that he made a collection of the whole, which he presented to the Duque deOlivarez." It is clear from this statement, that Ortiz de Zuniga was mistaken in his supposition, " that the book of his collection contained only the most illustrious persons of Seville, and that it was lost upon the death of its author." This appears not to have been the case ; and a proof that Pacheco's object was not limited only to the portraits of his own townspeople, is shown by Medinilla in an advertisement to the Jerusalem of Lope de Vega, printed in 1609. " This eulogium," he observes, " having come into my hands, taken from the book of portraits prepared by Fran- cisco Pacheco in Seville of the most distinguished men of the present age, I became desirous of communicating it to the admirers of the writings of Lope." It would accordingly appear that Pacheco took the likeness of Cervantes, then residing near him, that he might not want the honour, so well deserved, of a place in the artist's book — to say nothing of his being accustomed to take even the portraits of those who were absent, by means of his connexions with their relatives, from other sources. Such at least was the opinion of the Spanish Academy, given in the preface to the edition of Don Quixote in 1780, and it was that also of numerous contemporary writers. If the

360 APPENDIX.

original book, with the eulogies and sketches of the lives of the persons represented had been preserved, many doubts, both with regard to the portrait and to the inci- dents of Cervantes's life, might, perhaps, have been cleared up. In the case of its having, as asserted, been distributed amongst different persons at the death of it* author and collector, it may be presumed that some portions came into the hands of those who then resided at Seville, and that the portrait of Cervantes formed one of these porlions, and is the identical one which appeared at the head of the London edition of 1738 ; although it is there stated that it was drawn by himself, meaning to say, from the account given by him of his own physiognomy, of his person, and appearance, which is also shown by the advertisement of Dr. Oldfield, to the same edition, in which he declares that notwithstanding all the efforts made to discover it, no portrait of Cervantes had been found. Yet the author himself assures us, in his preface to the novels, that his portrait had been taken by Don Juan de Jauregui, a Sevil- lian painter and poet of note.

Ignorant of the fate of both these portraits, and con- sidering that attached to the edition of London as an ima- ginary one, drawn from the author's own description of himself, the Academy of Madrid left no means untried to discover either one or the other, but without the least success. At length having accidentally heard that there was one known of at Seville, in the possession of the Conde de Aguila, a request was made to the Count that a copy of it mi^ht be taken, which met with a ready and cour- teous assent. Upon comparing the copy with the portrait affixed to the London edition, a remarkable resemblance was found ; immediate inquiry was made as to the circum- stances under which the Count had obtained possession of

APPENDIX. 367

the original ; and he at once satisfied the academicians by replying, that lie had purchased it from a picture dealer at Madrid, who had sold it to him as the production of Alonzo del Arco ; that the portrait was evidently not copied from the engraving, and that, perhaps, the-London editors, who had been very anxious to obtain an authentic one of Cer- vantes, might be able to find a copy of his own at Madrid.

Disappointed and perplexed, the Academy at length hit upon the expedient of engaging the directors of the Insti- tution of Painting to examine the portrait and give their joint report of it, which was accordingly done. Their unanimous opinion, made known on the 10th of March, 1777, was, '• that the portrait was of a much older date; that from the worn appearance of the canvas, and the peculiarity of. the colours, it could not have been produced in the eighteenth century ; that the style was of the schools of Vincenzio Carducho and Eugenic Cajes, who flou- rished during the reign of Philip IV. ; that it was not original appeared from certain effects of the chiaroscuro, which must have been borrowed ; that there were certain retouches by another hand, and also defects in the design, which led to the conclusion that it must have been copied • from some better and older painting, most probably exe- cuted in the lifetime of Cervantes." (Navarrete, p. 533.)

From this portrait, however, the artists Carmona and Selma engraved the several plates which appeared in the earlier editions of the Academy ; and all those which subsequently were affixed to the numerous editions in Spain, France, England, Prussia, and elsewhere, were merely repetitions of the same plate. The Academy, in order to give greater exactness and propriety, as well as effect, to their first engraving, confided it to the revi- sion of the able and experienced Ametller, who, com-

368 APPENDIX.

paring it with the original, and having the advantage of all which had been previously done, formed from the whole a new design, which he engraved with that spirit which gives to the countenance of Cervantes much of what we form an idea of from his own description, and, as far as can be attained from such deficient materials, satisfies, with no little judgment and discrimination, both the eye and the mind. The artist has also added an ingenious alle- gory, where in the lower part of the ground, surmounted by Time, he introduces the head of Janus, with the triumphal crown, on one side, for his victory over the old books of chivalry, and on the other, with the symbol of Immortality, which he supposes to be well merited by his works. The words from Lucan to that purport are inserted below these symbols, and apply very appropriately to the subject: —

" Vivet et a nullo tenebris damnalntiir scvo." One of the honorary members of the Royal Academy, Don Fernando de la Serna, in his admiration at once of the unrivalled author, and of the skill and judgment of his delineator, dedicated the following distich to their joint honour, and the successful labours of the society to which he belonged : —

" Itnmortalc decus formoc ars cffinxit in »re : Sed cupis ingenium noscere ? Scripta dabunt."

" Undying grace of form art gave to steel ; His deathless wit and genius ? read and feel !"

DR. JOHN BOWLE.

(29) It was Dr. John Bowie who first made the happy remark that the two loftiest geniuses of that grand epoch, so fertile in illustrious characters— Miguel de Cervantes and William Shakspeare, both died upon the same day. This is not, however, the fact ; for it appears that the bio-

APPENDIX. 369

graphers of the English bard agreed in fixing the date of his decease on the 23rd of April, 1616; and it must be remembered that in England the Gregorian calendar was not adopted till the year 1 754. Up to that period the cal- culation of the English was behind that of the Spaniards in regard to dates, as the Russian calendar is at this time behind that of the rest of Europe. Shakspeare, therefore, survived Cervantes the term of twelve days.

HIS DESCRIPTION OF HIMSELF.

Cervantes supposes, in his preface to the novels, that one of his friends was going to engrave his portrait for the frontispiece, and that the following inscription was to accompany it : " Him whom you see here with an aqui- line visage, chestnut hair, his forehead high and open, with lively animated eyes, his nose curved though well proportioned, a silver beard (though not twenty years ago it was all golden), large moustaches, a small mouth, but few teeth, and those so bad and ill-assorted, that they don't care to preserve harmony with each other, a body neither fat nor lean, neither tall nor short, a clear complexion, rather light than brown, a little stooping in the shoulders and not very light of foot ; — that is the author of the Galatea, and of Don Quixote de la Mancha, and of other works which run through the streets as if they had lost their way, and perhaps without the name of their master."

He afterwards speaks of his left hand, which had been maimed at the battle of Lepanto, and finishes his portrait in these words : " He is commonly called Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra ; and lastly, as this occasion has failed me, and I may remain blank without cutting a figure, it becomes necessary that I should make myself known by

370 Al'PEXDIX.

my tongue, which, though lisping, will be at no loss to say truths which can be well understood by signs."

Towards the close of his pleasing and elegant life of Cervantes, prefixed to the new and magnificent Paris edition of Don Quixote, M. Viardot observes, while re- grettingthe scanty materials which have survived respecting its author : " And this is all that we have been able to collect respecting the history of that illustrious man, one of those who paid with the misfortunes of an entire life the too tardy honours of a posthumous fame. Born of an honour- able family, though poor ; receiving at first a liberal edu- cation ; subsequently thrown byhisnarrow circumstances into petty service— a page, chamberlain, a soldier ; maimed at the battle of Lepanto ; distinguished at the siege of Tunis; taken by a Barbary corsair; five years a captive in the Baths of Algiers ; ransomed by a public charity after vain efforts of courage and ingenuity ; once more a soldier in Portugal and at the Azores; smitten with the charms of a noble lady, poor as himself; carried back to his favourite study of letters, and soon again separated from them by distress; recompensed at last for all his services to literature and to his country, by being made a small com- missioner to the victualling department ; accused of mis- appropriating the public money ; thrown into prison by the agents of the king; liberated after having proved his innocence ; again imprisoned by a mutinous rabble of peasantry ; at length restored to freedom, and acting at once as a public poet and agent; ob'iged to earn his bread by petty business, and writing theatrical pieces in the taste of the day ; not able to discover and embrace his true vocation till after he was fifty years old ; at a loss to find even a patron to whom to dedicate his works; having to encounter a public which disdained to

APPENDIX. 371

be amused, and was too ignorant either to appreciate or comprehend him ; insulted by jealous rivals, who ridiculed and defamed him ; betrayed by pretended and envious friends ; brought before a tribunal of criminal justice in his old age ; by many neglected and forgotten, and mis- taken by all, and at last dying amidst solitude and priva- tion : such, during his life, was the great Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. It is only after the lapse of two centuries that the world has cared to inquire for the place which gave him birth, and the spot which contains his bones ; that the last house which he inhabited has been distinguished by a marble medallion ; that a statue is elevated to him in a public square, and that effacing the name of some ' illustrious obscure,' there is written at the corner of a little street in Madrid the great name which fills the world."

The following observations, likewise, Avith which he closes his notice of the life and the works of Cervantes, are so excellent as applying to the wish of transferring a work like Don Quixote into another language, that we shall make no excuse for giving to them every additional pub- licity which is in our power: " It only remains," observes Monsieur Viardot, "that I should add a few words respect- ing the manner in which I have comprehended and considered my task. In my opinion, the translation of a work deservedly celebrated, of one of those works which belong less to any particular literature than to all hu- manity, is not purely a matter of taste and has regard to style merely, but is an affair of conscience, and I almost feel inclined to add, of honesty. I believe that the translator ought to feel it his strict duty to apply his incessant efforts, not only to render the sense in all its truth, in all its vigour, but even to reproduce the effect of each period, of each

B B 2

372 APPENDIX.

phrase, and almost of each word. I conceive that while strictly respecting the rules and the exigencies of his own language, he is bound to adapt it to the forms of his model, in the whole and in the detail, in order that we may continually feel the force of the original in the copy. Moreover, he ought to succeed not only in tracing, as it has often been remarked, the etching of a picture, that is to say, a mere uncoloured imitation, but to paint a second time the picture with its general colour and its minutest pe- culiar shades. I think as well that the translator ought to reject, as the temptation of a guilty thought, nay, of a robbery or sacrilege, all desire of suppressing the least fragment of the text, or of adding the slightest thing upon his own responsibility. In the words of Cervantes himself, ' he ought to put out nothing, and to put in nothing.' Lastly, I am of opinion that respect for his model ought to be carried so far, that he should not permit himself to correct a fault ; I do not mean faults of taste, of which he is not a judge, but a material fault, a misstatement for a fact. Let him point to it, indeed, but let him leave it as he found it. The more salient defects, or the light blemishes, which are met with in every important and enduring work, whether they spring from the times or from the writer himself, have always their sense and their value. They belong, under different points of view, to the historian, to the artist ; to the literary critic they serve as a lesson almost equally with the beauties of the work. Let them, therefore, be respected like them.

" Perhaps the greatest difficulty to be encountered in the attainment of this complete reproduction of the original, consists in the difference of idioms, or rather, I would say, the difference which the times, the manners, the taste, impress upon the two nations in two epochs. I have

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sometimes been compelled to hazard terms of expression, and even entire expressions, which are no longer, perhaps, generally current. They will be termed Spanicisms; a term which would yet not justly apply to them. Our language of the sixteenth century approached pretty nearly to that of Spain, to which it was tributary at the same period, so as to offer analogies and resources, which our language of the nineteenth century, so completely emancipated, wholly refused me. It would be proper then to accuse me only of archaisms. In fact, I devoted myself but to one study for the purpose of translating Cervantes ; it was to read Montaigne."

CONTEMPORARIES OF CERVANTES.

BOSCAN, GARCILASO, JJENDOZA, MIRANDA, .MOXTEMAYOR, HERRERA, POXCIi DE LEON, AND OTHERS.*

FOR a long period antecedent to the reign of Charles V., and during his times, the splendid age of Cervantes and his contemporaries, the Spanish nation, notwithstanding its European influence and extensive conquests, had suf- fered greatly in its efforts to preserve popular liberty against the progress of political and religious despotism — a despotism which left no means untried to bury its ancient rights in anarchy and darkness. Upwards of four centuries the government acted on the destructive policy of attempting to expel from their adopted country its most industrious inhabitants, while it lavished the blood and treasure of the people in the contests between the sove- reigns of Castile and Aragon, of Navarre, or of Portugal ;

* Abridged from the works of Sismondi, Boutcrweck, Schlegel, and the biographies of Rios, Pcllicer, and Navarrete.

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and in sanguinary struggles to extend the power of the monarchy. A nation almost unknown, it may be said, in Europe, from the period of its conquest by the Moors, by its Eastern character and institutions, and which had taken no part in European politics, became at length united under one crown at the opening of the sixteenth century. Spain then turned against other nations the superabundant power so long employed in the struggles of different states, and in throwing off the domination of the Saracens.

But while she threatened the independence of the rest of Europe, she forgot in the pride of her conquests, to preserve her civil rights, and the privileges of her free cities, and when she made the effort, it was too late ; betrayed by her nobles, she was coerced by the monarch ; and the Inqui- sition completed the work of both. Her native genius and institutions sustained an entire change ; and at the period when Europe was gazing with astonishment and terror on this phenomenon, her literature, which she formed in the schools of the vanquished nations, shone out in its full brilliancy.

The power of the Spanish nation at the end of the fif- teenth century had received accessions fully sufficient to shake the equilibrium of Europe. Alfonso V., of Aragon, after having completed the conquest of Naples, had, it is true, left that kingdom to his natural son, and it was not till 1304 that Ferdinand the Catholic, by the most revolt- ing treachery, recovered those dominions. Sicily, Sar- dinia, and the Balearic Isles, had been already united to the crown of Aragon. The marriage of Ferdinand with the queen of Castile, without consolidating the two mo- narchies, gave that ambitious prince the command of all the armies of Spain, of which he speedily availed himself

APPKNDIX. 375

in Italy. Granada was conquered from the Moors in the year 1492, by the united troops of Ferdinand and Isabella. In the same year Christopher Columbus discovered those vast countries, so remarkable for their riches and for their happy situation, in which the Spaniards found a new home, and from whence they drew treasures with which they flattered themselves they should subdue the world. In 151-2 Ferdinand, as regent of Castile, con- quered Navarre, and the whole of that extensive peninsulas with the exception of Portugal, yielded to the same power When, in 1516, Charles V. added to this monarchy the rich and industrious provinces of the Low Countries, his paternal dominions, and in 1.519 the imperial crown, with the territories inherited from Maximilian, in Austria, Hun- gary and Bohemia, the novelty of this extraordinary power, which so greatly exceeded the authority of any European potentate since the reign of Charlemagne, Avas certainly sufficient to turn the head of a youthful sovereign, and to inspire him with the fatal project of founding a universal monarchy. The reputation which Charles V. acquired by his victories, the respect and fear with which he impressed all the other nations of Europe, the glory of the Spanish armies, which he triumphantly led into Italy, France and Germany ; into countries whither the standard of Castile had never penetrated ; all tended to deceive the Spanish nation, and to inspire them with an enthusiastic admiration of him whom they regarded as their hero, but who was, in fact, studiously endeavouring to subvert their laws and their constitution. The dreams of ambition in which the king and the nation equally indulged, were fatal to both. Charles V. in the midst of his victories, notwith- standing the immense extent of his territories, was always, relatively to his neighbours, weaker and poorer than

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Ferdinand and Isabella, his immediate predecessors. In every enterprise he was deprived of the fruits which he should have gathered, by the want of soldiers and of money; a want unknown to the former monarchs. The taxes collected from Italy, Spain, Flanders, and Germany, with all the treasures of the new world, were not sufficient to prevent his troops from disbanding for want of pay. The prodigious levies which were perpetually making in all the subject states, never enabled him to meet the enemy with superior numbers in the open field ; and although he had succeeded as heir to very large territories, and had acquired others by election to the imperial crown, he did not add a single province to his states by the sword, but was on the contrary compelled to contract his hereditary territories on the Turkish frontier. The Spanish nation, the only one amongst the states subject to him which he was enabled to preserve from foreign invasion, was, in his minority, despoiled by cardinal Ximenes of a portion of its privileges. Intoxicated by the victories of their sovereign, they day by day surrendered more.

The brave knights who had been accustomed to fight only for the interest of their country, and to make war in such manner as it pleased them, now conceived it a point of honour to display the most implicit obedience and devotion. Perpetually combating in quarrels which they little understood, and in which they had not the slightest interest, they entirely reduced their duties to the obser- vance of the most severe discipline. In the midst of nations with whose language they were unacquainted, and whom they regarded with contempt, they signalised them- selves by their inflexibility and their cruelty. The first of European soldiers, they united no other qualifications to that character. To the enemy the Spanish infantry pre-

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sented a front of iron ; to the vanquished, an iron heart. They were invariably selected for the execution of any cruel project, from an assurance that no sympathies would stay them in the performance of the most rigorous com- mands. They conducted themselves in a ferocious manner during the wars against the Protestants in Germany, and they displayed equal cruelty towards the Catholics in the sacking of Rome. At the same period the soldiers of Cortez and Pizarro, in the new world, gave proofs of a ferocity which has been the opprobrium of the Castilians, but of which no instance is to be found in the whole history of Spain before the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella. Cruelty seemed to become the characteristic of the Spanish soldiery, as duplicity of their chiefs. The most celebrated men of this age sullied themselves with acts of treachery unequalled in history. The "great captain" Gonsalvo de Cordova, Piero Na-. arro, the duke de Toledo, Antonio de Leva, and the most illustrious Castilians, who served under Ferdinand the Catholic, and Charles V., made light of their word, and even of the most sacred oaths. So frequently are they accused of assassinating and poison- ing their adversaries that, though we should suspend our belief in each individual case, yet when we consider how numerous the accusations are. they necessarily tarnish the characters of these pretended heroes. At the same period, the clergy gained power in proportion as morality lost its influence. The Inquisition was established in 1478 in Castile, by the united authority of Ferdinand and Isabella. It was armed with extraordinary powers, in crdcr to repress the Moors ; against whom there was not the slightest necessity for adopting such rigorous mea- sures, even in the height of their power, and at this period they had long ceased to be formidable. Juan de Torque-

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mada, a Dominican, the confessor of Isabella, whom he in- duced before her marriage to take an oath, that if ever she ascended the throne she would employ all her power in persecuting heretics and infidels, was the first Grand In- quisitor. In the space of fourteen years he summoned before the holy tribunal a hundred thousand persons, and condemned six thousand to the flames.

Ferdinand, who was the most crafty of kings, although his zeal for the Inquisition had procured him the title of "the Catholic," did not, in fact, take any interest in religion. He would never have devoted himself so eagerly to the establishment of the Inquisition, had he not regarded it as a powerful political engine, by which he might be able to terrify the nobles, and to reduce the people to dependence. It was necessary that a generation should pass away before the Spaniards should become inured to the sanguinary proceedings of the Inquisition, and that infernal system had hardly been firmly established. The revolting specta- cles of the autos daf<i probably inspired the Spanish soldiery with that singular ferocity for which they were remarkable at this period, and which was once so foreign to their na- tional character. The Jews, against whom the people were much exasperated by jealousy of their commercial pros- perity, were the first victims of the Inquisition. Though they formed a large proportion of the population, they were almost entirely extirpated. The Moors were next abandoned to the fury of the holy tribunal. The severities to which they were exposed drove them to resistance, and their resistance drew upon them fresh sufferings. The ancient ties which had formerly connected the two people were broken, and a spirit of irreconcilable hatred sprang up between them. The Inquisition never remitted its labours until, having converted one portion of the Moors,

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devoted another to the faggot, and reduced still greater nunibersto absoluteruin, Philip III. \vasatlastprevailedon to expel from their country six hundred thousand of these unfortunate beings, the relics of a numerous and powerful nation. The Inquisition then turned its watchful eye upon the Christians themselves, anxious that no error or dissent in matters of faith should exist within the Spanish territories. At the period of the Reformation, when the intellect of all Europe was occupied with religious contro- versies, the holy office succeeded in preventing the estab- lishment in Spain of any of the Reformed opinions. All who attempted to introduce them were no sooner dis- covered, than they were committed to the flames. Terri- fied by this example, the rest of the nation studiously avoided all metaphysical questions and religious specula- tions ; and with them they abandoned every intellectual pursuit which might lead them into such frightful dangers upon earth, while they exposed them, according to their instructors, even to more fatal perils in another state of existence. Thus, it appears, that the reign of Charles V., notwithstanding the Haze of glory by which it is sur- rounded, was no less destructive to Spain than to Italy. The Spaniards were at once despoiled of their civil and religious liberty, of their private and public virtues, of humanity and good faith, of their commerce, of their population, and of their agriculture. In return for these losses they acquired a military reputation, and the hatred of all nations amongst whom they carried their arms. But it is not at the moment when a nation loses its political libertythat theprogressof the intellect is stayed. Itrequires the lapse of half a century before the spirit of literature declines, or becomes extinct. Whilst Charles V. was laying the foundation for the false wit, the tumid style,

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and the affectation which, with other defects, distinguished Gongora and his school in the succeeding age, he produced an entirely contrary effect upon his contemporaries. He roused their enthusiasm by placing before their eyes their national glory ; and he developed their genius, while by the mixture of foreigners with Castilians, he matured their taste.

After the union of Aragon and Castile, the superior im- portance of the latter country induced the Spanish monarch to transfer the seat of government to Madrid. The Cas- tilian now began to be considered as the language of all Spain. The Limousin or Provencal, which was still pre- served in the legal proceedings of the Aragonese and the common people, had been abandoned by authors and poets for the language of the court. It was, however, from amongst those who thus abandoned the native language of Aragon for that of Castile, that an individual proceeded, who, in the reign of Charles V., produced an entire revo- lution in Castilian poetry. He had never become attached by early association to the harmony of Castilian verse, and he probably found the poetry of Italy more analogous to the Provencal, to which he had been from his infancy accustomed. He was, in fact, endowed with a graceful delicacy of style and a richness of imagination which enabled him to introduce a purer taste, and to give his own personal feelings an ascendancy over those of a whole nation. The name of this author was Juan Boscan Al- mogaver ; he was born about the close of the 15th century, and was of a noble family at Barcelona. He had served in his youth, and afterwards devoted himself to travelling ; but on his return to Spain in 1526, he became acquainted at Granada with Andrea Navagero, then ambassador from the Venetians to the Emperor ; and a celebrated poet and

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historian, who inspired him with the classical taste which then reigned in Italy. His friend, Garcilaso de la Vega, associated himself with him in the project for effecting a reformation in Spanish poetry. Both of these writers were distinguished by their correct and graceful style, and both despised the accusations of their enemies, who re- proached them with endeavouring to introduce into a valiant nation the effeminate tastes of the people whom it had subdued. They went so far as to overthrow all the laws of Castilian versification, in order to introduce new canons, founded upon a system diametrically opposite to that which had hitherto prevailed. In this attempt they succeeded. The ancient Castilian metre, consisting of short lines, which was the true national measure, was always composed of a long syllable preceding a short one. In fact, four trochees succeeded one another. Boscan intro- duced iambics instead of trochees, as in Italian ; and the lines were thus composed of short syllables preceding long lines. In the redondillias they seldom made use of more than six or eight syllables, and in the verses dc Arte Mayor, of twelve. Boscan abandoned both these forms, and adopted the heroic Italian verse of five iambics or ten syl- lables and the mute. When we remember that the greater part of the ancient Spanish romances were never rhymed, but merely terminated with assonants, and that in deter- mining the verse, the ear was guided only by the quan- tity, it is curious to see a nation consenting to the loss of an harmonious metre in which they had always found deh'ght, and adopting a measure directly contrary to that which they had before employed.

Boscan, who was one of the instructors of the too cele- brated duke of Alva, ended his days in a pleasant retreat, in the bosom of his family and his friends. He died before the year 1344.

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The first volume of Boscan's poems contains his youth- ful compositions in the ancient Castilian taste. The second consists of sonnets and songs in the Italian style. Although in the latter poems we easily trace an imitation of Petrarch, yet they exhibit much of the spirit of a Spaniard. Boscan has happily caught the precision of Petrarch's language, but he has rarely preserved the sweetness of his melody. His colours are stronger and his warmth is more impas- sioned, but it does not affect us so much as the deep and sweet feeling of the Tusc;m poet. The perpetually recur- ring conflicts between the reason and the passions, so favourite a theme with the Spanish poets, fatigue us by their monotony. The merit of lyrical poetry, more espe- cially of sonnets, depends so much upon the expression and the harmony of the language, that I have no hopes of being able to give any idea of the charm of Boscan's poetry to those who are not acquainted with the Spanish.

Indeed that precision of style, and that rare judgment which constitute his chief merits, will, when compared with the other Spanish poets, give his compositions an air of studious refinement and affectation if they are judged by their own rules of criticism. The third volume of Boscan's poems consists of a translation or imitation of the poems of Hero and Leander, usually attributed to Musseus. The language is pure and elegant, the versification natural, and the style of the narrative at once pleasing and noble. In the same volume we find an elegy under the name of C(tpituln,a.nd two epistles, one of which, addressed to Diego de Mendoza, gives us a pleasing picture of the poet, enjoy- ing in his country retreat, and in the bosom of his family, the happiness of domestic life. We cannot conclude without mentioning a fragment by Boscan in stanzas of eight lines each, giving a description of the Kingdom of Love, which

AIM'KNDIX. 3ft3

was probably designed to form part of an epic poem. The verses are remarkable for the harmony of the style and for their elegance of expression, which enable us to compre- hend the praises which the Spaniards have bestowed upon a writer whom they regard as their first classical poet. But the ideas, the sentiments, and the thoughts, are all that can be transferred from one language to another. When the beauty of poetry consists merely in its harmony and its colouring, it is in vain to hope that it can ever be appreciated by foreigners.

Garcilaso de la Vega was born in 1 500, or, according to others, 1 50:3, at Toledo, of a noble family. He was the friend and rival of Boscan, the disciple of Petrarch and of Virgil, and the man who contributed most towards the introduction of the Italian taste into Spain. He was a younger son of Garcilaso de la Vega, counsellor of state to Ferdinand and Isabella, who, according to the romances and the history of the wars of the Moors of Granada, dis- played great bravery in single combat against a Moor on the Vega or plain of Granada. In remembrance of this act of heroism, Ferdinand bestowed upon his family the surname of Vega. Although designed by nature for a rural life, and although his poems invariably manifest the benevolence and the extreme mildness of his character, his brilliant but troubled life was passed amidst the turmoils of a camp. In 152:) he was attached to a Spanish corps which valiantly repulsed the Turks in Austria. A ro- mantic adventure with one of the ladies of the court, in which he was engaged at the instigation of one of his rela- tions, drew upon him the displeasure of the Emperor. He was banished to one of the islands of the Danube, where he employed himself in the composition of some melan- choly poems. In 1535 he accompanied Charles V. in his

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hazardous expedition against Tunis. He returned from thence to Sicily and Naples, where he wrote several pas- torals. In the following year, upon the invasion of Pro- vence by Charles V., he had the command of veteran com- panies of infantry. Being despatched by the Emperor to attack a fortified town, he was the first to mount the breach, where he was mortally wounded in the head. He died a few weeks afterwards at Nice, whither he had been conveyed in 1536.

The poems of this writer present few traces of his active and troubled life. His delicacy, his sensibility, and his imagination, remind us of Petrarch more than even the works of Boscan. Unfortunately, he occasionally abandons himself to that over-refinement and false wit, which the Spaniards mistook for the language of passion.

Amongst the thirty sonnets which Garcilaso has left, there are several in which we remark that sweetness of language and that delicacy of expression which so com- pletely captivate the ear, together with a mixture of sad- ness and of love, of the fear and the desire of death, which powerfully expresses the agitation of the soul. The trans- lation of one of these sonnets of Garcilaso, although it should give only a faint idea of his poetry, will afford a picture of the singular nature of Castilian love ; a passion which even in the fiercest warriors assumed so submissive and languishing a character.

SONNET xx.

" If lamentation and complaint could rein The course of rivers as they rolled along And move on desert hills attired in song, The savage forests ; if they could constrain Fierce tigers and chill rocks to entertain The sound, and with less urgency than mine Lead tyrant Pluto and stern Proserpine,

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and subdued with magic of their strain. AVliy will not my vexatious being spent In misery and in tears to softness soothe A bosom steeled ngainst me? with more rufch An ear of rapt attemion should be lent The voice of him that mourns himself for lost, Than that which sorrowed for a forfeit ghost !"

But the most celebrated of Garcilaso's poems is that in which he has given a model to the Spanish writers, which has been imitated by numbers, who have never been able to equal the original. This poem is the first of his three eclogues. It was written at Naples, where he felt inspired at once with the spirit of Virgil and of Sannazaro. Two shepherds, Salicioand Nemoroso, meeting one another, mu- tually express in verse the torments which they have suffer- ed, the one from the infidelity, tire other from the death, of his shepherdess. In the complaints of the former, there is softness, delicacy, and submission, and in those of the latter, a depth of grief; while in both we find a purity of pastoral feeling which appears more remarkable when we remember that the author was a warrior, destined a few months afterwards to perish in battle. The shadow, at all events, of a pastoral is capable of being preserved in a translation ; whilst an ode or a sonnet is frequently lost In order to produce its full effect, an eclogue has, however, need of all the ornaments peculiar to that style of composition. If it is deprived of even one of the illusions with which it is invested, its defects become visible, and we are struck with its insipid monotony. The translation is injurious to the poet, even from its apparent fidelity, which exposes the feebleness of the composition whilst it suffers the charm to evaporate. On the other hand, we should communicate a very vague idea of the early poets of Spain did we only give the

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opinions of their critics without presenting a single exam- ple of their own sentiments and thoughts. The following are a few stanzas from this celebrated eclogue : — •

SALFCIO.

Through thee the silence of the shaded glen, Through thee the horror of the lonely mountain, Pleased me no less than the resort of men ; The breeze, the summer wood, and lucid fountain, The purple rose, white lily of the lakeT Were sweet for thy sweet sake ; For thee the fragrant primrose, dropt with dew, Was wished when first it blew. Oh, how most strangely was I in all this Myself deceiving ! Oh, the different part That thou wert acting, covering with a kiss Of seeming love the traitor in thy heart ! This my severe misfortune long ago Did the soothsaying raven, sailing by On the black storm with hoarse sinister cry, Clearly presage : in gentleness of woe Flow forth, my tears ; 'tis meet that ye should flow !

How oft when slumbering in the forest brown,

Deeming it fancy's mystical deceit,

Have I beheld my fate in dreams foreshown.

One day methought thut from the noontide heat,

I drove my flocks to drink of Tagns' flood,

And, under curtain of its bordering wood,

Beguile the sultry hours ! when lo ! the stream,

•I know not by what magic, changed its track,

And in new channels by an unused way,

Roll'd its warped waters back ;

Whilst I, scorched, melting with the heat extreme,

Went ever following in their flight, astray,

The wizard waves : in gentleness of woe,

Flow forth, my tears ; 'tis meet that ye should flow !

But though thou wilt not come for my sad sake, Leave not the landscape thou hast held so dear ; Thou rnay'st conic freely now without the fear Of meeting me, for though my heart should break, Where late forsaken, I will now forsake ;

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Conic, then, if this alone detains thee, here

Are meadows full of verdure, myrtles, bays.

Woodlands and lawns, and running waters clear,

Beloved in other days ;

To which, bedewed with many a bitter tear,

I sing my last of lays.

These scenes, perhaps, when I am far removed,

At ease thou wilt frequent

With him who rifled me of all I loved.

Enough, my strength is spent ;

And leaving thee in his desired embrace,

It is not much to leave him this sweet place.

NE.MOROSO.

As at the set of sun the shades extend, And when its circle sinks, that dark obscure Rises to shroud the world, on which attend The images that set our hair on end ; Silence and shapes mysterious as the grave : Till the broad sun sheds once more from the wave His lively lustre, beautiful and pure ; Such forms oime with the night, and such ill gloom At thy departure ; still tormenting fear Haunts, and must haunt me, until death shall doom Tlie so much wished for sun to re-appear Of thine angelic face, my soul to cheer, Resurgent from the tomb.

Poor lost Eliza ! of thy locks of gold One treasured ringlet in white silk I keep For ever at my heart, which, when unrolled, Fresh grief and pity o'er my spirit creep, And my insatiate eyes for hours untold, O'er the dear pledge will like an infant weep : With sighs more warm than fire, anon I dry The tears from off it; number, one by one, The radiant hairs, and with a love-knot tie : Mine eyes, this duty done, Give over weeping, and with slight relief, I taste a short oblivion of my grief.

The two other eclogues of Garcilaso are regarded as inferior to the first. They are all three of considerable c c 2

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length. He has likewise written a few elegies, of which one was composed at the foot of Mount Etna. His poems, when collected, form only a single small volume; but, such is the power of harmonious language, when accom- panied by harmony of thought, that the few poems of Garcilaso de la Vega have secured him an immortal repu- tation, and gained him the first rank amongst the lyrical and pastoral poets of his nation.

Don Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, the third of the Spanish classical poets, was one of the celebrated politi- cians and generals who shed fresh lustre on the brilliant reign of Charles V. He acted a principal part in the im- portant events of that period ; but the extreme sternness of his character has left an unfavourable impression of him on the minds of those who know him only in the pages of history. He was born at Granada, about the beginning of the 16th century, of an illustrious family. To the study of the classics he united that of the Hebrew and the Arabic tongues. Scholastic philosophy, theology, and the civil law, likewise shared his attention. While still a student at Salamanca, he wrote "The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes," the first and pleasantest of those memoirs of rogues for which the Spaniards have manife-ted a pecu- liar taste. Being distinguished by Charles V., as a man well qualified to be employed in the most important transactions, he was appointed ambassador to Venice soon after he had left the university. From thence he was despatched to the Council of Trent, to protect the interests of the Emperor, and his speech to this assembly, in the year 13t5, excited the admiration of all Christendom. In 1547 he proceeded with the tille of ambassador to the papal court, where he directed the movements of the im- perial army throughout Italy ; endeavouring to ruin all

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who were attached to the French cause, or who preserved any love for the ancient liberties of their country. He was, at the same time, named Captain-General and Go- vernor of Sienna. In concert with Cosmo tie Medici, he succeeded in enslaving this last of the republics of the Middle Ages, and with a sceptre of iron he crushed the spirit of liberty which still animated the Tuscans. De- tested by Paul III., whom he was directed to humble even in his own court, hated by all the friends of liberty, governing only by severity, and incessantly exposed to the knives of assassins, he still retained his power till the reign of Julius III., by whom he was appointed Gonfalo- niere of the Church. It was not until the year 15,54 that Charles V., yielding to the supplications of all his Italian subjects, recalled to his court this detested minister. During his residence in Italy, amidst the agitations of his life and the severities of his government, he was still ac- tively occupied in the encouragement of letters. Since the time of Petrarch, no one had devoted himself with equal ardour to the collection of Greek manuscripts ; while he," at the same time, attempted to preserve from the inju- ries of time those works of art which reflect such glory upon antiquity. In furtherance of this design he caused the convent of Mount Athos to be examined, making use of the public character with which he was invested, and employing the credit which he enjoyed, even at the court of Soliman, to promote the interests of literature. Neither his public duties, nor his studies, nor the ruggedness of his character, preserved him from the influence of love. During his stay at Rome, his gallantry and intrigues pro- cured him almost as many enemies as his severity. After the death of Charles V., in a dispute which he had at the court of Philip II. with one of his rivals, the latter drew a

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poniard ; but Mendoza, seizing his adversary, threw him over a balcony into the street. We are not told whether the consequences of the fall were fatal, but Mendoza was committed to prison. During his imprisonment, the aged minister employed himself in composing love-verses and complaints : Redondilhas, estando preso par una pe?i- dencia que tuvo en pa/ado. Being banished to Granada, he was an attentive observer of the progress of the Moorish revolt in the Alpuxarras, of which he afterwards wrote an account ; a work esteemed one of the masterpieces of Spanish history. He occupied himself during the rest of his life in literary pursuits, and in translating and com- menting upon a work of Aristotle. He died at Vallado- lid in 1575. His library, which he bequeathed to the king, forms one of the most valuable portions of the col- lection of the Escurial.

The Spaniards have placed Mendoza only in the third rank of their poets, Boscan and Garcilaso de la Vega occu- pying the two first places; because, on a comparison between him and these, they discover considerable harsh- ness in his verses. Bouterwek, on the other hand, considers his epistles to be equal to those of Horace. He was the first to give perfect models of this kind of composition to his countrymen. With the exception of two, which are somewhat fatiguing love complaints, the rest are all didactic, and though full of philosophical discussion, they are yet written in a neat and easy style. The happy mixture of opinion and description preserves them from the charge of monotony. Great correctness of judgment, and a thorough knowledge of the world, form the principal merit of the thoughts. In the epistle to Boscan, he describes domestic life very delightfully. The first verses contain a beautiful picture of the wife of

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Boscan. We are astonished to discern in the tyrant of Sienna so much delicacy, and so much sensibility. Nor are we less surprised at rinding this ferocious man enter- taining in the midst of his ambitious career a wish for retirement, and for the happiness and repose of domestic life. In his epistle to Don Luis de Zufiiga, hfe thus expresses himself: —

"Another world I seek — a resting place,

Sweet times and seasons, and a happy home, Where I in peace may close my mortal race :

There shall no evil passions dare presume To enter, turbulence, nor discontent ;

Love to my honoured king shall there find room, And if to me his clemency be sent,

C Jiving me kindly wherewithal to live, I will rejoice ; if not, will rest content.

My days shall pass all idly fugitive, Careless my meals, and at no stated hour ;

My sleep and dreams such as content can give. Then will I tell how in my days of power,

Into the East Spain's conqiiering flag I led, All undismayed amid the fiery shower ;

While old and young around me throng in dread, Fair dames and idle monks, a coward race,

And tremble while they hear of foes that fled. And haply some ambassador may grace

My humble roof, resting upon his way ; His route and many dangers he will trace

Upon my frugal board, and much will say Of many val-ant deeds ; but he'll conceal

His secret purpose from the light of day ; To mortal none that object he'll reveal ;

His secret mission you shall never find, Though you should search his heart with pointed steel."

The sonnets of Mendoaa are deficient in the grace and harmony which form the charm of Boscan's style. In all of them, however, the language is noble and correct. The following is a very characteristic specimen, as it exhibits the national taste, and the prevailing spirit of gallantry,

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together with some traces of those troubled scenes through which the author had passed : —

" Now, by the muses won, I seize my lyre ;

Now, roused by valour's stern and manly call, I grasp my flaming sword in storm and fire,

'To plant our banner on some hostile wall. Now sink my wearied limbs to silent rest,

And now I wake and watch the lonely night ; But thy fair form is on my heart imprest

Through every change, a vision of delight! Where'er the glorious planet sheds his beams,

Whatever land his golden orb illumes, Thy memory ever haunts my blissful dreams,

And a delightful Ivlen round me blooms: Fresh radiance clolhes the earth, the sea and skies, To mark the day that gave thee to mine eyes."

The canzoni partake of the same character. They are blamed for their obscurity ; a common defect in Spanish poetry, arising from the too great study bestowed by the writer. Mendoza did not confine himself to compositions on the Italian model. The ancient Castilian style attracted his attention, and he endeavoured to carry it to a higher state of perfection. His Redondilhas, in little stanzas of four verses; his Quintillas, in stanzas of five verses ; and his Villiincicos, are more finished than those of the ancient school, while they are, at the same time, more suited to his genius than the poems which he has written in the Italian metre. He left many satirical poems, under bur- lesque names, but the Inquisition forbade them to be printed.

Mendoza, however, acquired a higher reputation by his prose compositions, which form an epoch in the history of Spanish literature. The comic romance of Lazarillo di: Tormes, the first of its kind, has been translated into all languages, and read in every nation of Europe. It was

APPENDIX. 393

corrected and enlarged by the addition of a second part by a writer named De Luna, who is otherwise unknown ; and it is in this altered form that it is now known to the public. The wit of every nation has in it something peculiar, and in Lazarillo de Tonnes we find the genuine Spanish vein. It seems that the grave dignity of the Castilians would not permit persons of rank to be made subjects of laughter, and the romance writers, therefore, chose for their heroes persons insensible to all shame. The humour of these works consisted in contrasting all kinds of ignoble vices with the reserve and dignity of the national manners. Lazarillode Tormes is an unfortunate youth, who was 1'orn in the bed of a torrent, was educated by the mistress of a negro, and who afterwards became the guide of a blind beggar. He recounts ah1 the tricks and thefts of which he was guilty, until he arrived at the high honour of espousing the housekeeper of a clergyman. It is surprising to find Mendoza, still a student at Salamanca, so early and so well acquainted with the vices and manners of the lower orders, and painting beggars and rogues with all the liveliness and satirical power which Fielding only acquired by long experience of the world. The description of Castilian manners which Lazarillo gives us, is highly curious from the period at which it was written. It must be dated about the year 1520, towards the commencement of the reign of Charles V., before the wars in which that monarch engaged, or the mania of emigrating to America, had impoverished Castile and changed its ancient manners, and before that proud parsimony, that stateliness united to extreme poverty, and that spirit of idleness which distinguish the Castilians from the Aragonese and the Catalonians, had deprived Castile of its agriculture, its manufactures, and its commerce. Lazarillo is perpetu-

394 APPENDIX.

ally tormented with hunger, and never receives from his master a sufficiency even of dry bread to satisfy his craving appetite. He is even impelled to employ a thousand artifices to break off the corners of the loaves, and he then persuades his master that the rats have done the mischief. At length he enters the service of a noble squire, who passes a portion of the day at church, and the remain- der in lounging, arranging his mustachios, and striking his sword against the pavement. Dinner-time, however, never arrives in this gentleman's establishment; and Lazarillo is compelled to support his master by the bread which he has stolen in the streets. He next becomes gentleman usher to seven ladies at once. The wives of the baker, the shoemaker, the tailor, the mason, &c. are ashamed of walking the streets and going to mass without an attendant to follow them in respectful style, with a sword by his side. As none of these ladies are able alone to support such an establishment, they arrange the matter amongst themselves, and Lazarillo, by turns, attends upon them all. Other scenes no less amusing follow, all exhibiting the national failings of the Castilians, who are often ashamed of their actual condition, and desirous of appearing what they are not, haughtily preferring inde- pendence and misery, to the degradation of labour.

Numberless romances have been written in imitation of " Lazarillo de Tormes." This style of writing has been called by the Spaniards El Gusto Picarcscn ; and if we may believe them, no beggars of any country ever equalled theirs in artifice, roguery, and subordination to their own private police, which always acts in opposition to that of society. The romances of Guzman d' Alfarache and of Picara Justina, together with many others, have been translated into all languages, and were the models of Gil

APPENDIX. 395

Bias. The father of this large family possessed, without doubt, a rich fund of comic talent, since he has found so many imitators. In him we may remark qualities in which his successors have been unable to equal him : a soundness of intellect, a just and solid judgment, together with those profound views of society which indicated that Mendoza was destined for a statesman. Lazariflo de Tormest is the last Spanish work in which the Inquisition is attacked as odious and ridiculous. -The Holy Office afterwards acquired the art of making even those whom it was destroying, commend its proceedings. The second work in prose by Mendoza, which was written in his old age, and after he had retired from public life, The His- tory of the War of Granada, has conferred upon him more real fame. Taking Sallust and Tacitus alternately as his models, he may be said to have assumed a station near those colossal authors of antiquity. His style, which is exceedingly elegant, may perhaps occasionally betray the study of the writer ; but the simplicity of the narrative is the more remarkable, inasmuch as the art of presenting the subject to the eye of the reader, and of interesting his feelings, appears almost to be carried to perfection. The statesman appears in almost every page. We immedi- ately perceive that Mendoza was fully aware of the error of Philip, who, by his extreme severity, drove the Moors into rebellion. He does not, indeed, pronounce any direct opinion, but the reader easily collects it ; and so sensible of this was the Spanish government, that the work was. not permitted to be printed till the year 1610, thirty-five years after the death of the author, and then not without great alterations. The edition of 1776 alone is complete.

The revolt of the Moors of Granada, the subject of this history, broke out in the. year 1568, in consequence of the

396 APPENDIX.

cruelties and fanaticism of Philip II. In the preceding reigri the public exercise of their religion had been inter- dicted; and they had been compelled, under pain of death, to make an external profession of Christianity. A fragment from Mendoza respecting the fresh rigours of Philip, will enable us to estimate at once the style of the historian, and the policy of the Spanish court. " The In- quisition," says he, "now began to torment them more than had been usual. The king ordered them to abandon the use of the Moorish tongue, and with it all commerce and communication among themselves. He deprived them of their negro slaves whom they treated with the same ten- derness as their own children. He compelled them to throw aside their Arabian attire, in the purchase of which they had spent considerable sums, constraining them to adopt the Castilian dress at a great expense. He forced the women to walk abroad with their faces unveiled, and compelled them to open all their houses which they had been accustomed to keep closed, both which commands appeared an intolerable violence to this jealous nation. It was announced to them also, that the king was desirous of taking from them their children, in order that they might be educated in Castile. They were interdicted from the use of their baths, which were at once necessary and delightful to them; and at the -same time their music, their songs, and their festivals, all their usual amusements, all their cheerful assemblies, were forbidden. All these new orders were promulgated without any addition to the guards, without despatching any fresh troops, and without any reinforcement of the old, or establishment of new garrisons."

The Moors soon began to collect arms and ammunition in the rude mountains of the Alpuxarras. They chose as

APPENDIX. 397

their king the young Fernando de Valor, a descendant of their ancient sovereigns, who assumed the name of Aben- Humega. Granada was too strong to be surprised ; and they had received only very insufficient succours from the Turkish emperor, Selim. Notwithstanding their weakness, they defended themselves for eight months in the mountains with unconquerable valour, against a numerous army commanded by Don John of Austria. The ferocity of the Spaniards displayed itself in a fright- ful manner during this war; not only were prisoners with- out number put to the sword, but the inhabitants of whole villages in the plains, who had taken no part in the insurrection, were massacred on suspicion of holding in- telligence with the rebels. Aben-Humega and his succes- sor, Aben-Boo, were both assassinated by Moors to whom the Spaniards had promised indemnity at that price. The rest of the inhabitants of the Alpuxarras were sold into slavery; while those of the plains were dragged from their homes, and driven in troops into the interior of Castile, where they perished miserably. Philip, that he might act with holy sanction in this affair, consulted a theologian on the conduct which it behoved him to pursue with regard to the Moors. The latter, whose name was Oradici, answered that, " the more enemies he destroyed, the fewer would remain."

The great reform which was wrought in the poetry of Castile, by the example of the Italians, was not without its partisans in Portugal. In this new school we must grant the first rank to two Portuguese, San Miranda and Montemayor, who distinguished themselves by their com- positions in both languages. San Miranda, who was born in 14 94, and died in 13.58, may be more especially claimed by the Portuguese ; and in treating of the literature of that

398 APPENDIX.

country, we shall again have occasion to mention him. In Castilian he wrote only a few pastorals, which resemble Theocritus much more than the pastorals of Garcilaso tie la Vega. He was passionately attached to the country, nor could he bear a residence elsewhere. It is evident that he wrote without art, abandoning himself to his feel- ings and despising the rules which separate one style of composition from another. His pastorals, therefore, some- times resemble the Italian canzoni, at others the Latin ode, while they occasionally approach the epic. This mixture of style has drawn down upon him the wrath of the critics, and none of his eclogues are considered as models, though in many of them may be found many beautiful specimens of the various styles of composition. The following lines from the first eclogue, appear to contain that melancholy sensibility which constitutes the chief charm of the northern poets, but which, with the exception of the Portuguese, is seldom found in the writers of the south.

" Then fare dice well ! for on this earthly scene The pleasures of to-day fly ere the morrow ; And all is frail and fugitive, save sorrow ; But in that region where thou sitt'st serene, That vision vain shall meet thine eyes no more. Which warred with tliee upon this mortal shore, Burning that breast which now lies still and coU What thy clear eyes behold, Amid those regions bright, Are not the vain shows of a false delight, Such as erewhile thou knew'st in this dim bound But such as aye shed peace and light aiound ; While calm content thy bosom fills Free from the ills Which ever in these stranger realms are found."

George de Montemayor was born at Montemor, in Por- tugal, about the year 1520. As his family was very ob- scure, he translated into Castilian the name of the village at which he was born, and he assumed it as his own. He

APPENDIX. 399

had received no education, and served as a common soldier in the Portuguese army. On account of his love of music and his fine voice, he was attached to the chapel of the In- fant Don Philip, afterwards Philip 1 1., during his progresses through Italy, Germany, and the Low Countries. He thus became acquainted with the world and the court, and familiarised himself with the Castilian dialect, which he adopted in preference to the Portuguese. His attachment to Spain was increased by his passion for a beautiful Cas- tilian lady, to whom he has given in his poems the name of Marricla. This Marfida was the divinity of his verses ; but upon his return to Spain from a journey on which he had accompanied the court, he found her married. He now endeavoured to dissipate his chagrin by devoting himself to a romantic composition, in which he represented the faithless fair one as a shepherdess, under the name of Diana, whilst he bestowed upon himself the name of S^renus. This tedious pastoral, which reached a seventh book, ought rather to be considered as a vehicle for the expression of the writer's feelings, and for the amatory effusions of his muse, than as a romance. No work in Spain, since the Amadis, had been so successful. As the Amadis had been the progenitor of a numerous family of chivalric romances, so a crowd of pastoral romances fol- lowed the Diana. Montemayor returned home by com- mands from Portugal; but the rest of his history is un- known. He died a violent death in Spain or in Italy, about the year 1561 or 1562.

The prose writings of Montemayor have more harmony and elegance, and in general more simplicity, than those of his predecessors ; nor does he forsake this style of writ- ing except in his philosophical disquisitions on the nature of love. There, and indeed wherever he attempts to be

400 APPENDIX.

subtle and profound, he becomes pedantic. It is evident from his admiration of the scholastic rules, that he is a novice in them. The grace, harmony, and delicacy, of his writings have placed him in the first rank of Spanish poets.

The scene of Montemayor's pastoral is laid at the foot of the mountains of Leon. The period it is more difficult to determine. The geography, the names, and every refer- rence to real manners and customs, are modern ; the mythology, however, is pagan. The shepherds and shep- herdesses dance together on Sundays ; but they invoke Apollo and Diana, the nymphs and the fairies. The shep- lierdess Felismena, is brought up by her aunt, the abbess of a nunnery ; and her chambermaid, when she is endea- vouring to excuse herself, calls upon the name of Jesus. Yet she accounts herself under the protection of the pagan divinities. Venus, who has been irritated against her mother, has condemned her from her birth to be unfor- tunate in love, while Minerva has endowed her with a most martial spirit, and given her the superiority over the bravest warriors. The adventures of Abindarras and Xarifa, who were contemporary with Ferdinand the Ca- tholic, are related as having occurred in early times ; but when the heroes visit the court or meet with any prince, the names which are introduced are entirely fictitious, Indeed the Diana of Montemayor is laid in so poetical a world, and is so far removed from all reality, that it is perfectly useless to notice anachronisms or improbabilities. With regard to the mixture of the ancient mythology with modern fictions, it was the error of the age. Learning, after degenerating into pedantry, had become so intimately connected \yith the creations of poetry, that.it would have been deemed an offence both against taste and imagination,

40}

to have deprived the fabulous deities of antiquity of their empire.

Sylvanus seeks Syrenus, and his rival is the first to offer him sympathy and consolation. In fact Syrenus, resign- ing himself to all the pains of despised affection, exhibits both in his conversation and in his verses a degree of sub- mission, a horror of murmuring and a scrupulosity of love, which are truly extraordinary.

•' Never beloved, hut still to love a slave, Still shall I love though hopeless is my suit, I suffer torments which I never gave And my unheeded sighs no ear salute ; Complaint is sweet though we no favour have ; I reaped but shame in shunning love's pursuit, Forgetfulness alone I suffer not — Alas ! unthought of can we be forgot ?"

He concludes by saying that he who is not beloved has no right to complain. *

Whilst Europe and America were inundated with blood by the Spaniards, Boscan, Garcilaso, Mendoza, and Monte- mayor, all of them soldiers, and all of them engaged in the wars, which at this period shook the foundations of Christendom, describe themselves as shepherds weaving garlands of flowers, or as lovers, tremblingly beseeching the favour of a glance from their mistresses, while they stifle their complaints, suppress all the feelings of nature, and even renounce jealousy lest it should not render them sufficiently submissive. There is in these verses a Sybar- itic softness, a Lydian luxury, which we might expect to meet with in the effeminate Italians whom servitude had degraded, but which astonish us in men like the warriors of Charles V.

There exists, undoubtedly, a moral cause for this dis- cordance. If Garcilaso de la Vega and Montemayor have

402 APPENDIX.

not exhibited their own feelings in their poetry, if they have abandoned the habits, the manners, and the senti- ments to which they were accustomed, in the search of a poetical world, it was because they were disgusted with the realities around them. Poetry was attempting its first flight while the Spanish nation lost everything except the glory of its arms; and even this glory, soiled as it was by so many horrors, and prevented by the severity of disci- pline from becoming an individual feeling, was voiceless to the heart of the poet.

There was a noble spirit of martial enthusiasm in the ancient poem of the Cid, in the old romances, and in the warlike poems of the Marquis of Santillana ; in short, the same inspiration appeared wherever the national honour was concerned. The Grand Master of Calatrava, Don Manuel Ponce de Leon, who in all the Moorish festivals appeared upon the Vega, or plain of Grenada, accompanied by a hundred knights, and after a courteous salutation to the king offered to contend in single combat with the noblest and bravest of the Saracens, that he might thus contribute by a feat of arms to the pleasures of the day, upheld in these combats the honour of the Castilians ; and, indeed, his poetical bravery was a fit subject for romance.

In a war which was really national, the rivalry in glory was sufficient to keep alive the ardour of the combatants, while reciprocal esteem was the consequence of the length of the contest. But Garcilaso de la Vega, Mendoza and their compeers, were perfect strangers to the French, the Italians, and the Germans, against whom they marched. The army of which they formed a part, had already begun to delight in blood, in order that they might supply, by the excitement of ferocity, the absence of national interest.

APPENDIX. 403

When, therefore, they left the field of battle, they attempted to forget the fierce and cruel feelings which they blushed to acknowledge, and they cautiously abstain- ed from introducing them into their poems.

The effeminate languor, and the luxurious enjoyment of life and lore, which peculiarly characterise the Spanish poetry of this age, are discoverable in an equal degree in the Latin and Greek poets who wrote after the extinction of their national liberties. Propertius and Tibullus, as well as Theocritus, sometimes indulge in a degree of languor and tenderness, which often approaches to insipidity. They appear proud of exhibiting their effeminacy, as if for the purpose of demonstrating that they have voluntarily adopted it ; and that they have not yielded to it from the influence of fear. The enervated poetry of the Spanish classics was, perhaps, suggested to them by similar motives, and by their desire to preserve the dignity of their character ; but for this very reason the Castilian poetry of the reign of Charles V. was of a transitory nature, and at the highest pitch of its reputation the symp- toms of its approaching decay might be distinctly seen.

That inventive spirit, that love of the marvellous, and that active curiosity which had, in the preceding century, produced so many romances to celebrate the heroes of Spain, and so many chivalrous tales, in imitation of the Amadis, to astonish the imagination by superhuman exploits, suddenly deserted all the Spanish authors. The art of conceiving new characters, of endowing them with sentiments, of placing them immediately before our eyes, and of giving reality to imaginary incidents, was not yet discovered, for the drama had not hitherto been intro- duced. The reign of Charles V. was rich in great poets, but a sameness is observable in them all, Their object D D 2

404 APPENDIX.

was merely to express, in harmonious numbers, the most noble and delicate feelings of the soul. The taste for pastoral poetry, which was adopted by all of them, added still more to this uniformity ; for not only did it induce them to confine the action of their poems within stricter bounds, and to indulge only in sentiment, but it even made them reject all sentiment not conformable to the pastoral character. The poets of Spain during the reign of Charles V. are therefore very indifferently known, even to those be^t acquainted with the literature of that country. They leave an impression on the mind of an harmonious kind of misery, of an extreme delicacy of sentiment, and of a languid and intoxicating softness, but the thoughts to which they give rise frequently fade from the memory, like the strains of sweet music, which leave no traces on the ear. When once the sounds have ceased, and the charm is fled, we in vain attempt to recall them. It would be a difficult task to convey an idea of these lyric poets in a few desultory translations.

Amongst the lyrical poets of the age of Charles V. there still remain two to be mentioned, whom the people of Castile regard as classical, Herrera and Ponce de Leon. Upon these writers we must not consume much time. Ferdinand de Herrera, who received the surname of The Divine, and who has been placed at the head of the lyrical poets of Spain, more from party spirit than from any just appreciation of his merits, passed his life in obscurity. All that is known of him is that he was born at Seville, about the year 1500; and that after having very fully experienced the power of love, he entered into the church at an advanced age, and died about 1578. Herrera was a poet of vigorous talents, and full of ardour to launch into u new career, in contempt of the critics of the age;

API'K.NDIX. 40j

but the new style of composition which he was so desirous of introducing into Spanish poetry, was modelled in his own mind on a predetermined plan. His expressions are never suggested by his feelings, and in the midst of his greatest beauties we cannot avoid observing the artifice of the poet. His language is extraordinary, and its attempt at elevation renders it often affected. Hefrera thought the poetical diction of the Spaniards, even in their best attempts, much too common-place; it appeared to him to resemble prose too nearly, and to be far beneath the dignity of classical poetry. With these ideas he attempted to compose a new language. He separated according to his own conception the noble from the ignoble words ; he changed the signification of some to suit them to poetical purposes ; he used repetitions which seemed to him to give additional energy ; he introduced transpositions more analogous to the genius of the Latin language than to his own ; and he even coined several new words, either by the union of other Spanish words, or by adoption from the Latin. These innovations were considered by the party who patronised Herrera, as forming the perfection of true poetry, while at the present day they are rather an object of reproach to him. The real dignity of his language, the harmony of his verse, and the elevation of his ideas, must, however, be acknowledged. Ilerrera is the most truly lyrical poet of Spain, as Chiabrera is of Italy ; his flight is completely Pindaric, and he soars to the loftiest heights. Perhaps to a genius so rapid and so impetuous as his, the ancient form of the ode, with its short and regular measure, would have been better fitted than the long stanzas of the Italian canzoni which he has adopted, and which are more suited to rounded, harmonious, and somewhat effeminate periods. Amongst the canzoni of

406 APPENDIX.

Herrera, those which were composed on the battle of Lepan to must be placed in the first rank. This battle was not only the most glorious victory which the Spanish arms had achieved during that century, but while it promised the most happy consequences in securing the stability of the mo- narchy at home, and the permanency of its Italian posses- sions, it fully gratified the religious enthusiasm of thenation. Herrera himself was animated by this feeling, and, for once, his poetry is the expression of his real sentiments. It breathes a confidence in the protection of the God of armies ; a pride in the triumph over such redoubtable enemies, and a hatred of those enemies, as poetical as it is unchristian. The language, which is occasionally bor- rowed from the Old Testament, gives majesty to the verse :

THE DAY OF LEPANTO.

Tyrant most haughty, and most confident

In thy vast armament of hostile sails,

Sweeping the seas for captive nations, led

In slavery's triumph, red

With the dark crimes in Heaven's dread vengeance sent,

'Gainst thy Briarean arm what force avails ?

From the high mountain tops the cedars bowed

And kissed the ocean-depths, as proud

To cleave the waters of each distant sea,

And hear thy flag where'er man's voice was free.

Trembled the mighty, while the feeble borne

On that fierce flood, beheld thee raise elate

Thine impious front against the Lord of Hosts ;

An d with strange arrogant boasts

And steel-armed hand that made the nations mourn,

Trampled in reckless pride each Christian state,

Till the Hesperian star thy rapt gaze caught

Which shone on nations by Heaven's pure light taught,

And envious of thy war-seer's fame

Thou bad'st thy myriad hosts to work our perfect shame.

" Shall they, not yield ? the lands our fathers won, Once humbly crouching 'neatli the Crescent's pride ?"

APPENDIX. 407

In impious rage the king of tyrants spoke, — " Bright Greece — wild Hungary feels our yoke. Anil Rhodes with fierce Dalmatia in one chain allied : Their Christian race is run ! —

Austrian and German mourn their vanquished pride ; Their God deserts them — and mj* wrath hegun, Shall spread o'er Europe's prostrate-spirit wide '." Hark that loud battle-peal ! whose is the day of pride ?

An ode of Herrera, to Sleep, possesses a very different kind of merit, grace of language, a pastoral talent, and great delicacy of composition. Though all these may escape in the translation, the truth of the sentiments must, at all events, remain.

STANZAS ADDRESSED TO SLEEP.

Sweet Sleep, that through the starry path of night

With dewy poppies crown'd, pursues! thy flight ;

Stiller of human woes !

That shedd'st o'er nature's breast a soft repose ;

Oh ! to these distant climates of the west

Thy slowly wandering pinions turn ;

And with thy influence blest,

Bathe these love-burthened eyes that ever burn

And find no moment's rest ;

While my unceasing grief

Refuses all relief !

Oh hear my prayer, I ask it by thy love,

Whom Juno gave thee in the realms above.

Sweet power, that dost impart

Gentle oblivion to the suffering heart,

Beloved Sleep! thou only canst bestow

A solace for my woe.

Thrice happy be the hour

My weary limbs shall feel thy sovereign power.

Why to these eyes alone deny

The calm thou pour'st on nature's boundless reign ?

Why let thy votary all neglected die,

Nor yield a respite to a lover's pain ?

And must I ask thy balmy aid in vain ?

Hear, gentle power, oh hear my humble prayer,

And let my soul thy heavenly banquet share.

408 APPENDIX.

In this extreme of grief I own thy might ;

Descend and shed thy healing dew ;

Descend and put to flight

The intruding dawn, that with her garish light

My sorrows would renew.

Thou hear'st my sad lament, and in my face

My many griefs may'st trace!

Turn then, sweet wanderer of the night, and spread

Thy wings around my head ;

Haste, for the unwelcome morn

Is now on her return !

Let the soft rest the hours of night denied,

Be by thy lenient hand supplied.

Fresh from my summer bowers,

A crown of soothing flowers,

Such as thou lov'st, the fairest and the best, —

I offer thee ; — won by their odours sweet

The enamoured air shall greet

Thy advent ; on these let thy hand

Express their essence bland,

And o'er my ej-e-lids pour delicious rest.

Enchanting power ! soft as the breath of spring

Be the light gale that steers thy dewy wing,

Come ere the sun ascends the purple east.

Come end my woes; so crowned with heavenly charms

May fair Pasithea take thee to her arms.

Luis Ponce de Leon is the last of the great poets who rendered illustrious the reign of Charles V., and who shed such splendour upon that new epoch of Spanish lite- rature. Differing from those whom we have hitherto noticed, his inspiration is entirely of a religious cast. Indeed, his whole life was consecrated to piety. He was born at Granada in 1527, of one of the most illustrious families of Spain, and manifested in his early youth that religious enthusiasm and disposition to retirement, which rendered him indifferent to fame and to worldly pleasures. His heart, which was mild and tender, was never a prey to the dark fanaticism of the monks ; moral and religious

APPENDIX. 409

contemplations formed his only delight, without inducing a contempt for others, or a spirit of persecution. At six- teen years of age he entered into the order of St. Augus- tin at Salamanca, and applied himself with ardour to theological studies, in which his writings gained him considerable reputation. Poetry was to him a relaxation, while the exquisite sensibility to harmony which nature had bestowed upon him, and his fine imagination, were exercised by the study of the classics, and of Hebrew poetry. He was cruelly punished for having made a translation of the Song of Solomon. Not that he was supposed to have sought for improper images in that mys- tical composition, or to have attempted to present in a worldly light the amours of the King of Jerusalem, which he regarded as purely allegorical, but because the Inquisi- tion had prohibited in the strictest manner the translation of any portion of the Bible, without special permission. Ponce de Leon confided his version, under an injunction of secresy, t> a single friend, who indiscreetly showed it to others.

The author was in consequence denounced to the Holy Office, and immediately put into prison, where he passed five years, separated from human society, and deprived of light. Even in this situation he experienced, in the purity of his conscience, and in the strength of his reli- gious principles, that serenity and repose which innocence alone can confer. He was ultimately restored to his dig- nities, and re-established in his monastery. His talents raised him to the rank of Vicar-General of the province of Salamanca, which he continued to fill until the period of his death, in 1591.

No Spaniard, it is said, ever expressed in poetry the intimate sentiments of the heart with a more happy mix- E E

410 APPENDIX.

ture of elegance and of sensibility. He is, without excep- tion, the most correct of all the Spanish writers, and yet the poetical form which his thoughts assumed was with him only a matter of secondary consideration. The clas- sical simplicity and dignity of expression, for which the ancient authors, and more especially Horace, whose works he had deeply studied, are remarkable, were the objects of his emulation. His resemblance, however, to Horace was the result of too deep a feeling ever to give him the ap- pearance of an imitator. In his versification, he substi- tuted a short rhymed measure for the long stanzas of the canzoni, and by that means also he approached more nearly to the poetry of the ancients. But, whilst the com- positions of Horace generally breathe only the Epicurean philosophy, those of Ponce tie Leon unfold the love of God in mystical verse, and the whole world of moral and religious feelings. The sentiments adopted by Ponce de Leon are so very different from our own, and we have such an imperfect comprehension of religious ecstacies and allegories, that we are unable perfectly to appreciate the merit which is attributed to him. There are three books of Ponce de Leon's works. The first contains his original compositions ; the second, his translations from the classics ; the third, his translations from the Psalms, and of the book of Job. In these versions his object has been to make the ancients speak as they would have spoken, had they lived at his time, and had their language been the Castilian. Pursuing this principle, he was more properly an imitator than a copyist, and has only given an imper- fect idea of the ancient authors. His example was gene- rally followed ; and all the translations from the ancients into Spanish verse are executed upon the same principle. These, then, are the celebrated men who, during the reign

APPENDIX. 411

of Charles V.,gave a new character to Castilian poetry. A few others, though of minor reputation, deserve to be mentioned. Fernando d'Acuna made an elegant transla- tion of some portions of Ovid, and has been celebrated for the grace and feeling which he has displayed in his elegies, his sonnets, and his canzoni. Gutiere de Cetina was the first happy imitator of Anacreon in the Spanish language. Pedro de Padilla, a knight of St. James, was the rival of Garcilaso in pastoral poetry ; and Caspar Gil Polo continued the romance of Montemayor, under the name of Diana Enamorada, with so much talent that the continuation has been regarded as superior to the work itself, in the brilliancy and polish of the versification.

Although this was the period at which Ariosto had at- tained the height of his fame, and Italy was inundated with chivalric epics in imitation of the Orlando Furioso, Spain, which still respected and paid serious homage to the spirit of chivalry, never encouraged an imitation of a style so fashionable in the country which she had taken as her model. Ariosto had only been translated into careless and fatiguing prose ; and under this disguise his poem became a mere romance of chivalry. No Castilian poet would have suffered himself to adopt the half jocular tone of the original. There were, during the reign of Charles V. many attempts amongst the Spaniards to pro- duce an epic poem, but they all failed. These were the compositions of the King's flatterers, and Charles was invariably their hero. Thus they have a Carlos Famoso, by Louis Zapata ; Carlos Vitorioso, by Jerome de Urrea, and a Carolea, by Jerome Samper, all which are now, as they deserve to be, forgotten.

On the other hand, a man of considerable talents, D. Christoval de Castillejo, devoting himself to the ancient

412 APPENDIX.

style of Spanish poetry, gave the preference to the redon- dilhas, or verses composed of four trochees, over the Italian models. He had travelled to Vienna with Charles V., and in that city he remained as Secretary of State to Ferdinand I. His verses exhibit spirit, grace, and ease, together with no small share of humour. But, notwithstanding the enthusiastic admiration which those who are attached to the early literature of Spain express for him, he cannot be classed amongst the poets who are celebrated for their creative genius. Disgusted with the world, he retired in his old age to Spain, where he died in a monastery, in 1596.*

* Literature of the South of Europe, by M. Sismondi, vol. iii., pp. 270—320.

THE END.

LONDON : BRADBtTRY ASH EVANS, PRINTERS, WHITKFRIARS.

UCS/B LIBRARY

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