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SPAIN AND THE SrANlARDS.

N. L. THIEBLIN.

" AZAMAT-BATUK."

IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. L

LON DON : HUK8T AND liLACKETT. ITl'.LlSll HRS,

13, QRE.VT M.VHLBOROUOII STRKKT. 1874.

All nyhti rtjerceU.

CONTENTS

THE FIRST VOLUME.

lll*rT>« PA(.K

I. BAYONNE AND BIARRITZ, WHERE Sl'AIN

BEGINS . . . • • 1

II. FIRST VISIT TO THE CARLIST CAMPS . M

III. DIGS, PATRIA, Y REY ''1

IV. DON CARLOS, HIS WIFE, AND HIS VIEWS . 107

V. FROM BAYONNE TO MADRID . 1-i

VI. THE FEDERALIST COUP D'eTAT 150

VII. THE COUNTESS OF MONTIJO ON SPANISH

MOB-RULE ..... 108 Vm. FEDERALIST ELECTIONS AND FEDEKAI.IST

FESTIVITIES .... l*5l

IX. ON THE TOP OF THE SILVER .MOUNTAIN . JU?

X. SANTA CRUZ ..... -•'>-

XI. FOREIGN CARLISTS .... -71

Xll. THE ARMY AND STAFF OF DON CARLOS . 2H2

Mil. SPANISH CLERICAL MATTERS :iO0

4 7;uGo

SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

CHAPTER I.

BAYOXXE AND BIARRITZ, WHERE SPAIN BEGINS.

IET US start a la Disnieli, witli a sentence of J nice, impiident, ])ln"enetic bluster, sonietliin<i' like this :—'• The tliunder gToaneil, the wind howU'd, the rain fill in hissin.i;' torrents, ini- penctrabh' darkness covered the earth."

Of conrse, in ^larch 1873 there was no honn fide thtnider to be p;ot in London ; bnt that does not matter, since everybody knows that in the case of I.xion no sort of thnnder groaned either. As to howliii^^ wind, torrential rain, and iiu- penetraido darkness, tinM-c is always jjlmty of that in this conntry. So the opening sentence will do very well.

Now just fancy a in;ui sitting in London.

VOL. 1. B

2 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

constantly chilly in-doors, tliorouglily wet when out of doors, and with nothing to divert him from the consciousness of his utter misery, except the prospect of reading or writing no end of rubbish about Mr. Lowe's budget, the boat race, and the tlien projected drive of Her Majesty through Victoria Park. I thought the position really unbearable, and was at my wit's end what to do with myself, when again, as in the case of Jxion, " a blue and forky flash darted a momentary light over the landscape;" or, speaking in plainer language, a friend knocked at my door and came to ask whether I should like to go to Spain, and if I could start the next day. I knew Spain already, liked it immensely, not to say loved it, and seized the proposal with both hands.*

The next evening at 8.45 I was off to Char- ing Cross, and within less tlian three days found myself amidst a blooming vegetation and under a bright blue sk}-, expanding itself over the favoured country like a gigantic dome of lapis Jazuli. And I felt towards London and England,

* The author has been sent out to Spain on behalf of the A'^ew York Herald, as the special correspondent of that journal, and returned after the close of tlie Carlist Summer campaign in October. The pages he now submits to the public contain but little of what has been already published in the Herald.

BAYONNE AND DIARRITZ. -^

as wc all often feel towards good old relations, that 1 liked them all the better at a certain distance.

Is there any need to describf^ the journey to the foot of the Pyrenees ? The night I left London was one of those nice nights everyone knows here. The Channel was perfectly raging, and the wind so violent as to tear ofl" with terrilie noise the roof of one of the railway carriages, and to cause some other " damage to property." The train was stopped, and our, until then mute comj)any began to make some conjectures as to what the noise and stoppage could njean. One of the travellers, an artillery olhcer, who had snored all the way from London, remarked in the most serious tone, " it's the Volunteer Artillery practising: they threw shells in that way all over the North of London the other day ;" and after this professional joke, which seemed to have satisfied everybody in every way, as dead a silence set in again in the carriage as if we were all attending a funeral ceremony.

At Dover throe steamers were supposed to start : the Belgian, running to ( )stend, said it could not leave before daybreak; the French mail steamer refused to go ul all ; while the captain

li 2

4 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

of the " Maid of Kent" simply advised the pas- sengers to take a stiff ghxss of brandy and soda to begin with, and then another to follow, as he had to detain them a little on account of the low tide. " The Calais harbour is a hell of a ])lace in heavy weather," w^e were informed, "and more sea was required to land in anything like safety." In a few hours this " more sea" turned up, and all those who were not going on a mere ]:)leasure trip, were on board. AVe remained at the mercy of the furious element nearly all night, were all the time mercilessly tossed about, but still reached Calais long before the captain of the French mail had made up his mhid to leave Dover harbour-

Of course, one could not possibly pass Paris without stopping there at least for a few hours — say only to see the " Fille de Madame Angot," of which everybody spoke then, and which everybody sings now. A few hours more must also be spent at Bordeaux, to sip with a friend a bottle of the sort of wine which never reaches London, and only after that can one conveniently all'ord to be hurried oif to the sad and dis- |j artening Landes. Should you ever have to go to l^ayonne, take my advice, don't go that way unless you are in a great hurry. Find out rather

BAYOXNE AND BIARRITZ. 0

some stuainor iit Bordeaux, for there is hardly any corner in France ^vhich leaves a more i)ainliil impression than the Landes. The North about Lille anil the l>(.'li;ian frontier is not picturesque, but at all events you see a sort of manufacturing^ animation there ; while in the country south of liordeaux the eye meets nothing but pine forests, patches of sand, and greyish-looking helds, som*.-- times without a trace of any other vegetation than fern. Miles and miles are passed without the sight of a hill or a living being, except an occasional cow wringing her mehxncholy bull, or a grunting pig rushing out of a ditch on the approach of the train. Now and then, you come across a lot of horses let loose; their shaggy coat, their awkward, shy sort of look, make you forget that you are south of the French vine- yards—y(tu believe yourself in the steppes of Russia. Of human beings, you see literally no- thing, except when the train stops at the station ; and only by-and-by, when vaguely dis- cerning on the distant horizon the blue clouded chain of the I'yivnees, do you feel relieved from the seediness that oppressed you, and begin to believe that you will really have something better to see presently.

The fresh smiling vales and hills around I'or-

6 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

deaiix, the sprightly, enervating activity of the city itself, make you feel the sadness of the Landes still stronger ; and when you reach Bayonne, you wonder by what sort of misunder- standing or forgetfulness Nature allowed the large plot of land between the Gironde and the Adour to remain in that rough and unfinished condition.

Bayonne gains immensely if you enter it by the river. The bar of the Adour is in itself quite a sight for the stranger. First of all, it cannot be always passed ; and that is already something. \'ery frequently ships have to remain several days outside, waiting till a favourable tide turns up. The sea may be like a mirror, but on the bar itself there is always a havoc ; while, when the sea is rough, the mouth of the Adour assumes the aspect of some infernal caldron. A man fresh to the sea would never believe any vessel could pass through it. The white boiling waves dash up high in the air, with all the rage and cries of a thousand infuriated witches. Caught by one of these waves, the ship is immediately pitched up and down in such a way that no efforts will make anybody or anything on board remain in its place. Every fresh wave coming from behind looks as if it would wash oflf funnel, paddle-

BAYONNE AN'D BIARRITZ. (

boxes and cwrvthiii;^^ else; yet tlie steamer boiiiuls iij) a,i,Miii, and in three or lour minutes slips quietly down on the smooth surface of thu river. J>ut one can only get a chance to enjoy this si^i^ht when the naval bulletins posted on the wall of the ('ustom House at Bayonne announce: " Passage de la barre praticable." ^^'lu■Il they declaie it "dinicile," nobody makes even an attempt to cross it ; and it is quite a common thing to see English and Spanish crews knocking about at Bayonne, sometimes for a week, without being able to get out into the gulf.

Last Spring when the general lliglit from Madrid had set in, and the Northern railway was cut, there remained no other road to France but that via Santander or Bilbao, and thence on by steamer to l:{ayonne. I low many senoras had then to laiiit and cry on the mere ajiproach of that bar! Bui tin- Adour speedily rccomforted them. The large and handsome river, with its rich vegetation on either side, reminded them of their own Rio Nervion and the entrance to the capital oi' Biscaya. The sight heri> is even much more grand, for, though I']nglish mining industry and connnercial activity have rendered the ap- proaches to liilbao much more animated, the approaches to Bayonne are more i)icturesque, tlie

8 SPAIN AXD THE SPANIARDS.

river is larger, and the groves and woods bordering it are incomparaLly more beautiful and profuse.

It is not an exaggeration to say that Spain begins at Bayonne and Biarritz. It is here that you first see mantillas going to church ; that you read sign- boards written in French and Spanish ; that you hear the Castilian tongue— and often the purest. During the Summer months you meet certainly more Spanish than French faces at Bayonne, and in the AlUes Marines, the beautiful promenade along the river, you are first puzzled by the bullocks dragging the carts, being, in the Spanish fashion, dressed in a kind of linen dressing-gowns and having elaborate red nets on their heads. Lifting up their wet nostrils, they look at you as if anxious to ascertain whether you are a countryman of theirs ; but the driver soon makes them feel, by the use of his long stick and his swearing, that a countryman is at all events close at hand. In the market-place and in the leading street you meet very frequently nudes with their heavily loaded alforjas ; and the genuine muleteers, dressed in their picturesque costumes, leave you in no doubt of your being in close

BAYONXE AND BIARRITZ. »

vicinity to the luiid of I>()ii Quixi.fe. 'IMi.- huge liiiiKhiii; which loclges the Mimicipul ('i)iincil, the M;iiiie, the theatre, the Custom House, and iv good n)iiiiy other tilings, has hirge arcades through the basement, quite in tlic Spanish style, and one of the streets of Bayonne consists almost entirely of arcades.

On the whole, Bayonne woidd be a ])leasaiit- hioking town if it were not for a very mournful, since immemorable times, unfinished cathedral, and some very ugly looking old fortifications. The Vauban bastions outside the town, being covered Avith grass, do not much olb'iid the eye, but the old castle and the citadel have a ruined and mouldy look which affects the aspect of ihe town very unfavourably. Ik'ing a place forle de premiere clusse, I'ayonne garrisons a whole military division ami no rud of siege and fortress artillery, a circumstance which also adds very little to the j)leasantness of the town, except through the supply of some military bands, which play twice a week during the afternoon on the J*lace (I'Arnirs, and assciiil'le in that way the fashionable belles of IWanil/. as well as the in- digenous I'asquese girls. The former come to make a show of their toilettes in all imaginable carriages and pony chaises, while the latter walk

10 SPAIX AND THE SPANIARDS.

quaintly about, to let people have a look at their graceful bearing, and at their plain but coquettish head-gear.

What is here to be seen of England is most venerable, and to a certain extent even glorious. In the first place there is a vast number of invalid and elderl}' ladies and gentlemen, naturally suggesting the idea of usefully-spent lives, of over-work, of large fortunes made by business- like habits and all that sort of thing. Then there is the English cemetery, which contains the bodies of the officers and soldiers of the 2nd Life Guards who fell under the walls of Bayoune in 1814. Then again there is the little frontier town of Hendaye within a few miles of Bayonne — a town which was intimately connected with Great Britain through the strong brandy it produced. Opposite that place, on the left bank of the Bidassoa, lies the old picturesque Spanish town of Fuentarabia, close to which the Duke of Wellington crossed the fords, and surprised and defeated Marshal Soult. In a word, wherever one looks, one finds something to remind one of dear Old England. Almost throughout the whole of the Departement des Basses-Pyrenees one finds a immber of English families of limited means, who look pretty much as if tliey had settled down

BAYOXNK AND niAURITZ. 11

there, and some of tlicin, at IWanit/,. even don hit of business in iiddition to llicir livini:: ])k'iisaMtly, cheaply, and in a ^^ood climate. They take a house by the year, stdilct it durinj; the three months' season for the same rent they have to pay for twelve months, and retire meanwhile to places like Ascaiii, r>i''h(>liie, or ('aiiibi>, where provisions are at half the IWarritz season prices; while the loveliest walks, excellent lishing, and occa- sionally a good day's shooting can be had for nothing.

A serious objection against Bayonne could be raised by those who don't like dews. The town swarms with them. The whole trade of the place is in thuir hands, and that is the best proof of its being i)risk and profitable; though if you sj)eak to those worthies, you hear, as a matter ot course, nothing but complaints. On the other hand, a thing the severest critic could not find fault with, are the conveyance arrangements. Scarcely anywhere, except in very large cities and at very high jaiees, can one get such carriages, horses and i-lrL;aiitly dressfil postilions as at the I'oste in the Iviie du ( Jouvernement. The excellent four-in-hand coaches which start every half hour to and from liiarritz, carrying passengers at sixpence a head, a distance of

12 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

about five miles, are also something quite mi- known in a certaiu land where four-in-hands are in great fashion, but cheapness quite out of fashion. This elegance of Bayonne carriages explains itself, however, in the first place, by the rich English and, still more, the rich Spanish fiimilies spending no end of money in hiring them during the season ; and in the second, by the fact that Bayonne is chiefly a town of human transit. People come here, not to make a stay, but with a view to excursions, or else simply pass here, on their way to Biarritz, Spain, or the Pyrenean watering places. All of them want carriages, and in the height of the season only old customers can be sure to get one when wanted.

Bayonne was always the great Carlist centre, but during these last two years it has become so more than ever. Under the government of M. Thiers everything was done, if not to prevent, at all events to render the Carlist movement more difficult. The gendarmerie was reinforced by some men specially sent from Versailles. Troops were echelonned all along the frontier, and the greatest watchfulness seemed to be exer-

BAYOXXE AND BIARRITZ. 13

cisod ill ISayoiine itself. Spaiiianls wIki were uiiiilile to pruve their heiiig" leailiiig iiieiiibers of the Alphoiiso or Isabella luirty were, without (listiiietion of cither sex or age, arrested and interned by the dozen. All this, however, did not nnich alfect Carlism, for its ehief su])port in the Uasses Pyrenees conies not from the Spaniards, but iVoni the French landed pro- prietors, who, in that province;, are nearly all Legitimists, and from the mass of the population, who make a good deal of money out ofCarlism in every possible way : by smuggling arms across the fniiiticr, by the supply of horses, uniforms, and otln.'r war requisites, as well as through the general affluence of peojde this side of the Pyrcnean frontier — an inevitable result of all Carlist risings on the otlicr side of it. M. Thiers was too cautious to ])rovoke any strong feeling against himself on the i)art of the French Basques, and still more so on the part of the rich nobility of the Province ; but he did all he coidd in an underluuitl manner. Yet his best elbuis proved a failure. He was legally unable either to arrest or to interne the wealthy southern landlords, nor could he invade their houses for the pur- pose of searching them. (Consequently, though strangers of all nations were greatly molested by

14 SPAIN AXD THE SPANIARDS.

tlie gendarmes and the police, in the streets, on the high-roads, and in the hotels, Carlism pro- gressed all the same, for it was carried on much more within the quiet residences of the landed nobility and gentr}^ than anywhere else. Even the much persecuted Spaniards managed, some- how or other, to establish a regular Committee, which styled itself "La Real Junta Auxiliar de la Frontera," delivered passes, concluded contracts, etc., and was holding its sittings in a Spanish hotel in the principal street of Bayonne. Another Committee, consisting of Frenchmen, concealed its occupation still less than the Spaniards did,

and the leading member of it, M. J. D ,

probably one of the wealthiest men, and certainly one of the most amiable men, of Bayonne, proved always an invaluable aid both to those who wished to make a bit of Carlism, as well as to those who wished to study it a bit. Tlie most

curious thing, however, is that M. J. D (I

do not give his name lest it should bring upon him some police inquiry), as far as Spanish legitimacy and Popery are concerned, is cer- tainly not more of a Carlist than the most red-hot contributor to the " Repuhlique Francaise" or the " Rappeir He is all day joking, sneering, and sometimes even swearing at Carlism and

BAYONNr. AN1> BIARRITZ. 15

Carlists, cspociiiUy at tlii." Iraders of the party,— yet he works all day for tliciii. I often wondered wliat could he his iiiduccmeiit, and came to the conclusion that he is doing so simply hecause his family did so formerly, and because he wants to have some occujiatioii. lie is CarlismiMi,^ in the same way as nu'ii are I'ouiid sporting or hunting, without feeling any interest in horse ortield ; or as others buy pictures, without having the slightest taste for art. And 1 have reason to believe that there are a good many men like him iu the Carlist camp, even amongst the Spanianls themselves, more especially among the young generation of Carlists.

When arrived at Bayonne, I was soon brought into contact with some of the leading rej)resentatives of these Committees, and, as my duties implied, trieil to ascertain in what way the Carlists had managed U) organize themselves, and where they got money and arms iroiu. I knew that there had been a Committee in London, and another in Paris; but the London (Jonnnittee did not send out any money at all, while the Paris (.'ommittee collected only a little over a thousand pounds, which could not go a long way. From all that 1 have learned subsequently, it appears that the present Carlist luovenjent Ik^'MH with al>out .iJl, 000 which 1 »on

16 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

Carlos' father-in-law supplied to the young pre- tender. If, at the outset, the nobility and the population of the south of France had not helped Don Carlos as they did, he would not have had any chance at all of arriving where he now is. It was the FrenchLegitimists who served him as volunteer ministers, benevolent contractors, and hospitable hosts. A few instances will show by what practical contrivances they managed to help him.

Some 3,000 uniforms of the Mobiles, a souvenir of the Franco-German war, were — for example — to be sold at Bordeaux, and at once a gentleman was instructed to buy them; while a couple of landed proprietors of Bayonne stored them until a party of reliable contrabandists could be secured to smuggle the stock across the frontier. In a few weeks, six or seven battalions of the Carlist army, did not, except through their Boi/na (Basque cap,) differ in any way, in their outward ap- pearance, from the mohlots the Prussians used to capture and slaughter so freely. Another similar affair took place at Bayonne itself. The Muni- cipality possessed there another souvenir of the last war, in the shape of a stock of some ten thousand cartridge-pouches and sword-belts. One of the councillors, a gentleman of a Carlist turn of mind, suggested that time had arrived to realize the

BAYONXE A\D lUARRITZ. 17

juililic inoiH'y so unprofitultly iiivrstcil, and jiro- |ioscil that tlu> stock sliould lie sold by aiictiun ; hutanotiier moinber, of a iiiore Rcpultlican sluulc, opposed the motion as likely to serve the in- surgents of a country which was on friendly terms with France. A rather sharp discussion ensued, without apparently leading to any result. But the Carlists found out a leather merchant from so distant a province as Burgundy, and caused him to write and make a private offer to the ]\Iunici- jtality, and the whole stock was sold for about a franc per complete accoutrement. As a matter of course, neither the pouches nor the belts went to I'urgundy, but were sent directly to Navarre, Gui- I)iizcoa, and Biscaya, where they have been doing- some capital service upto the present day. Per- haps a still belter illustration of the manner in which I>on Carlos was served by his faithful and ingenious allies, is furnished by the supply of two camions which I happened to see myself first stored in a little chateau near Biarritz, and subse- quently in lull operation on the Carlist battle- li'l'U. 1 shall have even to tell, by-aiiil-by, how 1 was compelled to smuggle one of these lannons. At present, however, it will be enough to say that two brass four-pounders, cast at a foundry near Nantes, were, it seems, declared to Vol. I. C

18 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

be defective on inspection, and doomed to be turned into metal again. Of course that was but a manoeuvre for getting them out of the French Government's hands. In a few days they were packed, and a French priest booked them at the railway-station to some village close by Bayonne, as marble statues of a Virgin and some saint for his church. He travelled all the way himself with the awkward luggage, and recom- mended every raihvay guard to be most careful in dealing with his cases, containing, according to his story, very fine works of art.

In this and similar ways the whole of the existing Carlist army was organised at the outset, and what we have since heard of the Deerhoimcrs and other large landings of arms, began only when Don Carlos became sufficiently master of the North of Spain to impose contributions and to raise little local so-called loans, so as to be able to send out money to England in larger quantities than he had had at his disposal some ten months previous.

During the present year, the department of the Basses Pyrenees turned more Spanish than ever, for in addition to swarms of Spanish Carlists, and to all those Spanish families who came every year on pleasure trips to the Pyrenees, everybody whose

BAYOXXE AXD niAIililTZ. ID

fiii;uu'i;il position permitted him to e.-icapc from plaees where tliere were disturbances — and dis- turbances were everywhere in tliat sad country — sought ref'u;j;e on the French C(Kvst of the Gulf of Biscaya. Consequently, every phice, down to the smallest village on that coast, was literally crammed with genuine blue-blooded cahallevos and senoras. Now it was only natural that in so large a number of representatives of one country there should be all imaginable varieties, gener.i, and species : Carlists, Alphonsists, Isabellists, Aniadeists, Serranists, Plsparterists, Cabrerists, and no end of other " ists," all conspiring, all gesticulating, all talking at the same time, tliough somewhat difTerent nonsense ; but almost all charming men, accompanied very often by still more charming women.

Bayonne, being above all anxious to make money, did not catch any particular co- lour from these rej)resentatives of the various Spanish parties, though Carlism was predomin- ant in it. Still, next door to a Spanish hotel I'rom top to bottom filletl with Carlists, stands the "lintel du Commerce," as a ruh; just as much crowded with Ali)honsists. Biarritz, on the other hand, was almost thoroughly Alphonsist; Carlists were there to be met with only in the way of

C 2

20 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

exception ; and during the height of the season you could see on the celebrated plage almost every member of the endless cabinets which have governed, or rather misgoverned, Spain from the time of Isabella the " Innocent's " mar- riage.

The fashionable Imperialist watering-place differs greatly from anything that the traveller meets on his approaching the Spanish frontier. The little town, or more correctly the little village, is built on an exceedingly ugly spot, without al- most any vestige of gardens or shady grove. It is evidently a place predestined to serve as a re- sort for people rather fonder of parasols than of leafy canopies. The houses are small and irre- gularly-shaped, without any reference either to the comfortable or the picturesque ; and the few large mansions which have been erected by Napoleon and some of his counsellors and friends are cal- culated only to exhibit still more strongly the general ugliness of the place. The largest build- ing in that way, the Villa Eugenie, looks more like a reformatory or some cavalry barracks than like a villa. One wonders now what could have ever induced the late Emperor to select this spot for

BAYONXE AND BURRITZ. 21

(.■mbellisliinont, except that it was near Spain — which he had all reasons fur dislikinj]^— and that it offered excellent sea-bathing, wliicli he seldom if ever indulged in. Sitting on the shore, and looking at what Napoleon contrived to call into existence at I'iarritz, one feels more than ever inclined to give a sad smile at the memory of the Empire. What a vast amount of money spent to create a summer residence for the Empress " when she becomes a widow " (and not able to live in France) ! What an amount of artifice conceived in preparing friendly arm-in-arm walks with Bismarck, during which, under the softening influence of the blue sea and the blue mountains, the fate of Europe was supposed to be decided, though in reality nothing was decided, except the catastrophe to the creator of Biarritz and the nation which paid for this creation !

All this, however, does not prevent Biarritz from being an excellent place to take a sea-bath, for the two establishments ofTer every imaginable comfort in that way, and thf beach in front of the Casino is of a description which can hardly be found anywhere else, tiie bottom of the sea being as smooth as the best polished marble, and the rollers all that can be wished for. The coast itself is also capable of affording no end of

22 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

enjoyment to people endowed with a little taste for the picturesque. Seldom do you find a place where, within the same limited space, the waves break in so great variety of beautiful modes. On one spot you see them rolling softly, harmoniously, as though kissing the shore, and whispering to it sweet words of love ; while close b}^ they dash furiousl}^ like so man}^ gigantic white-robed mad women. Here they break abruptly against a cliff, and are thrown back in silver spray ; there they quietly spread themselves in a rich carpet, whiter than snow itself.

The Spanish coast is seen from Biarritz to the best advantage, the sharp lines of the mountains being all softened down, and the perpetual play of light and shade, and the variety of colour, giving the whole picture quite a fairy touch. If Biarritz had not been transformed into a countr}'' branch of "the vast cafe-restaurant called Paris" it would certainly have soon become a favourite resort of true lovers of good bathing and fine sea- side views. But it is a place at which you should never avert your eye from the sea. As soon as you cast your glance across the landscape, you are at once oppressed with the utter dreariness of the scene; the town itself is unbearable, and the neighbouring country as near an approach to the

BAYOXNE AND BIARRITZ. 23

Landes as can he foniid in the wliol? of that uthtTwisf ]»i('tuivs()iR' t-onior of France.

The vcai-ly invasion ul" distiniruislied foreiirnors and of Paris fashionables has also fijiven quite a pecnliar character to the ]io|)nlation of Biarritz. Men and beasts, women and children, seem all to look (lilVi'reiit from what they are in otlu-r i)arts of the Basses Pyrenees. The national ]')as(]ne costume is almost ,i2:iven up, as is also tlie Basque lanj^uage. The nndeteer, though a thorough Spaniard, <loes not look any longer a genuine one, for he is mixiMJ up here with sham Turks, sham Arabs, and sham every tiling else, as if it were in a masquerade. Instead of working all the year round, the poj)ulation works only three months, the main feature of their work being that of cheating everybody in every way. and to an extent which secures them a most comfortable livelihood during the remaining nine months. As long as the Emi)ire lasted, there was at least the guarantee of fashionable, if not always re- spectable, society olVi-red to the rich travidler by the excessive jirices oi" living; while at present even this advantage is gone, and the (Jasino of Biarritz, in which Imrrnrtit is now to be carried on all the year roiuid, will prnbahly soon trans- form Biarritz into about the worst place of that

24 SPAIN xVND THE SPANIARDS.

sort in the whole of Europe. It has been still somewhat kept np this ye-dv by the presence of the bulk of the Alphonsists, who, as a rule, are wealthy and rather strict in their manners and customs — at least in their public manners and customs. But when the cosas de Esjiana get settled some day, English ladies, who are not particulary fond of meeting on intimate terms third-rate Paris cocottes, and not very fair Greeks (Spanish, and Italian gamblers, would perhaps do better to give up going to Biarritz, unless of course it be on an occasional spree. The author is by no means a purist — far from that, and for his own part enjoyed Biarritz on this visit as much as ever. But writing as he does for the English public, whose views he knows well, and having undertaken to give here the result of his obser- vations, he may as well state frankly what he has observed.

St.-Jean-de-Luz seems to be a rising little place just now, and has a pretty fair chance of success, provided the jetty, in course of construc- tion, be some day completed, the crabbed sea brought under some sort of control, and the beach in that way somewhat improved. As it is at

BAYOXXE AND niAKUITZ. 23

present, St.-.Iean-de-Lnz is a (luiet little sea-side town of cheai) livings not very comfortable bathing, and very limited resources, 'i'lic i'jiulisli resi- dents have, iiowever, managed somehow or other to establish a chapel and a little library. P^very English new comer is invited to take advantage of the latter, u])un tiie understanding that, when he leaves St.-.lean. he will bestow upon the im- provised establishment all such books of his as he may not -want, or as might cause an overweight in his luggage. In this homely way, a library of some two thousand volumes has been got up Avithin a very few years; and being under the superintendence of a resident clergyman, nothing, as a matter of course, is left to be desired in the way of the moral value of the books, though per- haps quite as nnich cannot be said with refer- ence to their intellectual worth.

To the student of uien and manners, St.-Jean- de-Luz oft'ers a good many attractions, for, al- though there still exists a large number of liastpie villages in France, there is no really Hasque town except St,-.Ieaii-de-Lu/.. Everything is here as of old, the piety, the virtue of the jteople, their quaint sharpness, their tongue, their costume, the agility of their movements, down even to their blue berets and while afjmnjutas (hempen sandals),

26 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

and to the unbearable cries of their female street- hawkers. You feel at once you are far from the northern regions, Avhere a man has to think of his dear fuel, his dear provisions, and the high rent he pays for his shelter. Of fuel the Basque requires next to none ; the food is cheap, and he means it to be good too ; as to the shelter, although he has always a good one, he does not concern himself much about it, as his whole life is passed outside the house, in the street, the field, and on the high road, His ancestors, who were always fighting, but never conquered, had all been ennobled by the Princes to whom they swore allegiance, and the Basque has consequently'' up to our times preserved a kind of pride Avhich gives boldness to his look, and makes him talk to you on terms of perfect equality.

In the majority of cases it is perfectly im- material to him what tongue he talks — Basque, Spanish, or French ; he knows them all equally well, though he immensely prefers his harsh- sounding native language. At the first glance you throw at the Basque peasant, you perceive by his quick and agile walk, his cleanly cotton cos- tume, and his loud harsh voice that the man has not crept out of some black underground hole. The brownish hard features of his face, quite

BAYON'XE AND BIARRITZ. 27

open under tlie bcivt, tell of u life passed under cheerful sun rays ; and the bright though some- what dreamy expression of his eyes seems to be full of praise of the beauties of the sea and moun- tain scenery, which they have ever contemplated. You cannot intimidate a man of this sort, for neither the majesty of the nature surrounding him, nor the violence of the enemy, has ever done 60 for ccntin-ies and centuries past. He is all blood and passion ; and if you oll'end him, he dashes at you at once, however mighty or powerful you may be. When the Basque left his native place at the foot of the mountains and went to mix with the population nurth and east of him, he lost by-and-by his national (-haracter, and in the Beam and in the Landes you meet beggars on every step, while you find none in the so-called Labourd and the Soule. However didl St.-.Iean- de-Luz may seem to a stranger, the Basque won't give it up on any consideration. The usurping sea tried to get it from him, and was actually swallowing up the town, but— « Gascon Gascon et (Ifini — till.' l»as(pics stojtpcd it, and an- now managing to raise their decaying capital to its former state of prosperity.

The liasque lilies even the gipsies he has so long harboured at considerable danger to him.self,

28 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

for it is probably thanks to gipsies that the in- habitants of St.-Jean-de-Luz were formerly accused of witchcraft and burned alive en masse. He made even these gipsies work as steadily as he does himself; at least if the male gipsies do not still work much, the females do. Known inider the name of cascarottes, they are all engaged in the fish trade, and from six o'clock in the morning the whole town is re- sounding with the piercing, unbearable cries of " Sardinas ! Sardi-i-nas /" Formerly, when the railway from Bayonne was not completed, the most valiant cascarottes used to start at five o'clock in the morning to Bayonne, some thirteen miles distant, and returning by noon were off again at two p.m., and back at sunset, running thus— for they never walk, they trot — bare- footed, something over fifty miles a day ; and in the evening, after the completion of their laborious task, they were dancing on the beach of St.-Jean. This dancing is another quite original affair here. The cascarottes dance almost the same fandango as the Basques, but they dance it without music, to the singing and the clapping of hands of the spectators. The more regular Basque fandango can, however, be always seen on Sundays, either at the special squares arranged in every village

BAYOXXE AND DIAHRITZ. 29

for tlie pelota (Jen dc pnunw), or at St.-.TcaM, in front of the bathing estiihlisliincnt. The orchestra consists, as a nile. of a bail violin and still worse horn. Two bij; empty casks with two planks on them, two old chairs on these planks, and two bad musicians upon the chairs, are deemed sullicient to enliven the dance. The sounds they get out of thi'ir instruments are something horrible; nevertheless, you can sit for hours looking at the graceful movements of both men and women. Perpetual wars have developed in the Bascjue a taste for bodily exercise, and bodily exercise has produced agility and gracefulness. Every one knows what fierce and invincible fiixhtins material was at all times found in these more or less direct descendants of the Iberian tribes which, as traditions report, used, when besieged and reiliiced to the extremity of hunger, to eat their wives and children, salting such parts of the llesh as they could not consume in a fresh con- dition. The Roman soldiers who went out to fight the V^iscons were sure never to return ; and the Moors, alter having compiered the whole of the Peninsula, could never cross the limits of the 8o-calleil Uascpie provinces of Spain, the popula- tion of which is absolutely the same as on this side of the Tyrenees. The only dilVerence between

30 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

the French and the Spanish Basques is that the former looks much more civilised, much more tamed down, a circumstance which may be, perhaps, accounted for on the principle of that process to which M. Michelet alludes, when he sa3^s that the people of France are a nation of barbarians civilised by conscription. The Spanish Basque, who never knew what conscription was, and always fought for his privilege of not being compelled to fight, remains in a state of compara- tive savagery when put into juxtaposition with the peasant from the Basses Pyrenees. Yet, if the improved Vascon has all the merits wdiicb can be wished for in a citizen of an orderly community ; if he is steady, hard-working, and intelligent; if his religious and moral character is irreproach- able— woe nevertheless to those who are dependent upon him ; he will suck the last drop of blood out of them ; and there is no greater misery to be seen in France than where the small Basque capitalist comes into contact with the labourer of a neighbouring and poorer county.

Yet the Basque is good-natured, kind, and rather poetical in his aspirations. The Basque literature, which is almost all manuscript, or even oral, as preserved in the national ballads, is said to be rich, and to have many charms in its way.

BAYONXE A\I> niARIUTZ, 31

I give hero ii wrsc of a jxijuilar song, which may at least sshow how the huigiiage looks in |iriiil. and a French translation to it, Idtrrowcd from a local writer, as 1 have never been able to catch, luyseli", a single word of Basque except "'Urre,' or " Urra," which means, I think, water.

TfliorriltoiiJi, iiDurat lioua, Hi liegiilt'z, airiuii ? Espngnalnt jouaiteko, Klliurra duk bortian : Algiirreki joiiaiiongutuk Ellmrra liourtzcn deuiaii.

Petit oiseau, blanche nacelle, Qui fait en I'air voguer son ailc, D'Espagne gagnes-tu lea moats ? Dans les ports que I'liivor assiege, Laisse, crois-moi, fonilre la neigo : Ensemble nous les passerons.

Although ncighbonrs, as a ride, seldom live on friendly terms, the Basijues manage to keep quite as profound a peace on the Spanish frontier as that which reigns on the l)iitch-l>elgian. An explanation of this may be found in the fact that it is not actually Frenchmen and Spaniaids who meet on that frontier, but the Bascjues of France ami the Basques of Spain ; and as all the Bascpies of 8pain are Carlisls, they turned the French

32 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

Basques into Carlists too. At all events, the personal support which Carlism obtains in the frontier villages is quite as efficient as the mate- rial support which its leaders receive at Bayonne. Ever}^ Carlist that has, for some reason or other, to enter France, is sure to find a safe and hos- pitable home ; and the cure Santa Cruz has lived at St.-Jean-de-Luz for months and months, both before entering Spain and after having fled thence, and though the police and the gendarmes were daily and nightly on foot to discover him, they had never any chance of success.

As with every other place on the shores of the Gulf of Biscaya, St.-Jean-de-Luz was full of Spaniards this year, but the Carlists who were predominant among them were not of that pure royalist type which distinguished Bayonne. They belonged here to the Cabrera faction, and fo- mented in the quiet town of St.-Jean a good deal of the dissension which occurred in the Campo del Honor. The Carlists actually working in the field do not, however, take particular notice of what the Carlists residing in France are doing. They speak of those French residents as of gen- tlenjen engaged in the peaceful and harmless process of rascar la barriga, a not sufficiently proper sort of occupation to be denominated

BAYOXXE AND BIARRITZ. 33

ill Kiiglisli. for it means to nil) one's belly. Xevortheless, some of these ra.u-ar la harrifja uentleiiu'ii are men of means, and mii^lit have been well turned to account by Don Carlos if he had been an individual capable of better man- ai^'ement of his partizans. Since the advent of Marshal MacMahon. they certainly might have been all put to work, as they were no longer molested in France, ami the iini)ortation of arms and other war material had been greatly f<icilitated by a new decree, which practically abolished one of the custom-house lines.

There exist in the south of France two lines of custom-house: the first runs through Bayonne, along the St)uthern railroad ; the other along the iVontier itself. A decree of M. Thiers, of March last, prohibited the transfer of arms and war material beyond the first of those lines, so that anything that the Carlists wished to bring into Spain could be stopped at Bayonne, and all along the road from Bayonne to the frontier. 'I'he chances of such materials being caj)tured were thus greatly increased. But with the ad- vent of Marshal MacMahon, the French Legiti- mists in Paris managed somehow or other to have that decree annulled, so that arms and war material can be brought now close to the frontier

VOL. I. D

34 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

without interruption by anyone ; and as there is nothing more easy than to snniggie them during the night through the endless mountain and forest paths, it is clear that all those who wish to support the Spanish Pretender can find useful and even profitable employment. But of course the gentlemen residing at Bayonne and St.-Jean- de-Luz do not intend serving Carlism in such menial positions. Everyone of them wants to be a general, and as Don Carlos has already more generals than he can possibly afford to keep, or to furnish either with a command or even with a horse, several hundred well known partizaus of Spanish legitimacy are now from morning till night engaged in congregating on the Promenade of St.-Jean-de-Luz, spreading false news " from the best sources," and carrying on that silly sort of talk which is so characteristic of voluntary political exiles.

I begin to think, however, that we ought to pro- gress more speedily towards those mountains. We touch already La Rhune, the first Pyrenean heiglit in this part of the country, and the only one which Paris excursionists attempt to ascend, when anxious to have a look at the Spanish terri- tory. But we have to go much farther than they go, and though in Spain things se em-

BAYOXXE AND BIARRITZ. 'M)

pit'Cdii tanle. y sc iwdJinn nunca (are commenced late and finished never), in this business-like country the Stame princij)le "wonUl not answer." So let us get rid of Biarritz, 13ayonne, and the Basques, and proceed at once to the sad hut (•harming land tras los monies.

D 2

36

CHAPTER 11.

FIRST VISIT TO THE CARLIST CAMPS.

ALONG with other newspaper correspondents, I made too sad experiences during the hist French war to think of starting once more in an expedition of that sort as a mere amateur or spectator. The unhicky journalists who, like myself, followed the French army, had constantly to submit to insults, imprison- ment, and to the threat of being shot as spies by one or the other of the contending parties. I had, therefore, quite made up my mind that this time I should have all the safe-conducts and credentials necessary to prove my right to be amongst the gallant warriors, whether Republican or Carlists. Accordingly, not satisfied with having several letters from the London Carlist Committee, I called, on my way through Paris, upon Count d'Algara, Marquis de Vei'gara, the Carlist repre-

FIRST VISIT TO THE CARLIST CA:MrS. 37

sentativL' in tliat city. Like a great many others of the old Carlists, who were compelled to k-ave Spain after the Seven Years war, Count d'Algara had to take to trade as a means of subsistence, and ho has still somewhere in the Rue Lafayette, 1 believe, an olhce where he is known as Senor Something-very-plain, commission merchant. But at the Rue l^lanche he is Monsieur le Comte, and a very amiable count too. When I had submittal to him the object of my visit, he at once agreed to give me all the necessary introductions, and began to explain his views on Spanish affairs and Carlism, with an evident intention of duly pre- paring me ibr the work I was about to enter upon.

First of all he was anxious to point out to me that the Paris and London Committees were two different bodies, acting quite independently of each other; the London Committee being more concerned with money and armaments, while the Paris Committee had charge of the diplomatic part of the business. " But, of course, we don't neglect money matters either," said the Count. and showed me the subscription list which the Committee had just started, and which within the first day reached the sinu of twenty-two thousand francs, both French and Spanish royalist

38 SPAIN AND THE SPANIAKDS.

families figuring on it for various amounts. The number of subscribers did not exceed fifty when I saw the list, and among the names there were hardly half a dozen without some sort of title ; but, on the other hand, there were several marquises and viscounts who put themselves down ibr as little as twenty francs. Count d'Algara said the subscription in London was much more important, but added that the Carlists had never troubled themselves much, about money during all the long time they had been defending the sacred cause of their King. As far as I can remember, this is about what the Count tried then to make me understand.

"Money is with us of much less importance than people would be disposed to think ; and as a man's wealth is much better estimated by his expenditure than his income, so is ours too. A man can be rich with six thousand francs, and poor with six hundred thousand francs, accord- ing to his establishment and style of living. When I had the honour to take actual part in the war of our King, and that was long ago, I had, in addition to my ration of bread and bacon, something like sixty francs as three months' salary, and even this was always in arrears by several months. And I was then a major. Since

FIRST ^^SIT TO THE CARLIST CA^rPS. 30

tlii'ii our cause lias never been abandoned, though it was often considered as l»(;iiit^ a desperate one, and money has ci'rtaiidy not been flowing in. Oin- soldiers have the moral satisfaction of their work, and they often come to enlist themselves in onr ranks qnite armed, having bought a gun out of the jiroecL'ds of the sale of a watch or clothes. All that is published here about the Carlist extor- tions and requisitions is calumny. We do nothing of the sort ; and it is madness to believe that our troops would have been so welcomed and sup- ported, had they behaved themselves as they are reported to do. The Aijence Jlavaa is paid by the Republic, and was formerly in the hands of the usurpers of the Spanish throne ; and all the false news is spread through the telegrams of that agency. l^ut now, since the whole North is already in the power of King Charles VII., a re- gular telegrajihic and postal service is about to be established with Europe, and everybody will have the opportunity of getting correct informa- tion, instead of infamous lies about women being shot and peasants bastinadoed to death."

I then asked the Count whether really the wdiole North could be considered as being in possession of the Carlists.

*• Most certainly," he replied, " wo have now

40 SPAIN AXD THE SPANIARDS.

eight provinces in our possession, and onr strategy is to occupy as soon as possible the line of the Ehro. In that way our flanks will be secured by the two Oceans, and the King will at once esta- blish a regular gOA^ernraent in the whole portion of the Peninsula north of the river. His Ma- jesty must have crossed the fi'ontier at the present moment. His military staff, as well as his Cabinet, is already formed around him, and his appearance among the loyal people of Cata- lonia, Navarre, and the Basque Provinces will have results to astonish the whole of Europe."

I soon perceived that the Count's statements had a strong odour of double extrait of Franco- Spanish flowers of rhetoric and inaccuracy, but the enthusiasm evinced by him Avas apparently so sincere, that I had not the courage to wind up the conversation, but rather encouraged it, b}' asking the Count at what strength he estimated the total Carlist forces.

" In the North we have not much more than twenty thousand; but there are at least ten thou- sand more scattered over Spain, and in some in- stances in places from which no news of them has yet come. As soon, however, as the King appears in the country, the number of his followers is sure to be tlu'ee or four times as great. No

FIRST VISIT TO THE CARLIST CAMPS. 41

clonht a (•onsidcral'Ic jjortioii ol" tliciii will have Diily a laDcc or a ruvolvcM' for a weapon; but our Hag ami our laitli will do uiore than all tlir Rem- ington ami J>i'nlan rifles of the Kei>ul)lic. Y(»u must not lorget that the cotnitry will supply us with everything, while the Rej)ublic must pay and bribe everywhere, and they have not got more money than we have. 'J'he proceeds of the Rio Tinto mines, sold to an English firm, have been sjtent to the last penny, and a new loan of five millions has been made under the mortgage of the Porto Rico mines. That will last them exactly five days."

As I pointed out to him some little inaccuracy in this statement, he turned the conversation to what he called his own, the political field, and exclaimed : " Has any iMiropean nation, except Switzerland, whiih is no Power, acknowledged the Republic? You must not think the fact of the Euro- pean (Jovernments not having done so to be with- out significance. They are all equally interested in the re-establishment of the monarchy in Spain, and will eertaiidy take the first o]»itortunity for helping it. The legitimist movement in l*'ran<'e is now in fidl swing. England, (lerinany, and Russia are getting more monarchical than ever, under the in- fluence of the dread which the international has

42 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

spread throughout the orderly classes of those countries. And even Victor Emmanuel, though a revolutionary king, is exerting his best efforts to rank himself among the legitimate representa- tives of royalty. So, vous voyez cCici, what Europe is to be in a few years, and no one can entertain any doubt as to the success of monarchy in Spain, where the mass of the people are more devoted to the cause of their religion and their legitimate sovereign than in any other country."

"America only — oh! I am very sorry for America," exclaimed the Count. " She has made a great mistake in having so hurriedly recognised the Republic. The American Government was utterly misinformed as to the real state of affairs in Spain, and I am surprised that a country carrying on such a large trade with, and having such considerable interests engaged in Spain, should have taken so hasty a step. Look what a position the United States Government has been placed in with reference to our country. They were friends of Christina, friends of Isabella, friends of Prim, friends of Serrano, admirers of Amadeo; they are now the only supporters of men like Figueras and Castelar, and all that within a very short time indeed. Such an atti- tude towards Spain will hardly be approved by

FIRST VISIT TO THE C.VRLIST CAMPS, 43

any impartial jii(l,^i', ami will, in the long run, certainly nut improve' the relations of the two countries."

Apprehending that this lecture on the political resurrection of the world might tire the Count and take too much of the limited time I had to spend in Paris, I delicately pointed to the amial)le lecturer the original ])urposc of my call uj>on him, and the necessity I was j)laced in to leave in a few hours for Bayoinie. lie took up the hint most kindly, sat down to a heautifidly carved ancient oak writing-table, and within a very few minutes supplied me with several letters to all sorts of Excelentisimos Sei'wres. And after having, in the evening, duly digested the distinguished gentleman's eloquent argumentation to the tune of Madame Angot's daughter :

C n'etait pus la peine, assureiiient, De clianger dc gouveriiemoiit,

I whistled merrily oil' to JJordeatix.

Never would I have thought on leaving London that I shoidd have to take to smuggling, and bo transformed into a mysterious Spanish contra- bandista. Yet such was the case. To be able

44 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

to get on a sure footinp; among the partisans of Charles VIL, I wanted to see, first of all, General Elio, and get from him the necessar_y permission and safe-conduct. But the General being in the mountains, I had to depend upon Carlist repre- sentatives at Bayonne for finding out his where- abouts. One of them, a most accomplished gen- tleman, said he would do everything in his power, provided I would not object to going somewhat out of the usual way of travelling, and would for a few hours submit to certain restrictions of my free-will. It was impossible to go straight by the high road to the frontier, for M. Thiers' gendarmes and soldiers, posted at all the frontier custom-houses, had strict instructions to let no one pass into such portions of Spain as were occupied by the Carlists. Those who wished to go to the Peninsula had to go either via Irun, the only frontier town still in Republican hands, or to take a steamer at Marseilles to Barcelona, or at Bayonne to San Sebastian, Bilbao, or San- tander. But, as I have already said, it was only in theory, not in actual practice, that com- munication with Carlist territory was cut off, for both arms and men did cross the frontier, only they did not cross it by the high roads, on which watch was kept.

FIRST VISIT TO THE CARLIST CA:sIPS. 45

Tlieiv arc two railway lines from France to Si)ain : the one runs nd Bayounc, the other via Perpipian. Between these two lines, on the whole lent^th of the Pyrcnean chain, are several roails, with post coaches, oUl-fashioned inns, little custom-houses, stupid dojumiers, most clever coiitrabojulistas, and all the rest of it. These roads are excellent and most picturesque, and the horses and mules of tiie locality think nothing of ei;;ht or even ten miles an hour, notwithstanding the road running all the time sharply up and down hill. It was on these roads that the close watch on Carlists had been established by M. Thiers. Every cart was searched, every carriage examined, every rider and pedestrian asked to give a full account of his intentions and his des- tination, liut right and left of everyone of these high roads are forest and mountain i>aths trodden out by shepherds and smugglers since times immemorial, and, as to their nund)er and directions, defying all calculation. A few of them arc comlortable enough for a clever mule to pass with its burden ; but no gi'mianne or douatiier, however sharp he may be, has ever vi'U- tin*ed to enter them c.k ojicio. He would be lost if he did not meet any smuggler to show him the way, and would be murdered if ho attempted to

46 SPAIN AXD THE SPANIARDS.

interfere with the man's avocation. These rocky, lonely tracks were now the leading thoroughfares of Carlism.

On the day fixed for my starting, at about five o'clock in the afternoon, an elegant carriage and pair drove to my hotel at Bayonne, and the waiter came to inform me that a gentleman was waiting for me. It was agreed beforehand that I should have nothing in the way of luggage except an umbrella, a plaid, and a pocket revolver, upon the carrying of which I insisted, and which proved perfectly useless. I took good care not to make my friend wait, and found him in the carriage, in company with something very similar to a coffin. It occupied the whole width of the front seat of the carriage, and was covered with a black cloth. Some passers-by began already to as- semble as we drove away, and my companion said that he was not sure that inquiries would not be made at his house as to whether any of his children had died. " If I had not to fetch you, I would have avoided the leading street," said he ; and on my inquiring what the coffin- like box contained, answered witli the heartiest laugh, " One of the two cannons you have seen

the other day at L 's country-house. But

duu't be uneasy about that. We shall get through

FIRST VISIT TO THE CAULIST CAMPS. 47

all right. Ik-sides, I told you you liud to siibuiit to my orders if you wished to pass." Of course, I answered I was not uneasy, thouj^li 1 li.id lull reason to feel that, if the French authorities caught us, we should have no end of police troubles, while the Spanish would bo almost jus- tified in shooting us at sight. But, somehow or other, as soon as we were out of the walls of I'ayonne. on the long and beautiful road of Don- charinea, I forgot all about the uncomfortable article we were carrying, and the purpose for which we carried it.

The weather had sjx'edily changed on that afternoon. Towards six o'clock (Ik- sky was (luite covered, and tcnvards eight so heavy a rain and so perfect a darkness set in that we both began to slumber. All at once the carriage stopj)ed, and a number of suspicious- looking j^ersons ajtpeared at both the doors. 1 was just about to ask my companion whether I should be permitted to get •• uneasy" now, when 1 heard, "Ah, here arc our men," and was asked to alight. I had .--I ill Mill made (lilt what we were ;d>iiul, when the ci)tlin-like box was taken out of the carriage and carried olV like a bundle of band)oos into an apparently (piite imi>racticable wood bordering the road. It wu.s done in the twinkling; of un

48 SPAIX AND THE SPAXIARDS.

eye, and the six men avIio carried away the heavy case looked, inider the light which the carriage lanterns threw upon them, like so many gigantic highwaymen of some sensational English novel.

" It is their business now to carry that piece across, and we have nothing nK)re to care about," said my friend. " A couple of miles more drive and we shall have a good supper and a first- rate guide, and I am only sorry that the night is so shockingly bad, else I am sure you would have enjoyed the trip."

About a mile this side of the Doncliarinea bridge, in the middle of which passes the actual frontier line between France and Spain, and on which any person fond of majestic positions can easily have the treat of trampling with one foot anarchical Spain, and with the other disreputable France, is a little village of the name of Ainhoue, the last French village on that road. The large village inn here, is kept by four exceedingly tall, ex- ceedingly dark, and exceedingly sharp sisters. The eldest, a spinster about 45, is the manageress of the concern, and should I ever know a man in want of a heroine for a romance, I shall send him to the auberge of Marie Osacar, to study that remarkable specimen of womankind. French, Spanish, and Basquese tongues are not only at

FIRST VISIT TO THE CARLIST CAMPS. 49

lier comniiiiul, but are each used with something of a chissical eh'gance. There is, besides, scareely iiuy patois in whicli she does not feel as eonifort- able as a fish in the water. On my expressing my astonishment at her versatility, she merely remarked that her line of business required it. And what this "line of business" is, would be by no means easy to describe in a word or two, as it is done when one speaks of commonplace human creatures. Besides being an inn-keeper, this worthy spinster is a money-lender, a political agent for Don Carlos, a police agent for thr French prefect, a ('ommission-merciiant, the head of a band of smugglers, and a perfect master of all the gendarmes, custom-house officers, and every other local authority, Sj)anish as well as French. ^Vh('n we arrived at her inn, she shook hands with my com})anion in a manner that showed that they were old and intimate friends. Some significant twinkles of the eye were ex- changeil, some unintelligible Basque sentences uttiicd in an undertone voice, and all seemed to have been settled immediately. An excellent rural suj)per was served to us, with a bottle ol Bordeaux wine of very fair cpiality, and as there were other people in the dining-room, we were ollicialiy informed by ihe amiable landlady. Vol. I. E

50 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

about ten o'clock, that our beds were ready. But that was simply a stroke of strategy calculated to make local customers retire, so as to enable her to put out the lights. The gendarmes were getting very particular, she said, and would not give up watching the house as long as they saw lights. So we had to lie down in bed for a while, and at about midnight she gently knocked at the door, informing us that " everything was ready." This " everything " consisted of a mj^sterious and by no means attractive in- dividual, wrapped in a nondescript rug, and armed with a heavy stick.

" Pray don't make the slightest noise, gentle- men," recommended the clever spinster. " Your very steps should not be heard, else the dogs are sure to raise an infernal barking all over the village, and you will at once have the gendarmes rushing at you. Don't open your umbrellas either, for the fall of rain upon them would certainly be heard."

Such and similar was the experienced female's advice, all of which we duly complied with, and passed the village as successfully as any escaping robber ever did. Our guide, in his soundless sandals, was, while marching ahead of us, no more audible than our shadow would have been, and

FIRST ^^SIT TO TIIE CARLIST CAJIPS. 51

we really did all that was in our power to imitate him, and began to breathe freely only when we were quite out of the village, and away from the high road.

It would be quite idle on my part to attempt to describe this pedestrian night tour. We were thoroughly wet in a few minutes, and had some seven miles to scramble over forest and mountain paths, in themselves probably very picturesque. But I saw nothing but darkness, and felt no- thing but rain and most slippery mud. Now and tlk-n our guide stopped and seemed to listen to something, but nothing was to be heard except the heavy fall of rain on the trees and the distant roll of mountain streams. It took us two monotonous and tirt-some hours to reach the actual frontier, and to bring ourselves out of the jurisdiction of the French gendarmes, and an- other hour's quite as fatiguing walk put us face to face with the lirst Carlist outpost.

Of course, there came the usual " Halt !" " Who are youf '' I will shoot you I" and similar exclamations, more or less justified by the pro- found darkness we were j)lunged in. By-and-by. however, everything was satisfactorily explained, uid we Wire escorted to the old deserted monastery of the lirst Spanish village, called

E 2

52 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

Urdax, where a couple of rooms were provisionally fitted up for General Elio, the actual commander- in-chief of the whole Carlist army, but nominally " the Minister of War and Head of the General Staff of His Majesty Charles VH., King of the Spains."

It was nearly four o'clock in the morning, and as one may easily imagine the old gentleman we wanted was sound asleep. But a Carlist colonel, quite as old as the general himself, a companion in arms of his in the Seven Years' War, and now his temporary aid-de-camp, said that he had orders to awaken El Excelentisimo Sefior General when- ever anyone arrived or any news was brought ; and with a tallow candle, without even a sub- stitute for a candle-stick, in his hand, he showed us the way to the general's bedroom. On an immense old-fashioned bed, with discoloured chintz curtains, was lying an old man with a full grey beard, and a coloured silk handkerchief tied on his head. There Avas not the slightest vestige of any military attribute in the room, and looking at the old man in his night garment, one would have taken him for a retired lawyer, retired medical man, retired tradesman— for any- thing retired, but never for a general in active service at the head of an incoherent mass of

FIRST ■^^SIT TO THE CARLIST CAMPS. 53

volunteers, bearing, to the common belief of the outside world, a very close similarity to brigands. The old gentleman gave me full leisure to examine him and his entourage^ for he did not take the slightest notice of me till he had put on his spectacles, lighted a cigar, and looked through a large bundle of letters which my companion had brought him. Now and then he put him a question, or asked him to read something he could not make out himself, and it was only when he had gone through the whole correspondence, that he asked my fellow-traveller who I was, and what he brought me for. I was then introduced, handed him my letters, and explained the object of ray visit.

" Oh, I shall be very glad," answered he, with the kindest smile, " to give you any information I can, and, if I were a quarter of a century younger, I should have at once got up and had a talk with you. But I am too old for that. Besides, I suppose you want something more tiian to have a mere talk. You want to see some- thing. So we will arrange things differently. Your friend will return to Bayonne, wiiile you had better stay here over night, and we shall see to-morrow what we have to do. Meanwiiile, I advise you both to dry your clothes, and to have

54 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

a glass of aguardiente with some hot water, if there is any to be had. That M-ill answer for punch." And thereupon the old pro tempo aid- de-camp was ordered to take care of us, the general wishing all of us huenas noches.

In the next room a stout old priest, in a rather greasy cassock and a little black cap, his house- keeper just as stout and greasy as himself, and wrapped in an old-fashioned shawl, and a couple of old Carlist officers, were already assembled. The news of the arrival of strangers had evidently spread amongst the inhabitants of the deserted cloister, and they all got up, anxious to hear whether there were any tioticias. Some chocolate, aguardiente, sugar, water, and cigarettes were in readiness on the table, and a bright w^ood fire was pleasantly crackling in the huge, ancient-looking firegrate. The reception was most friendly and homely. An apology was made for the absence of any fresh socks, but two pairs of new hempen sandals were brought forward, to enable us to get rid of our wet boots, and the cure insisted even upon our rubbing our feet with some salt and vinegar, as a cosa muy huena. And wdiile we were thus drying, cleaning, and restoring ourselves, all sorts of questions poured upon us like another shower. " Where was S. M. El Rey ?

FIRST yj^lT TO THE CARLIST CAMPS. 5)

"What was said in KiiroiH' .' Hid many jieopU* in France, P^ngland, and Aincrira turn inter ('arlists? AVcre there any iirins goin<; to he sent? Was any money forthcoming in snpport of tlie great causa ? Would Henri V. soon ascend the tiirone of France?" and so on. We Avere anxious to satisfy our liospitable hosts to the hest of our ability, but still more anxious to ascertain Avhether there was any chance of pro- curing a rideable beast for my companion and a bed for myself. The old housekeeper was the first to perceive our cravings, and, thanks to her, after about an hour and a half of gossip, I was lying in a hard but clean bed, and my friend carried off as far as the frontier by the old yet still sure- footed mule of the fat Seuoi' cura.

My bed was in tlie same room where we were drying ourselves. It was looking very unattract- ive when we came in, but as I noticed that the sheets and ])i How-cases were changed by the stout housekeeper, whilst our conversation was going on, I lie down in fidl confidence, and slept as sweetly as if I had been in some friend's country- house in Kent or Derbyshire. Early next morning — or rather in a couple of hours, for 1 went to bed after five A.M. — I was awakened by some noise in the room, and saw, mueli to my

56 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

astonishment, the old colonel busily engaged in instructing a muchacho, or volunteer lad, how, if not exactly to polish, at least to clean my boots. I jumped out of the bed as quickly as I could, and tried to persuade the colonel that there was no occasion for his taking any trouble of that sort; but my exhortation made the matter only worse, for he took the brush and boots out of the lad's hands and began violently to brush them himself. A regular struggle ensued between us, and though I managed finally to get the boots out of his possession, things did not much improve on that account ; for in a few minutes he appeared with a basin of water, wherewith I had to wash myself, and a little later with my coat, plaid, and umbrella perfectly dried and cleaned, and I learned also that the bed I had slept in was his bed. It was evident that he mistook me for some important person, and wishing to render himself generally useful, overdid the hospitality which one is always sure to meet on the part of the simple-minded country folk in Spain. That our colonel was very simple-minded indeed, will probably be clear without my pointing it out. He entered the ranks of the Carlists as simple volunteer in 1833, and rose to a colonelcy through sheer courage. He retired to his native village

FIRST VISIT TO THE CARLIST CAMPS. 57

when the war was over, and had now reappeared, again to take part in the struggle. His occupations at home were, prrhaps, of a nature which caused him to look at boot-cleaning as quite a pleasant sort of work for a change, since boots are a thing almost unknown in tlie liasque provinces, scarcely anything being used but hemi)en samlals. Still I must avow that the sight of a boot-cleaning colonel, when one first visits a foreign army, produces a rather queer impression. Yet I saw that man frequently afterwards, tried to study him, and never found in his nature anything but profound self-esteem, unlimited courage, and quite an un-Spanish sense of duty. Only, good gracious ! what a thick skull that old fellow had!

Scarcely had I time to dress, when the colonel appeared again, saying that El Excelentisimo Sefior General asked for nie. I went into the next room, and found the old gentleman seated at a table, answering the letters brought to him during the night. He was dressccl in juivate clothes, and a casual visitor, on seeing his vene- rable face and })eaceful spectacles, would have probably taken him for a medical man writ- ing prescri|)tions. Two little cuj)s of thick chocolate, with bits of dry toast, and two

58 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

glasses of water, were brought in by the old aid- de-camp, and the General invited me to take breakfast.

" I am glad you have arrived so timely," said he to me ; "I am going to have an inspection tour this morning, and, if you like, I can offer you a seat in a little carriage which they have provided for me. We may remain on the tour for several days, and may have sometimes hard fare, and perhaps hard lodging, certainly rain ; but that, I suppose, will not frighten you, else you would not have come here."

I thanked the General, and gladly accepted his invitation, but, being then fresh to Carlist work, wondered only how I should proceed on an expedition of several days, having not even a shirt or a tooth-brush with me. As he said, however, that he had some more letters to write, and that I had time to take a walk about the village, I thought I might get a chance of send- ing a note to Bayonne, and receive some of my things, if not the same day, at least at some future date,

Urdax is a miserable little village, situated in a kind of loophole, and within about a mile from the French frontier. It consists of scarcely a hundred houses, but the village must have

FIRST VISIT TO THE CARLIST CAMPS. .V.t

been a prosperous one formerly, for sonic of the houses are of a very substantial appearance, with coats of arms on the entrance-doors, and with everything to denote that the proprietors were enjoying a comfortable income. As a matter of course, the chief occupation of its inhabitants was smuggling. But, at the time I was at Urdax, no business of any sort was transacted, nor was tliere anyone to carry it on, the whole village being occupied by Carlist volunteers, only a few of whom were armed, the majority being all day long engaged in the village square either in being (h-illcd with sticks in theii' hands as substitutes for rifles, or else in playing ball. The upper floor of the deserted convent, in a room of which the General was lodged, served as barracks for those volunteers who could not find lodging elsewhere, while the basement, evi- dently containing formerly the monks' refectories and conversation-hall, was transferred into stables for the few horses and nndes which the Urdax force had in its [)ossession.

A\'h('n I came down into the square, I found the old colonel engaged in looking after an old four-wlieeler inscribed Servicio Particrdar, and which was probably a renniant of some postal establishment. Five mules were beinir iuirnessed

60 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

to it, and three volunteers were to form the General's guard on the journey. I wondered in what way the colonel meant to make them escort us, but I soon found that the problem was very plainly solved. One volunteer got on the box by the side of the driver, and two inside the carriage together with us, and when the General was ready with his letters, away we rattled with a cer- tain serious gaiety, for there is always some sort of pleasurable excitement in getting off, no matter under what circumstances. Our cheerfulness was, however, justified by the fact that the cannon which I and mj^ companion had left in the wood on the previous night, was now lying on the ground in the middle of the square, and some five hundred volunteers assembled around it were getting quite mad, crying Viva Carlos Setimo ! Viva El General Elio I Viva el cai'ion I and viva a good many things else. The six contra- bandistas got two hundred and fifty francs, plenty of wine, plenty of cheers, and started back with fresh instructions to be carried out on another point on the next day. " The cannon has not yet either a gun-carriage or any ammunition," said to me the General, " but still it is something that we have got this much. Don't they look happy, the chicos ! " (little ones) added he, with a smile

FIRST VISIT TO THE CARLIST CAMPS. 61

of satisfiiction, and leaving them in their martial exhilaration wo entered the carriage, the old boot- cleaning colonel, who did not go with us, pro- mising once more to forward my note to Bayonne, and thus giving me the prospect that, at least on my return to Urdax, I should get a clean shirt.

General Elio is the oldest leading member of the (jarlist party, and is, at the same time, re- garded as their ablest man. Constant personal intercourse during our joiuiicy, and the frequent opportunities I had subsequently both of seeing the General at work and of talking to him, entitle me to say that I found him to be a most accom- plished and able man — I was almost going to say a genius in his way — and, strange as it may sound, one of the most liberal Royalists I know either in France or Spain. He has lived many years an exile in France, Italy, and England, and has thus acquired a thorough knowledge of the institutions of those countries. It is iiu- iHjssible for anyone to look more like an old Fnglishuian than the General does, when travelling with his English passport, and with his umbrella, gaiters, ft-lt hat, and siniihir articles, nearly all marked with the names of London makers.

62 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

This old soldier began life under Ferdinand VII., as an officer of the Royal Guards. He was a colonel at the time of the death of that King (1833), and was among the first who formed the Carlist party upon the abrogation of the Salic law, by which abrogation Carlos V. was deprived of his rights to the inheritance of the throne of Spain after the death of his brother. During the war for the rights of the aspirant thus put aside — known in Carlist history as the Seven Years' AVar — Elio commanded a brigade, and driving now lip and down the hills of Navarre he con- stantly pointed to me villages and other places where there were combats in the old time, evi- dently regretting that he no longer possessed the physical vigour of forty years ago. In 1839, through the treacherous capitulation of Rafael Maroto, the Carlist struggle came to an end. Elio then went abroad with Charles V., and had but few opportunities to take any part in politics imtil 1860, when he joined Ortega's attempt to bring upon the throne Count de Montemolin (Charles VI), which was made at San Carlos de la Rapita, near Tortosa. Ortega was Governor- General of the Balearic Islands, and conceived the idea of raising the garrison under his com- mand in favour of Charles VI. He landed with

FIRST \1SIT TO THE CARLIST CAMP.

r,3

his adherents on the Catalonian coast, near Tor- tosa; but the attempt i)roved a failin-e, and both Ortega and Klio wore captured and condemned to be shot. During his long residence in France Elio had, however, formed many friendly relations in that country; his sister was married to the Count de Ikrraute, a wealthy l:in!l-i>r()i»rietor in the French Pyrenees, and there were, therefore, ])lenty of iniluential persons anxious to exert their best efforts to save the life of the General. ^Means were also taken to enlist the sympathies of the Empress Eugenie in his favour, and her mother, the Countess of Montijo, though by no means a partisan of the Carlists, lost no time in exerting all her influence in i\Iadrid, to save the life of one who both there and in Paris had gained the reputa- tion of being one of the most charming and amiable of men. These efforts proved so successful that Queen Isabella was ready to par(l("»n Elio on the condition that he should swear allegiance to her. liut when the decision of the Queen was announced to the General, \n\ said he would not purchase his life at the prici; of an oath which his honoin- pre- vented him from kcejjing, and Isabella seems to have found the answer so honourable that she ordered the innuediate release of Elio, but upon the condition of absolute banishment from Spain.

64 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

Ortega, however, who was the chief leader of the whole rising, and against whom O'Donnell had many personal grievances, was not allowed to escape, and had to pay with his life for the un- successful attempt he had made.

General Elio still remembered warmly the clemenc}^ of Isabella, and spoke of her as a much better woman and a much better Queen than Spaniards generally admit her to have been.

" She was ruined politically," he said, " by people like Louis Philippe, Montpensier, and Narvaez, and morally by Serrano. It is possible she would always have had a favorite ; that is question of temperament, and with her it was also a question of conjugal unhappiness; but in the hands of Serrano she became de- moralized to the heart's core. And this des- picable person had the effrontery not only to overthrow his mistress and his benefactress, but to sign a declaration in which it was stated that Spaniards were obliged to conceal from their •wives and daughters what was going on in the Koyal Palace."

Since the days of Ortega's attempt, the Gene- ral has had again nearly twelve years of exile to endure, and it is only now, when he is quite seventy years of age, that he has again the chance

FIRST VISIT TO THE CARLIST CAMPS. G5

of serving the cause he had— rightly or wrongly — once embraced and never since deserted. At the jiresent moment he is the leading spirit iA' Carlism, for nothing is done either by Dun Carlos, or by any of the Carlist leaders except under the advice — sometimes under the very j)eremptory orders of old Elio. The latest years of his exile the General spent almost wholly iu Florence and Paris, but his capacity of dis- guising himself as an old Englishman has not deserted him, and it is highly amusing to see with what a hearty laugh he speaks of the necessity of this masquerading. One day last Summer he had some important busi- ness to transact at Bayonne, and, notwith- standing his advanced age, he thought nothing of travelling on foot, at night, some eight miles of mountain paths in order to cross the frontier, and then of driving twenty miles to Bayonne, and walking all day long about the town under the eyes of all imaginable sub-prefects, gen- darmes, and detectives, by all of whom he was Very much " wanteil,"* for the ])urpose ot" being at once locked up in the eitatlel of some distant fortress. So little indeed does the CJeneral look like a military man, and so un-Si»anish are his appearance and manners, that, if we had not VOL. I. F

6Q SPAIX AND THE SPANIARDS.

been escorted on our journey by the three vohm- teers, we should certainly have been several times stopped by his own forces.

Later on, when I saw him in the field with Don Carlos, his civilian habits and manners had become quite proverbial on the Staff. He never wore either spurs, sabre, or any other military weapon or ornament. His costume consisted of a dark blue, rather long buttoned-up surtout, the few copper buttons of which were the only glittering or military-looking appendage about him. His red trousers, always very large ^.nd Avithout any vestige of riding straps, got so rucked up, when he was on horseback, as to show the very tops of his soft, heelless lialf- AVellington boots. His white national beret has not even the customary golden tassel on it. AVhen there were processions or other ceremonies at the time of the reception of Don Carlos in the various villages, and the General, much to his dislike, had'to be present, he had always to borrow froui some of his aid-dc-camps, sabre, scarf, tassel, and everything that was necessary to make him assume an official and military appearance.

Under the enemy's fire old Elio is in- imitable. The greater the danger the more he smokes ; and the more he smokes the more se-

FIRST VISIT TO THE CARLIST CAMPS. 07

renc lie becomes, quietly smiling as lie looks over his spectacles, aiul slowly and distinctly, without the slightest hurry or appearance of excitement, giviiiL;- his orders to the members of his start'. Invariably mounted on a little white pony, under which his legs would easily meet, he frequently exposes himself to quite an unneces- sary amount of danger, and when his attention is called to such a fact, he gives a soft, spnrless kick to his little beast, makes a demi-tour, and, as a rule, comes back to the same place again. By-and-by, as the Carlist war was progressing, the General received no end of applications from old friends who wished to send him thi-ir sons and nephews to be attached to his person ; and in this way he has around himself, and, much to his displeasure, an endless staff of officers, some of whom are not j)artictdarly fond of going too much inidiM' lire. It hajjpened several times that, out of something like twenty aid-de-camps and ordnance ollieers, the General, when under fire, had by his side but three or four men. Yet I never saw him ni.ikc any re]iroach to those who were absent. Without ever turning his eyes from the battle-lield he calls out the name ol" the olliccr to whom he wishes to give an order, and if he is not there, he calls another, and, should he not be

F 2

68 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

present, a third. If none answer, you are sure to liear " Juan !" which is the name of his son, in- variably to be found by his side, and who, with a cure of the name of Don Ramon, serving him as a private secretary, is, I believe, the only per- son initiated into the plans of the General.

This Don Ramon is also a most curious sort of individual. Sharp as a needle, indefatigable at work, and thoroughly conversant with all the details of Carlist military administration, he is certainly more fit to be a cahecilla than a priest. He rides on horseback quite as well as any Spanish cavalry officer, and if he is seldom visible in a cassock, he may, on the other hand, not unfrequently be seen officiating in the presence of Don Carlos and the whole staff in big top-boots and spurs, and despatching what is called a grand mass in the short time of twelve or fifteen minutes.

The military abilities of General Elio are, as far as I am able to judge, of a very high class, indeed. To do what he has done in less than six months, with the little means he had at his com- mand, is something incredible. Small bands of fifty miserably-armed men, which I saw in April, were transformed by the beginning of September into well-armed battalions, about eight hundred men stron"; each. Out of a nucleus of a few thou-

FIRST "VISIT TO THE CARLIST CAMPS. 09

saml men, scattered in small kinds over the country, something looking like an army of over thirty thonsaiid men was furmeil and under tin- orders of the General a few months later. Al- though there was not much discipline, in the strictest sense of the Avord, there was unlimited obedience to the orders of the leaders; and although there was very little regular drill, volunteers were somehow or other brought to pretty fairly under- stand what the orders of their commanders im- plied. But the mere organisation of the troops did not 80 much puzzle an observer, as the manner in which they were provided for. "When the raw fighting material was obtained, and arms for their use provided, it was not difficult to form batta- lions ; but to feed them, in a country which, though rich, was already affected by a protracted war, was a problem of a very (lilTerent sort. I believe that no partisan warfare has ever pre- sented facts like those which were to be seen amongst the Carlists. In Mexico, the celebrated flying squadron of Count de Clary, oidy almni fmir Imiidred strong, was not unfrequeiitly without food for several days, in a country incomparably more abundant in natural food products; while here a column of six, seven, and sometimes upwards of ten thousand men, marches out in

70 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

the morning without the General knowing where he will be compelled to spend the night, and yet his troops never miss their rations. How Elio managed his commissariat department is quite a puzzle to me. True, that the popula- tion of the country is very favourably disposed towards the Carlists ; but there still remains the emergency of a General who, intending to move towards a certain point, has ordered his supplies accordingly, and is suddenly compelled by circumstances to change his march to an opposite direction, and to trust to chance and good fortune to find the necessary provisions for his men.

II the Carlists experienced any difficulty at all it was only for cartridges, but that was not Elio's fault. The force was to be armed quickly and anyhow; consequently, it had rifles of all ima- ginable patterns, to which cartridges could not be made on the spot. Some occasional unpunc- tualities in the supply from abroad naturally arose too. Besides, after the entry of Don Carlos into Spain, the affluence of the volunteers became so great that, the Carlist chiefs not being disposed to allow the popular enthusiasm to cool down, all moneys had to be invested in the purchase of guns, and but little was thus left

FIRST VISIT TO THE CARLIST CAMPS. 71

for tlie pnrcliase of cartridges. There can be no doubt tliat, with ten or liflecn thousand men well jirovidc'd with auiniuniti<in, the Carlists would have made more })rogress than they made Avith thirty thousand men imperfectly appointed ; and if Elio had been quite independent of Don Carlos, he would probably not have allowed the fore(> to rise so speedily in numbers, and have employed the money collected in a different way. However, except on this point I have never seen any deficiency.

Though our little voyage was exclusively limited to the province of Navarre, it lasted for fully fivo days, for we had to stop in nearly every village where troops were to be inspected, the nnmicipal authorities conferred with, and all sorts of orders and instructions issued, which hindered a more speedy progress. But when the business was transacted, ami we were eitlu'r driving on the high road or quietly sitting at the fireside of our night's lodging, the General would now and then willingly talk on Carlism, as well as on the general state of Sjjanish afi'airs, and I nuist avow that I still remember with delight the hours I spent

72 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

with the old gentleman, and still imagine I hear the low and slow voice in which he gave vent to his thoughts and observations, always moderate, always intelligent, and always full of that quaint sort of scepticism which is all the more attrac- tive because the man himself is not conscious of it.

We spoke, of course, of all sorts of things, and it would be utterly impossible to reproduce here all the General said ; but some of his ideas and observations impressed me forcibly enough to admit of my reproducing them.

The organization of the Carlist forces was naturally the first subject touched upon, and as we had two lads sitting with us, the General, not wishing to initiate them into all the conversation, took care to speak in French, a language which he possesses in perfection.

" Some eager partisans," said he, " talk every- where of our having thirty thousand men at pre- sent. That is not correct. We shall undoubtedly have even more than that number, but by-and- by only, when we shall have arms. As far as the present number of properly armed men is concerned, I could not estimate it beyond ten thousand ; but I do not know it exactly. We do not keep, as you may easily imagine, any of

FIRST MSIT TO TIIF. CARLIST CAMPS. 73

tlioso lists, or registers, wliich are kejtt in r(-'>,MiIar, wi-ll organised armies, ami wliicli have been shown so often and so greatly to differ from the reality. We may perhaps begin to keep them some day, but I am not particularly anxious aliout that at present, and have no officers for carrying on that sort of business. Onv armament comes in the way that camion came last night: and nntil we have more money, and can afford to charter vessels, we shall have to limit our- selves to the expensive and risky procedure of smuggling. Smuggling is, however, not so very dinieult on the Fn-nch IVontifr, for the bordering population in both countries are smugglers by " birtii and education," as the J^nglish phrase goes. In addition to the natural proclivity of all borderers towards unrestricted libre echange, some special causes are at work here to produce more smuggling than would be apparently justifiable. There exists a considerable dilVerence in the duties levied in Spain and France on certain articles. Since the last war was concluded, and France has had to jiay a heavy iiidfninity, French duties have been raised, wiiile on the northern frontier of Si)ain, where they were lower, we gave instruc- tions to lowt-r them still at all points when^ the custom-houses are in Carlist possession, for

74 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

we do not make any secret that we want money, and I know that the lower the duties are, the more in the long run will they return. Conse- quently, many articles are now sent by foreign merchants to Spain by sea, or in transit across France, in which case they have nothing to pay in the latter country. On reaching Spanish soil, they pay the import duties either to the Repub- cans or to us, and then in a couple of days are smuggled back again into France. The differ- ences between the French and Spanish duties having existed since time immemorial, and having even formed part of the Spanish fiscal policy, it is quite natural that the frontier population in both countries should have made a regular pro- fession of smuggling. The same thing is, or was, though in a reverse form, going on about Gibral- tar, where the English were playing with re- ference to Spain the same trick W' e play here with reference to France. To prevent this traffic is almost utterly impossible, as long as the difference between the duties exists. Nothing short of a line of officers posted along the whole length of the frontier, and almost close enough to touch each other, could prevent this smuggling. The goods marked "transit" go into Spain by the high roads, and return to France by the innumer-

FIRST VISIT TO THE CARLIST CA^rPS, < i)

able mountain ]>atli.s, of wliicli you saw one wlieii you canic, and npon tlicse the French douanievH are hy no means disposed to enter. M. Thiers lias done all in his power to stop our movement, but without any success whatever. What he has stopped, is the ref::;ular intercourse between the two countries. From the Atlantic across to the Mediterranean all ordinary traffic between France and Spain has been paralyzed, yet you see that we pass freely, and when the weather is not so bad, even comfortably. However, M. Thiers gives us much trouble, and I am most anxiously waiting for the time when he will be overthrown ; I'or I suppose he has not much longer to rule France; and any change that may come will bo to our advantage, for French Conservatives are all Li'gitimists, and therefore all in our favour, while the Gambettists, should they come to power, would only exasperate the population in the South of France, and dispose it still more to help us."

The General's allusion to France turned the conversation to what was said abroad about Carlism, and the rrputatiou for cruelty, which had been gained by the Spanish Legitimists, caused the old gentleman to speak rather vehemently on that subject. He simjdy called " miserable lies" everything tiiat has

76 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

been said about the atrocities committed by the Carlists.

" Our policy," said he, " is just the reverse of this, and I have been already over and over again reproached by old Carlists for being too lenient towards the Republicans, and even to- wards spies. What we want is to attract people, not to frighten them. I have given strict orders that whenever prisoners are taken they should be disarmed and released, as we neither want to keep them, nor desire to shoot them. The more Republicans we release, the more will their ranks get demoralized. A man fights quite dif- ferently when he knows that, if captured, he will be executed. He prefers then to die on the battle-field, while now, by releasing prisoners, I induce them to fight less steadily and to sur- render more easily. What does it matter to me that the same man will appear three or four times in the ranks against my troops 1 The more times he appears, the more I am sure of his being a bad soldier."

These w^ords of the General often came to my memory subsequently, when I saw Carlists fight- ing, and when I witnessed, as in the case of Estella for instance, over six hundred prisoners disarmed and sent under escort to Pampelona, so

FIRST VISIT TO THE CARLLST CAMPS. 77

that the iiiriiriatcd Xavarrc pt-asaiits shoiiM not attack tla-iii on their journry. Ami the policy of, in tliis way, (lemoraliziiii^ the enoniy's ranks lias — wiiatever its moral merit may be — certainly been one of the most successful measures the General has adopted.

"Of course," continued he, coming to this subject over and over again, '* I cannot be an- swerable for occasional accidents which may occur now and then. A chief of a pai'tida rolante might capture sometimes a few militiamen {Migneletes) against whom the Carlists are par- ticularly angry because they are voluntary, not per force soldiers. Such men might be some- times killed, without or with the sanction of the commander of the band, but these things cannot be helped in war. Then again, where is justice when people speak of us being murderers and assassins when we shoot a spy, while the Re- publicans, when they torture and massacre men whom they suspect of Carlism, are sim])ly said to be using just measures of severity. My own brother, the \'icar of l'anij)el()na, has now been lor several months im[)risoh(iI in an underground cell of the citadel of that town, and as he is almost as old a man as myself, he is pretty sure to see his life's end there. Dorreguray's mother

78 SPAIX AND THE SPANIARDS.

and sister are also in prison at Santander, and when in the skirmishes any Carlists are taken prisoners, they are not only shot but their bodies are mutilated. People talk also about our en- listing men forcibly. Well, you will see yourself, if you remain here some time, that we have more men than we can possibly make use of. Why should we take men by force when we have not arms enough to give to those who come willingly ? All the miserable calumnies spread about us will cool down bj-and-by, I am perfectly sure of that. The}'' are remnants of the impressions left by the old Seven Years' War, which was really a very fierce one. Zumalacarregui would not, and could not, give quarter, and he achieved all his successes chiefly by inspiring the Christinos with terror. The Generals of Christina treated the Carlists in such a way that retaliation was a matter of absolute necessity. We had also, as you know, a foreign intervention upon our hands. The English Legion, the Portuguese Legion, and the so-called French Foreign Legion had been sent here to fight us, and we were com- pelled to have recourse to greater severity just to warn foreign adventurers not to come to this country. They had no business to interfere with ug. But as nowadays no interference is probable,

FIRST VISIT TO TIIE CARLIST CAMPS. 7'.)

or cvtm possible, for Frunc<3 has too much to do at lionic, while Eii<j;l;uitl is not a country likely to repeat twice the same stupidity — wc can alTord to be more lenient, and I mean that we shall be 80, so far as it depends upon myself.

" There are also one or two points more in which public opinion in Europe abuses us. One is our stopping the railway trallic in the North of Spain, and the other our alleged attacks U[)on, and rob- bery of, peaceful travellers. "With reference to the railway traffic, I can tell you I am constantly in negotiation with the same M. Pollack whom you have seen at Bayonne, and if we have not arrived yet at any result, it is not our fault. I told him over and over again, and urged him to use Pereira's influence, siuce he is the chief pro- prietor of the railway, for re-establishing the traffic u[>i)ii the condition that no troops or war material should be carried by rail. If Pereira and his agents cannot arrange that matter with the ^ladrid Governiuent, we, on our part, cannot i)ermit the enemy to turn against us the advantage which Would be drriveil from railway rouniiunieatiou. As to our attacking aud robbing j)eac«'fid tra- vellers, and especially wouien, Lliat is pure non- sense. 1 don't believe that any man, and cer- tainly no woman, 1ms ever been molested or

80 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

robbed, except by bandits, who may, on a lonely road, attack a travelling party and give them- selves out as Carlists, All I could do was to give orders to shoot off-hand every man who could be proved to have been guilty of anything of that sort. The cure Santa Cruz himself is now under sentence of death for having disobeyed the commander of his province, General Lizarraga. Several reports had been circulating that Santa Cruz's men, who formed at the outbreak of the war a very useful flying party, had lately com- mitted many acts of violence. How far this was correct, I have not yet been able to ascertain. I believe the reports to have been greatly exag- gerated. However, I directed Lizarraga to in- corporate Santa Cruz's men into his own force, and to put Santa Cruz himself under more strin- gent control. The cure refused to obey this order, and I have, without the slightest hesitation, confirmed Lizarraga's sentence, by which Santa Cruz is to be shot as soon as he is caught."

While we were thus talking about the now sadly celebrated cure, our carriage was driving close to Elizondo, and on the right hand side of the road, the General pointed out to me a little village high up in the mountains.

"Do you see those little houses'?' asked he;

FIRST VISIT TO TUE CARLIST CAMPS. 8 1

"Well, that village is called Lecaroz ; I iiarl often to stay tlii-re diirini:; the Seven Years' AVar. and for the fact of my having been there, and its in- habitants not having coniiniinicated to the Chris- tinos information of my whereabouts, and of the number of men and the quantity of arras I pos sessed, the whole of the village was ])urned to the ground; and the male population were ranged in a line, and every tenth man of them shot b}' !Mina. Now, we have never done anything of that sort That was the work of the Liberals, supported by the English, the Portuguese, and the French.""

Several times, also, did the conversation turn to- wards the present Pretender to the Spanish throne, and mentioning the severe criticisms passedon him. I asked the General how it was that Don Carlos did not put himself at the head of his troops.

"Ah!" said he, "we have had great trouble in keeping the King quiet, and preventing his rushing precii)itately across the frontier, as he did last year when we were defeated, and he had to retrace his steps. Should I bt; defeated or captured, or shonM the same events happen to Dorregary, you can j)erceive that matters would not be beyond remedy. But suppose either to happen to the King, what then ? And both defeat and capture are clearly possible to any of us, no

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82 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

better armed nor stronger than we now are. True, neither is very likoly with the disorganised enemy we have, but we must not trust our cause to unnecessary possibilities. It is true that the King's arrival here would greatly increase the movement in his favour; but an untimely en- thusiasm may waste the grandest opportunity. We should have the peasants by tens of thou- sands thronging to us and demanding arms. And as we have no arms to give them, discouragement would follow delay in such a matter, and our young fellows would go off to their homes dis- heartened and reluctant to rally to our colours again. All that we must avoid. No, no; in a few weeks more we shall have arms— arms, our great necessity! — and munitions of all kinds. There will be plenty of men whenever we make the signal, and then we will occupy what points we need ; and I will ask you to come and see us at w^ork."

On my expressing some curiosity as to what sort of person "the King" was. General Elio spoke, as nearly as T can remember, something to this purpose : —

" He is intelligent, very kind-hearted, and of undoubted personal courage, but I am unable to say whether he will be distinguished as a states-

FIRST VISIT TO THE CARLIST CAMPS. 83

man ; for this is a subjV'ct upon which a fair opinion can only he loniicd a posf.erio7'i, ami not otherwise; we must jiulge of it from the facts only. Many intelligent men have failed as states- men, while many persons of inferior intelligence have ])roved quite equal to the little statesmanship recpiired in a sovereign. Several countries, we know,'' added he, with his good-natured smile, *' could, I believe, supply illustrations of this."

I agreed with him, but remarked that he was not quite justified in referring to constitutional governments, when Don Carlos was commonly recognised as the representative of absolutist theories, and his answer was: —

'• You are greatly mistaken if yon think that the King ever dreamed of absolute power. He knows, and his counsellors know still better, that absolutism is impossible in our age. He under- stands also the bad policy of giving now-a-days any secular power to the clergy. The legitimate monarchy in Spain will not only rule with the advice of the Cortes, but will restore all the anci(.'nl franchises — ilw /iirros, as we call them — which have been violated in turn by all the pro- gressive parties. It will supjiort religion, of course, but will not go a step beyond what tin- religious feeling of the people requires in that

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84 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

respect. Our enemies say ice will overrun the country with monks and priests. This is simply nonsense. If any person is disposed to a monas- tic life, government, it seems to me, has as little business to oppose it as to encourage it. There is — or rather was— among our peasantry, and even among our educated classes, a religious fervour that may be deemed fanatical ; and if our monks were fanatics it was not because they were monks, but because they were Spaniards. If I should call a good Carlist in the next village, and tell him my- self that one of our detachments had been beaten somewhere, he would not believe me. He would answer that God would not permit Carlistas to be beaten. You cannot make such people less fana- tical or less religious by closing the monasteries, as the Progresistas did. A foolish and unjust measure like that could never have had any other consequence than what we see— that is, the in- crease of the very fanaticism it strove to stamp out. And, say what you may against the monks, if you studied the Basque provinces, where priests and monks have always been powerful, you would see much in their favour. There is not a single peasant in these provinces — man or woman — who does not write grammatically and in a clear hand the Basque language, and many write equally

FIRST ^^SIT TO THE CARLIST CAMPS. 85

well the Spanish language too. Their good health is the result of their morality. Not only are there no hei^^i^ars here, Imt distressing poverty is almost unknown. Much of this is due to the priesthood, and the remainder to what the priests help them to maintain — the ancient privileges of the Basque provinces and Navarre. We enjoyed here, up till Christina's time, perfect self-govern- ment, and never knew what conscription meant. Over and over again have I voted here as a land- lord of Navarre on a footing of perfect equality with the poorest of my farmers. You are sur- prised at the strength and courage of our young volunteers, some of whom, as you have seen, are scarcely sixteen years old. It is the result only of their pure lives and the absence of that source of ruin to the young men of other countries — the conscription, with its barrack life and all the vices of large cities. It is not amidst the fresh air and rocky soil of these mountains that people can ever get demoralised. Some of thuse lads have never been evt-n as far as l'ani]il()na or Viloria, ami all they know of the world at laru''' is wliat the cura and the muleteer tell them. 1 can assure you that every one who has lived here feels as certain as I do, that neither the intense religious feelings, nor loyalty to the ancient monarchical institutions,

8G SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

can ever be eradicated from the minds of the people in the Vasco-Navarre provinces, unless the very face of the country is changed, and these mountains are levelled to the ground. I believe that all the rest of Spain can be easily enough made monarchical, but never will the mountaineers be made republicans. And we have mountains and mountaineers everywhere over the Peninsula."

As a matter of course, a journalist representing an American paper could not leave the question of Cuba untouched, and I had naturally enough to bring the General on the subject.

" Well," replied he, " it is difficult to say any- thing positive on that subject at present. Slavery, of course, will be abolished, and a special con- stitution will be granted to the colony. But you are probably anxious to know whether the King could be induced to part with any portion of the Spanish dominion in the New World. To this I must say that no government could safely venture such a policy. Its declaration to that effect would be its own death-warrant. It would give effective ground to every element of opposition, for it would appear to balance meaner considerations against national feeling. My own opinion is — and I believe that, to a certain extent, this is also the King's opinion — that colonial policy is simply

FIRST \1SIT TO THE CARLIST CAMPS. 87

a consideration of debtor and creditor accounts. If a colony pays, keep it; if it is a loss and a burden, cut it adrift. The English colonial dis- integration party is rational. But the subject is entangled with sentiments of nationality and pride ; and yon see that even the English govern- ment, so strong and powerl'ul, dare not declare plainly the Colonial policy in which they seem to believe. IIow, then, can any Spanish govern- ment be asked to do so? If we could sell Cuba, we should, by a stroke of the pen, restore our national finances. But to make such a sale a most powerful hand is needed, and no hand can be powerful — and in Spain less than anywhere — unless it holds plenty of money. Thus there is a vicious circle: we could not sell Cuba, save in a condition that would make its sale superfluous. This is a vital topic with us. It will come up often, and we must only endeavour to prevent by all proper good-will and courtesy toward the American government the arising of any pretext for their occupying the island."

Though when we started the (Jeneral threatened me with the prospect of bad lodging and bad fare, we never saw either on the whole of our

88 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

journey. He was ever3^where received with open arms by the population, and either at the houses of the cures, or at those of some leading inha- bitant, comfortable meals were invariably waiting for us — so far comfortable, at least, as Spanish cooking allows. At the house of a rich proprietor at Elizondo, among others, we had a bottle of sherry, the taste of which I still remember, and which cannot be obtained anywhere except in those cathedral-like vaults called Bodegas, which arc the great attraction of every English traveller at Jerez.

At night we almost invariably returned to the little palacio of Bertiz, the property of General Elio's sister-in-law, wdiich is situated on the junc- tion of the San Estevan and Pamplona roads. The capital of Navarre was within a few miles of the place where we thus took our night's lodging, and half-a-dozen of German Uhlans would certainly have captured us there most easily. But, in the first place, there were no German Uhlans at Pamplona, and, in the second, the population around Bertiz would never have even inadvertently betrayed the temporary residence of the General.

" We are quite safe here," said the old gentle- man to me, on the first evening we went there to bed, " I have drawn some curtains on the

FIRST VISIT TO TIIE CARLIST CAMPS. 89

road from P;uii})luiia. Two little flying parties, nuiubering about tweiitv-fivL' men altogether, but commanded by two very old and experienced offi- cers, arc watching the road at a distance of a few miles from here, and should any suspicious move be made from Pamplona, they are sure to awake-u us in time. For the little risk run here we have the advantage of good beds, and of suppers without oil and garlic, which you seem to dislike so much."

And really our beds were excellent, and garlic and oil wi-re banished from the bill of fare, except in that kind cjf thick bread soup, which is quite a national supper dish in Spain, and which the old gentleman seemed to be exceedingly fond of. But it was quite easy for me to dispense with it, since the supper was always so copious and the vegetables so delicious, that the most voracious appetite might have been contented. Never in my life shall I forget the little artichokes, nut larger than a middle-sized fig, and melting in one's mouth, outer leaves, brush-like core, and all else included. One could scarcely believe it to be the same vegetable that gives so much trouble to cook and consumer in other countries.

During the day when the General was trans-

90 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

acting his various business affairs, I walked about the villages, watching the country life of Navarre people, and the first efforts of the Carlists to organise themselves into something like an army. I must frankly say that the pic- tures I saw in these and subsequent wanderings contained much of ugliness, dirt, ignorance, and superstition ; but they contained also many ele- ments of that sort of primitive virtue, self-denial, and courage, which always offer the most refreshing sight to a mind intoxicated aud bewildered by the contemplation of all the blessings of our much extolled civilization.

91

CILVrTER III.

DIGS, PATRIA, Y REY.

nVIE heading of this chapter — (lod, Fatherland, _L and KitKj — is the great Carlist motto, and the watcliwonl to wliicli every peasant of the northern provinces of Spain answers by rushing to take up arms. Patria phays, indeed, a much less important part in it than Dios and Rey, for, whenever joyous shoutings are heard among Carlists, Fatherhind is sehh)m mentioned. It is always " M.va Carlos Setimo,'' " Mva la Religion,'' " Viva los Carlistas," or Viva this or that special Carlist leader. Patria, means among the Carlist volunteers, as a rule, their own particular pro- vince, often even their village only. Of Spain, as a whole, they don't know much, and care less still altout it. Half of these men, being pure Basques, do not even understand Spanish at all. " Carlos Setimo " sounds well enough when

92 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

cried out by the enthusiastic and strong-voiced lads, but it looks rather queer when represented by the Pretender's crest figuring on the buttons, arms, and colours. It assumes then more the aspect of some chemical formula than of any- thing else, for it is written in the plain way of Cy., not in the form of a C more or less pictur- esquely intertwined with a VII, as one would expect it to be.

That the shouting and enthusiasm are sincere in the Northern provinces of Spain scarcely any- one will doubt, when Carlism has risen to the power it holds at present ; and we must always bear in mind that it has so risen in de- fiance of every sort of Spanish as well as inter- national law, and with almost no money to support it.

Of the present Pretender, the Navarre and Basque people know but very little. It is quite enough for them tliat he is El Rey, and that his name is Carlos. They venerate in him the old tradition. And I am almost sure that the great majority of them firmly believe him to be the son of Charles V. under whom their fathers— in some cases even themselves— fought forty years ago. Thus to general causes which make these mountain tribes rise against any government

DIGS, PATRIA, Y REY. 93

established in Madiid, is now uddeil the intense feeling fd" haired ajj^iiinst those who inflicte(l iijinn the Basque ])riivinres tiie calamities which these provinces had to bear during the ^even Years' War. So strong indeed is this feeling, that I have constantly heard the Republicans called by the name (d" C/iristinofi, whicii means soldiers of (^)iieen ('hristina. a denoiniiiatioii evidently preserved from the ibrmer war. It is only the more civilized portion of the Carlist Volunteers which understands that the present Government of Madrid has nothing whatever to do with Chris- tina, and accordingly calls the Republican forces by the nicknames of " Negros," " Liberales," " Progresistas," and the like. The mutual hatred and jealousy amongst all the Spaidsh provinces lias assumed in the Vasco-Navarre parts of the Peidnsula such an intense ftirm that nothing short of some Madrid dictator accepting the American principle, " Good Indians are only dead Indians," can put a stop to Garlism. Zumalacarregui, whatever might be thought of his humaiMty, was ci-rtainiy not very wrong when he mad(? up his mind to give no quarter to the enemy, a resolution to which the " Kliot Convention " put a stop. lie seemed to have accepted the rather jdausible,

94 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

theory that the more enemies he killed, the fewer would remain. Such a principle, barbarous as it may look, was at all events sure, if acted upon on both sides, to lead to a speedy conclusion of the war, and probably to the final settlement of a pending question ; while as long as the war is con- tinued in the manner it has been carried on since Zumalacarregui's death, peace will pro- bably remain an unknown thing in the unhappy Peninsula.

In the Spring of this year matters might yet have been mended, and the war put a stop to, by some "military genius" taking the reins of the Government of Madrid. But, at the point which the Carlist organisation has reached now, every hope of this must be given up for a considerable time to come. The Carlists are perfect masters of the whole of the North. They are well organised into something very similar to several distinct army corps. They are in the course of establishing cartridge manu- factories, and they are manufocturiiig arms at Eibar and Placencia, the two establishments being capable of supplying over six hundred guns a week, a number more than sufficient for keeping them in a perfect state of readiness to meet any eflbrt on the part of the Republicans.

DIGS, PATRIA, Y KEY. 95

Tlie sufiiciency of the natural resources of tlio country for the deiiiaiRls upon tlieni presents tho only somewhat questionable point, since it is now quite a year that ^va^ has been carried on, with the products of a comparatively small district, and without reckoning that it had also lasted for a couple of months in the preceding year. But, in the first place, agriculture has not suffered much as yet. Bread, wine, and cattle are still l)lentiful both in Navarre and in Guipuzcoa, and the only difference is that, instead of selling what the ptHisant can spare from the quantity requisite for his own use, he is now compelled to give it to the Carlists. He has consequently become short of cash, but he is a man who does not want nnich of it, and who will probably endure without grund)ling the privations which the want of ready money entails, when it is for a cause to whiih he is so much attached, lie is, besides, constantly encouraged in this sentiment by the priests, by the leaders of the Carlists, who are chiefly landed proi)rietors of his own province, anil by all the lads of his village, who have entered the (.'arlist ranks, and who are now often coming on visits to their homes to tell long stories about the great battles they have fought and the glorious [irogrcss the great causa has made.

96 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

But suppose, even, that the resources of Navarre and Guipuzcoa should soon get exhausted, Biscaya and the country along the Ebro can easily support the Carlist army for twice as long a time as the two other provinces. And the risings in Lower Aragon, Catalonia, and Valencia will always give to the Navarre and Basque forces the possibility of changing their field of operation whenever the want of supplies begins to make itself felt in the districts now supporting them.

No one could form anything like an exact idea of the extent to which Carlism is rampant all over the Northern provinces, unless one has tra- velled through them both with the Carlist column, and by himself alone. When you pass with troops, a suspicion may always arise within you that fear makes the population welcome them. But din-ing my six months wanderings through the North of Spain I had to pass over and over again through almost every village of the four provinces with no other escort than a little Navarre servant boy, fifteen years old, and nowhere did I meet with anything but hospitality, to which all sorts of vivas were immediately added, when it became known that I had friends among Carlists, and could thus be fairly supposed to be a Carlist myself. Naturally enough, the

DIGS, PATRIA, Y REY. i»7

innkeepers may have occasionally cheated mc, or robbed the food out of the manger of my horses. l>iit this iuid nothing to do with hospitality — it was purely matter of business, transacted in a way which is not necessarily peculiar to Basques or Navarrese. It was not the innkeeper's fault that I had money, for if I had had none he would have given me the same fare without asking me a penny. It was also not liis fault that maize and barley had risen in price, and that his mules' food was thus rendered almost dearer than his own. If I had been disposed to go to the alcalde to ask him for rations, and to draw for them upon Don Carlos' future exchequer, I should have had the horses feed for nothing, and then the innkeeper would not have touched their food, for he would have considered it Carlist property, which is, of course, a more or less sacred thing.

The enthusiasm for the Carlist cause is still more em]»hatically shown by the women and children of these backward regions. Whenever a Republican corps passes through a village, scarcely a child is to be seen in the streets. They all hide themselves in the stables, in the garret, or in one of tho.se uninhabited rooms of the first floor where Indian corn is habitually stored in these countries. It is evident that, somehow or

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98 SPA.IN AND THE SPANIARDS.

other, these little things have been frightened away from the Republican soldiers ; and they know them, for sometimes the notice of the approach of such a column to the village is first brought by little boys and girls of six or seven years, out watching their pigs and sheep some- where on the hills. But when the Carlists ap- proach, all the children rush out to the entrance of the village with cries of welcome, dancing and springing in their delight, and meeting them with all sorts of joyful manifestations. At the outbreak of the movement, when so many Carlist volunteers were armed with no more deadly weapons than sticks, there was to be seen in every village an auxiliary force of little boys and girls playing all day long at Carlists. And when a band passes some isolated farmhouse in the mountain, the whole of the family is sure to be found at the entrance-door ready with jugs of Iresh water, or sometimes even glasses of wine, for the wearied soldiers. Yet none of them would ever dream of accepting anj'^ payment, the very proposal of which would be taken as an offence.

The women, both in Navarre and the Basque provinces, do not possess much in the way of carpets, or coloured tissues of any kind, but they

DIGS, PATRIA, Y REY. 99

liiive a good deal of liucn, aud whenever some popu- lar Carlist chief is known to pass through a village, all the balconies and windows are decorated with sheets and fringed towels. If a woman has any- thing like chintz curtains, or such a luxury as light red or blue woollen drapery of some sort, they are sure to be displayed on the balconies aud I not unfrequently saw portraits of Don Carlos aud pictures of various saints hung out as additional embellishments. If the entry is made at night time, the whole village, old and young, rush out with torches, or at least with what serve as torches — bunches of lighted straw; and the village stock of candles is sure to be ex- hausted on that night, for in every window there are as many as the family's purse will admit the purchase of. If a cahallero be thirsty and ask for a glass of water, it is never served in its pure and simple state. There is always in it an azucariflo, or bolao, a kind of sweetmeat made of the white of eggs and sugar. It costs no more than a farthing perhaps, but a I'artliiug is a consideration for people in these countries, and as every woman serves a good many acucarillos in a day, the whole must cost her quite a little fortune. Yet you feel at once you dare not propose to give her

ii 2

100 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

anything in return ; you shake hands with her, and that is the only acknowledgment she will accept.

If you happen to be belated and cannot reach the posada (inn), you had in view, and are, for some reason or another, compelled to stop on your way, you can safely knock at the door of any house on your road, and explain to its owner your case, when you are certain to be made as welcome as if you were an old friend. The wife will be set at once to prepare whatever supper she may have provisions for; your bed, if often rough, is sure to have clean sheets and pillow-cases ; and when, the next day, you ask what you owe, it is seldom more than six or seven reals, which is about fifteen or sixteen pence.

The hospitality which any Carlist jefe (officer), or any cabaUero, who can be fairly supposed to sympathise with Carlism, finds in the cure's house is quite a matter of course, for cures are greatly interested in the movement, and it is only natural that they should welcome the men who are avowedly supporting the Church ; but then there is a limit to everything. At the house of a Basque or a Navarre priest, Carlist officers and chiefs find not only a cordial welcome, but a substan-

DIGS, PATRIA, Y REY. 101

tial meul, lodgings, food for their liorses, and everything else they may want. If a Carlist coltnnn or even a small band passes, all the cure's of the village are immediately on foot arranging with the alcalde for quarters, rations, stables, and all that is so anxiously looked for by men wlio have had a march of some twenty or thirty miles. Very frequently diil it lia])pen on my journeys that, within five or six minutes of my alighting at an inn, a cure, and sometimes three or four of tliem, informed that a stranger had come, would arrive at the inn, when they would seldom allow me to remain there. I had to go to tlie house of the senior of them, if there were many, and give all the news I had to im- part, receiving in return a dinner, includ- ing not unfrequently trout, spring chickens, ducklings, and even English biscuits, though as a matter of course the best provisions were in- variably spoiled in cooking with rancid oil and garlic. A stout cure at Aranatz was particu- larly amiable, and he had greatly improved his cuisine under the influence of a Frenchwoman his brother had married. I think I had to pass that village about half a dozen times, and on each occasion lie caught me, and would not not let me go unless I not only had a dinner or a supper,

102 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

but stopped over night with him. He had always some good reason why I should not proceed any further on the day of my visit. And what struck me as particularly remarkable in the Navarre and Basque cures, and somewhat different from the customs of a good many other priests and clergy- men, was that, while giving you their best hos- pitality, they did not at all expect you to go to church with them. If you happened to turn up at a time when the priest had to officiate, he would do his best to make you comfortable, would beg you most eagerly to excuse his being compelled to leave you, and would hurry off to his church, where on such occasions he was pretty sure to despatch his mass or his vespers with a somewhat increased speed.

Twice, or three times, I may even say, these cures saved me from great unpleasantness. Pre- ferring, as a rule, high-roads to mountain paths, so utterly ruinous to the horses, I used to bring myself frequently within a short distance from a moving Republican column. I knew, of course, that, being a stranger, I had no particular danger to apprehend, except, perhaps, a few days im- prisonment until m.atters could he cleared up. But the cures in the village thought that on being captured I was certain to be shot, like any

DIGS, PATRIA, Y REY. 103

Ciirlist, ami oucli time when I IVII into any dan^^er of this sort, some ciir^ was sure to turn up and give mo instructions liow to escape from the encounter. On one of such journeys, I had to pass the Barranca by the liigh-road from Pam- jtlona to Vitoria, and fell between two columns which were in the course of operating to effect a junction. As I was not alone, but with three or four Carlist officers in full uniform, the position was not a particularly pleasant one. We turned off from the high-road to the mountains, but were still under the dread that the skirmishers, or some cavalry patrol, might catch hold of us, and it was to old Don Juan Lopez, the cure of Zuaz, that we all owed on that day our escape. Watching from the top of a hill the movement of the columns, and seeing us turning off from the high-road, he at once rushed down and ran over a mile to catch us — a task which must have been all the more difficult to the old man as we were already beginning to trot sharply. But still he managed, somehow or other, to join us, though in a state of indescribable iK-rspiration, and quite out of breath. Without saying a word, ho seized the bridle of the little luggage horse which was jogging behind us, jumi)ed on it, took the lead of us all, and by paths which we would

104 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

otherwise never have entered, not only carried us quite out of danger, but enabled us to reach the place at which we wished to arrive about a couple of hours earlier than we should have been able to reach it otherwise.

What I saw of the Carlist forces, properly so speaking, on my first and short visit to their camps, was not much, and scarcely worth while relating now. Little bands of forty and fifty men scattered here and there were all that was to be seen in the way of armed men. Of discipline, as understood in regular armies, there was next to none. Soldiers and oSicers seemed to stand very much on a footing of perfect equality and familiarity. Volunteers, sitting in the inns, did not always rise even when General Elio entered, and some of them appeared not to know him at all. If a Carlist Volunteer knows an officer, whatever his rank may be, he shakes hands with him, without any further salute. The guards we had on our journey, talked and smoked their cigarettes all the time, not unfrequently asking the General for lights, or dozed as if they were returning from a pleasure trip.

The Yet unarmed Volunteers were still less

DIOS, PATRIA, Y REY. 105

iiiilitarv-lookiiif;^. Fur uii hour or two during tlio day tliey were under .o:oing sucli little drill as their officer had knowledge enough to impart to them ; while the rest of their time was, as a rule, divided between work- ing in the field, chopping wood for their land- ladies, nursing children, or playing at ball. Some of them went to mass every morning, and, as it was just then Palm week, the amount of church attending was rather larger than usual. In a word, it soon became evident to me that I had come too early, and that fully five or six weeks more would pass before anything serious could take place. True that Dorregaray, with something like 2,500 pretty well organised Navarre men, was operating in the neighbour- hood of Estella, and had already fought a couple of more or less successful little battles, lint I was not yet properly fitted out to undertake a dis- tant journey of this sort, and, on the other hand, news was s})read far and near that the Communo was going to be established at Madrid, that the Intransitjentcs were mure and more rising in power, that, in a word, the capital of Spain was just then the only pr()j)er ])lace for a " special " to be at. General Klio had also promised to give me an opportunity of seeing Don Carlos as soon

106 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS

as I should return to Bayonne. The personality of the Spanish Pretender was then still a myth for almost everybody, and the prospect of seeing within a few days the fine fieur of Sj)anish Legitimacy, and the fine fieur of Spanish Com- munism, and of being able to study and compare them, was really so tempting that I could not but seize the opportunity at once.

107

CHAPTER IV.

DON' CARLOS, HIS WIFE, AND HIS VIEWS.

rpIIK present prcteiuler to the throne of Spain, JL styled by liis followers Charles VII., and by the world at large Don Carlos de Bourbon, Duke of Madrid, is twenty-five years of age, having been born in Austria in March, 1848. lie is a powerful-looking man, about six feet one. and in his frank but somewhat curt manner reminds one of the Emperor Alexander of Russia, when he was some twenty-five years younger. His face, since he began to wear a full beard, has become quite handsome, though a slightly slob- bering aspect of his mouth, and the dtfi- ciency of teeth, hereditary in tiie Spanish Bourbon house, not being in harmony with his manly physical appearance, spoils the first pleasing impression. He is easy of access, and without any trace of haughtiness. When seen

108 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

on horseback at some distance, especially when saluting people and frankl}'- taking off his Basque cap, he has something picturesque about him. His bearing in private life resembles that of the younger sons of the English nobility who have entered the professions. Like them, he seems to have the capacity of enduring, for a while, any amount of hardship with great serenity of temper. Of the sovereign, the statesman, or the warrior, there is absolutely nothing in him. But he is very fond of playing the part of a King — that is to say, of thoii-ing everybody in the old fashion of Spanish Kings, not excluding even his councillors, some of whom are thrice his age, and of surrounding himself with a large number of chamberlains, aid-de-camps, secre- taries, and similar people, all of whom have no other merit or duty than that of flattering his pride. I saw, myself, genuine Spanish noblemen carrying away slops after Don Carlos had washed himself, and busily engaged in seeing that his top-boots and spurs were properly polished. He is undoubtedly a religious man ; but there is much less bigotry about him than is generally supposed, and, for all I could observe, the Spanish clergy do not seem to exercise any undue influence on his mind. In fact, I have seen him marching for

DON CARLOS, HIS WIFE, AND HIS VIEWS. 109

weeks without haviii;; a single cure on his stiilV; l)ut, in every viUage ho comes to, lie goes first of all to chtireh, and ])ays a visit to the local priest. Like the majority of Spaniards, he is a bad horseman, and in about a month's time I saw him ruin three excellent horses. At the'sametime, he evidently imagines that he looks a fine cavalier with his glistening black beard, his dark blue hussar uniform, his stars on the l)reast, his red trousers, his high circus boots, and his red cap with the gold tassel. His political notions seem to be of a very unsettled character. At all events, each time I happened to talk to him. i)r listen when he talked to some one else on political subjects, I was never able to make out what was the substance of his views. Sometimes he seemed quite a common-place liberal of our own day; at other times his utterances appeared to be the ])roduce of tin; old-fashioned tra- ditions of Si)anish absolutism. On the whole, I think, he would make a pretty fair consti- tutional king, if properly restricted by law; for having been educated in l-Jiin]!,-. and having lived constantly under European influence, he has unconsciously imbibed the political ideas of our age. But, on the other hand, being in his private

110 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

life under the influence of his family traditions, and basing his rights upon worn out ideas, he has naturall}^ along with modern notions, others which would much better suit the seventeenth than the nineteenth century. In the etiquette he likes to observe at his wandering court, and in the titles and court appointments he distributes, these weaknesses come very clearly to light. As an individual, he is brave and kind-hearted ; he is an excellent father, and is polite and amiable to everybody. He sleeps much, and smokes much, and is rather "henpecked" by Doiia Margarita, Princess of Parma, whom he married in February, 1867, and by whom he has two daughters and a son, the eldest, Infanta Blanca, being five years old, and the youngest, Infanta Elvira, two years. His son, Infante Jaime-Charles, who, according to his parents' belief, will have some day to play the role of Charles VIIL, was born on the 27th of June, 1870.

Dona Margarita has the reputation of being a very clever woman. Handsome she is cer- tainly not, although in her stature, fair hair, and blue eyes, there is, on the whole, something rather attractive. But surely no one would take her for a Queen of Spain. She looks much more like a German or an English middle-class

DON CARLOS, HIS WIFE, AND HIS VIEWS. 1 1 1

huly, oltlKit slim iuuKlcliciite appearance so often met with in Northern countries amongst women who marry at an early ix^c, and have more children tluin they ought to have. Being a year older and nuich richer than her husband, and of a more decided cast of mind, she exercises, undoubtedly, great influence over Don Carlos, and, if she had not iiei-self been at times uiidcr the influence of a number of Jesuits and pett}^ courtiers, her counsels and views would probably have had upon Don Carlos a salutary influence. At all events, she reads much more than her husband, and is far mure accomplished. Up to about a year ago, she was almost invariably living near Geneva, in the chateau called liocage ; but some of the over-zealous Carlists having compromised her by the storing of arms in her residence, she was ordered by the Swiss authorities to leave the country, and had to seek refuge in France. When Don Carlos entered into Spain, she took up her present residence at liordeaux, and the rej)orts as to her having crossed the frontier were utterly destitute of iounchition. She tried lately to remove to Pan, and took a house there, but the French Government intimated to her that she eoidd not be allowed to reside in the vicinity of the Pyrenees.

112 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

It was in the isolated chateau of St. Lon, in the Landes, that I iirst saw Don Carlos in April of the present year. He was then hiding himself from the French police, and changing his abode almost every week, under the protection of the hospitable landed proprietors of the South of France. To get at Don Carlos was a very difficult task; for, if not alarmed him- self, his councillors and courtiers were always afraid of some act of treacher}^ ; but the " inter- viewing" instructions of my paper were too stringent for me to let hira off without an ordeal of this sort ; and I spent nearly a month at Bayonne and about the frontier trying to meet with people who could manage to procure me this interview. Yet all my efforts were vain, until I became acquainted with General Elio, and proved lucky enough to inspire him with the confidence that I had no intention either to as- sassinate or even to betray Don Cai-los.

On the Bayonne-Pau railway line is a station called Peyrehorade, and about two hours' drive from that station is situated the chateau of M. de Pontonx, where the interview was to take place on the 11th of April, at eleven o'clock at night. The arrangement was that I should start

DON' CARLOS, HIS WIKK, AND HIS VIEWS. llij

from Bayouiie b}" the last train to PcyrcliuraJe, and call there upon the cure who would serve me as a guide, the name of the residence not having been disclosed to me at that time. On my reaching Peyrehorade I found the cure at chin-ch, it being Good Friday ; but a comfortable carriage was in readiness to drive me to a place, of which I should not even now have known the name if the young M. de Pontonx had not told me, a few months later, that it was at his chateau that I paid the visit. The precautions were evidently well taken for my not betraying the residence of the Prince, for I could not even see the road through which I drove, the carriage having no lanterns, the coachman having recommended me not to pull ditwn the windows, and the night being so dark that I wondered all the time how he could find his way. In about two hours we stopped before a gate, which was opened only after some parley- ing, and then drove through a jtark to the en- trance of the residence.

Brigadier Iparraguirre, military secretary of the Piiiicc, was waiting on the doorsteps when the carriage drew into the courtyard. He was evidently watching lest some ])olice agent or any other unasked for person should appear; but seeing the familiar carriage and coachman, and hearing

VOL. 1. I

114 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

that I was the person to whom the audience had been granted, he showed me at once through several rooms to the chamber occupied by Don Carlos. A cheerful fire burned in an old-fashioned grate, and the apartment was upholstered with quaint-looking antique furniture. Don Carlos entered the room almost immediately, accompanied by General Elio, shook my hand cordiall}^ and paid some compliments to the journal I repre- sented. Some preliminary conversation of a general character then ensued, but as soon as the Prince sat down and lighted a cigarette, offer- ing me one, both Elio and Iparraguirre retired from the room.

" What impression has been made on you during your journey through the Carlist camps! ' was his first question. I answered that my im- pressions were on the whole favourable, but re-; ferred to the imperfect armament of some of the partidas (bands), and the conversation at once assumed a practical relation to the Carlist pros- pects in general.

" Ah ! you must keep in view the almost in- superable difficulties which we have had to con- tend with," said the Prince. " The movement began only in the month of December. General Olio crossed the frontier to Spain about Christmas

DON CARLOS, HIS WIFE, AND HIS VIEWS. 11')

last with twenty-tlirce unanned men. He dis- iiitorred three hundred old muskets, which h;id lioen buried in the neighbourhuod, and, with these, armed his first detachment. In Catahmia the movement began earlier, and there the progress was more raj)id. You have no conception of the obstacles whieli are put in the way of our trans- ])orting arms across the frontier. The cost of conveyance causes a great increase of expense, and but for the hearty assistance which was given to us by the nobility of the South of France, we could never have achieved what we have done. And then, what has not been said of us '? We have been called 'brigands,' 'assassins,' 'plun- derers of the peasantry,' ' kidnappers,' and what not ; but you have yourself seen how false such reports are. You have seen how thoroughly the population of the villages is with us. If I had a hundred thousand rifles, I could have a hmidred thousand men in a iVw days. It is liitter to me, l)crsonally, to be restrained as I am ; comj)elled idly to sit here, while my followers are enduring so many hardships and risking their lives for my cause; but my advisers keep me like a prisoner of State. They say my entering Spain would do harm only, as they are not yet ready fur active operations on my behalf."

I 2

116 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

The conversation then turning to politics, Don Carlos said : —

" The political feature of the case is as little known in Europe and America as is the other, the military part of the Legitimist movement. No lawyer, Spanish or foreign, has ever disproved my right to the throne of Spain. The act by which the throne was given to Isabella, was simply a violation of the organic laws of the kingdom. My grandfather defended his right, sword in hand. He was not vanquished, but was betrayed by the infamous Maroto. When the right to the throne devolved on me, I did all in my power to confine the contest within the walls of the Parliament house. I succeeded in obtaining the support of not less than eighty-three deputies, but during the last elections Carlist voters and Carlist de- puties were shot at and stabbed, and nothing re- mained for us but a resort to arms. Any American or English party placed in the same position would have acted in the same way. I know that the Anglo- Saxon race, in the New World as well as in the Old, is so great because it never hesitates to take up the sword when right is invaded. They do not fear civil war when they believe they are in the right. Why should we fear I"

On my observing that the cause of the hostile

DON CARLOS, IHS WIFE, AND HIS \TEWS. 117

criticism of the world on Carlism was not because Carlism fought, but because people were afraid lest its victory should re-establish fading abso- lutist theories in government and ultramontanism in religion.

" I have never given any reason to believe that after my accession to the throne," said Don Carlos, "religion would be permitted to interfere with politics, or politics witli rcli^Mon. I greatly value the influence of the priesthood. I admire many men who are priests ; but I admire them in the Church, and I would be the first to oppose their interference in matters out of their sphere. No country in the world is less susceptible of government by absolutism than Spain. It never was so governed ; it will never be. The Basque provinces and Navarre have, from time immemorial, possessed the privileges of the most free countries. I have always emphatically de- clared that I will leave the framing of a Si)anish constitution to the action of a freely elected Cortes. I wonder there can still exist a doubt of my in- tention in this respect. My jirogramme of govern- ment can be set forth in a very few words. Kvcry- thing shall be done througli a free Cortes. There shall be com])lete decentralisation in everything but general politics."

118 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

Here the Prince spoke somewhat in detail of his several manifestoes addressed to the Spaniards, as well as to the foreign courts, appearing to as- sume that every man w^as hound to know these documents, a circumstance which made me feel rather uneasy, as I had no idea of them. Conse- quently, I took good care to change the conversation by reference to the interruption of travel in Spain and the Carlist action of firing on railway trains.

Don Carlos replied : — " War is war. You can- not make an omelet w*ithout breaking some eggs. Interruption of travel, under such circumstances, is not peculiar to Spain. I did my utmost to prevent it. I proposed to the Northern Company to neutralize the rails and telegraph, and said that we would respect and protect the trains and wires if they were not used for military purposes. The directors said, in reply, that the Govern- ment at Madrid w^ould not allow them to treat with us, and that it would rather have public traffic stopped than do so. We cannot permit the Republican troops to advance and retreat by railway, whilst our men are on foot. Hence the destruction of the railroads. I am ready to renew negotiations on the subject any time ; but I am afraid we shall have to wait till the Madrid Government comes to its senses."

DON CARLOS, HIS WIFE, AND HIS VIKWS. IT.*

The conversation then naturally tuniLMl to the <iovt'rnnient at Madrid.

"The Repulilic is never possible in Spain with- out assuming the wildest socialist character," said Don Carlos, after he had spoken very highly of the ]\Iend)crs of the Government individually. " I consider Castelar and Figueras men of great ability, but I am not sure that they are great statesmen. I believe them to be men of irre- ])roachable integrity; but this very integrity blinds them to the dishonesty of their followers. There is no danger from these gentlemen if they are but firm ; but it is in their supporters that jteril lies. They will never be able to control them, being themselves unconsciously urged Ibrward. Here is a copy of a Republican paper publislied in Madrid. Send it to your journal, ami show what the Republic means in Spain," jind he handed me a copy of Los Descamisados* (The shirtless ones) a Spanish equivalent to the Sans Culottes.

The discussion of the chances of a Spanish Re- jniblic brought us to the French ('iiiiiiiionwcaltli

• A mi!«cml)le publication, wliicli, n* 1 aftcrwniilM lonrncd in IMndrid, was ihsuihI by some cntMnics of Kopiiblieiin institution!), for the sake, a« UfiunI, of fri|{htening the \nw% of the people into Mouorchy of »oiuu form or othi-r.

120 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

and to M. Thiers, whom the Prince declared a great enemy to the Bourbon cause. ".In the Seven Years' War," said he, "France, Enghxnd, Por- tugal, and Madrid formed a quadruple alliance against my grandfather. M. Thiers, not satisfied with sending a foreign legion, which was cut to pieces, wished to send regular troops, but Louis Philippe opposed him. The little gentleman, who was just as obstinate then as he is now, was put out of office, and has never ceased to hate us as the cause of his downfall on that occasion. Besides, we are Legitimists, and he hates Legitimacy. He has quite recently for- warded a despatch to the French Minister at Madrid, of which our friends have sent me a copy. In this paper he exhibits his notorious disposition for intrigue. He says he regrets he cannot take more active measures against the Carlists without exciting the indignation of the French Koyalists, who are already difficult to control ; but he suggests that the French Ambas- sador may do us a good deal of harm in discour- aging our cause at Madrid. M. Thiers added that Germany was unfavourable to me, and that though Russia and England were not unwilling to support Carlism, if they became satisfied it was making progress, he exerted his best efforts to— as he called

DON CARLOS, mS WIFE, AND IHS VIEWS. 121

it — open the c^'cs of these Goveriiiiieiits. With all this, however, he dares not reco^iise the Spanish Republic. I?ut I have not much reason to fear the intrigues and hostility of ^I. Thiers."

As a matter of course, here again the conversa- tion could not pass without touching upon Cuba. But thougli the Prince was apparently talking freely, his declaration of this point was nc^ very definite. He said, "• I know the American peo- ple take great interest in this topic. I under- stand you have spoken on it with General Elio. I cannot say more than he did. I must even say less, for although I believe the altolition of slavery to be indispensable, I am of opinion that emanci- pation should not be at the expense of the ])ro- prietors ; therefore it nnist be gradual. As to the alienation of the colony, I believe that no Spanish Goverinnent, of whatever fonn or nature it may be, will ever dare to propose the subject in Spain."

It was now one o'clock in the morning, and the cigarette case was empty. I accepted this as a signal to retire. Dun Carlos expressing his hope that we should soon meet again on Spanish soil.

In the anteroom, the gentlemen of the Prince's personal staff once more carefully pointed out to me how great and exceptional was the favour ac-

122 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

corded to me, owing to the strict seclusion which it was necessary for the Prince to observe, and asked me to be on my guard, in case any police agent should present himself to me at Peyrehorade, where I had to spend the night. They suggested that, in case I should be asked what brought me to that little place, I should say I came to have some fishing in the Gave, as many originaux anglais do come. And as I wished to do my best' not to compromise either Don Carlos or any of his adherents, I made a great noise the next morning at the little auberge " A ux Deux Sceurs" about some fishing-rods, of which I finally got a couple, and after having spent several hours by the river's side and caught nothing, took the afternoon train back to Bayonne.

To get at Don Carlos at that time was (by no means from my own, but) from a journalist's point of view what is called " a hit." The London bureau of the Herald had accordingly telegraphed to New York, at a considerable ex- pense, something like four columns of the report of this interview, and a couple of weeks later I had the satisfaction of seeing my work reproduced in several English papers. But, much to my astonishment, it Avas said to have been taken from the Cologne Gazette, the economical German

DON CARLOS, HIS WIFE, AND HIS \TEWS. 123

paper luivin^^ quietly copied the report, and given it out as the work of its own correspondent: " Es lleibt so in der Fmnilie."

Three months hiter Don Carlos entered the land he claims the right to reign over. What he did there shall be told by-and-by. At present, we have to go to ^ladrid, in the great square of which, styled Puerta del Sol, armed " gentlemen of the pavement" were said to be settling the so-called social problem, much in the same way as armed peasants of the Basque provinces were settling the question of Spanish legitimacy.

124

CHAPTER V.

FROM BAYONNE TO MADRID.

THE telegrams of Renter's and Havas, whose business it seems to be to concoct sen- sational paragraphs when actual news is scarce, have made every one outside the romantic and unbusiness-like Peninsula believe that people were slaughtered dail}^ in Spain by the hundred, if not by the thousand, and that peaceful citizens of well-regulated countries, who were not par- ticularly anxious to get rid of their property or their lives, should not cross the Pyrenees under any consideration whatever. Thousands of Britons who had passed the winter season at Biarritz, Pau, and similar places, where

" The witchery of the soft blue sky"

could be experienced, and who would have gone

\

FROM BAYOXNE TO MADRID. 125

for tlic carnival to Madrid, and for Good Friday and Easter Sunday to Seville, were now getting sour and mouldy in llnir winter abodes through sheer exaggeration of the dangers to which they would expose themselves on entering the land of the Cid. But the more I saw of Spain, the more comical appeared to me all these apprehensions.

After having visited Navarre, where a fear- ful civil war was supposed to be carried on, I undertook that very same journey from the French frontier to tiie heart of New Castile, which but a short time ago presented no more dilliculty than a journey by the Great Northern Express from Edinburgh to London, and on which now, it was generally believed, a man could but very seldom escape with the skin of his teeth. The journey was certainly not a pleasant one in the sense of promptitude and comfort; but the dangers, if there were any at all, were of so burlesque a nature that they altogether ceased to be dangers.

Our journey from Hayonnc to Madrid lasted over four days, instead of lasting eighteen hours, as it ought to have lasted uiuler ordinary circumstances ; but 1 do not remember to have

126 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

ever made in my life any jom-ney that was so pleasant, through its unpleasantness. Some notes written then and there will, perhaps, best convey an idea of it.

Having heard that a serious movement of the Intransigentes was being prepared at Madrid, I hurriedly left Bayonne at mid-day on the 21st of April, 1873, by express to Irun. Friends strongly advised me to get my papers in order ; to burn all Carlist safe-conducts, wdiich, if found on me by Republicans, would be taken as proofs of my being a Carlist in disguise ; to take as little money as possible, for I was sure to be robbed, and so on — a lot of comforting advice. On reaching Irun, however, it turned out that I was not even asked for my passport, and that no one cared to know who I was, and wdiy I was going into Spain. My luggage was the only thing that seemed to interest the local authorities. Custom-house officials of the Republic began to ransack it in the most unceremonious manner, and, not finding anything prohibited, proceeded to impose a heavy duty on a Scotch plaid, which had served me for the last ten or twelve years. I had great difficulty in demonstrating that although nut Scotch, and therefore eMranjero, the plaid was

FROM BAYOXN'E TO MADRID. 1l'7

new, and, consequently, not snliject to taxation, and that it was also intended for my own use, and not as a present for any senora, fur I had no senora to make presents to.

The rails were of course cut, and no train to be expected before Vitoria, which was some eighty miles distant. But there were plenty of little omnibuses, with four innles each, in readiness to convey us to San Sebastian, whence a Senor ]\rarcelino Ugalde, it was said, had established regular diligence connnunications to Zunnnarraga, and thence to Vitoria. Of the degree of safety of the road no one could till us anything, except that there were Carlists in several places, and that diligences were often stopped, but that no pas- senger had been killed for some time past. For the luggage, however, the diligence administration would not take any responsibility whatever, except that of putting it, in return for a certain (very heavy) charge, on the top of the conveyance. It was for the travellers to look after it subse- quently, and to negotiate about it with the Carlists, should any dilliculty arise during the journey.

Irun itself was fortifieil, or supposed to be so. A palisadi- surroundrd each of the leading build-

128 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

ings, iocluding the abandoned railway station. But these palisades were of such a description that a runaway donkey would have easily upset them, and any pocket revolver ball get through them just as easily. All the balconies and windows also were " fortified," the former by means of similar palisades, and the latter by being half walled-up with a kind of antediluvian stone-masonry, in which some peep-holes were pierced. But the Carlists not having paid yet any visit to Irun, and apparently not being dis- posed to do so, even these inoffensive fortifications were falling into desuetude.

Our travelling party consisted of about a dozen persons, including a couple of women with very nois}'^ babies, a shabby - looking priest in a permanent state of perspiration, several peasants in picturesque costumes, very brigand-looking, and strongly smelling of garlic, and two French Jews, commercial travellers from Bayonne. The little omnibuses for four persons each were just as bad as the London four-wheelers, and differed from them only by the door being behind, and the seats disposed accordingly. But the speed of conveyance was quite different in the two cases. Instead of a wretched horse, we had four fresh mules,

FROM BAYONNE TO MADRID 12'.)

wlik'h carried us at the rate of at least ten miles an hour throii^Mi the picturesque mountain country, with the Bay of Biscay brilliantly un- folding itself to our eyes every now and then. The road itself was all that could be wished for, and in less than two hours we reached San- Sebastian, the capital of the province of Guipuz- coa, and formerly the (libraltar of N\)rthern Spain.

San Sebastian is, according to Ford, "memor- able for its sieges, lies, and libels." It was cap- tured by the Duke of Wellington in 1813, and burnt down to the ground, yet — according to the same authority — not by the English, but by the French, and " for the express purpose of annoy- ing the English." Whether the inhabitants of San Sebastian were at that time pleased by the proceedings of the English and the French thus "annoying" each other within their walls, I aui imable to tell. But sure it is that the town looks now all the better for it, being thoroughly rebuilt in the moiU'rn style, though of course it does not look as picturesque as it j)robably looked formerly, ami has no loiiL^er any raiii- j>arts, not even such curious ones as Iruii jiossesses. it is now simply a lashionabh- watering- i)laee, antl a great resort for smuggling business, in which it would seem re})rcseutatives

VOL. I. K

130 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

of British commerce are interested to a very considerable extent. It serves also as a safe and not altogether unpleasant residence for British subjects who get into "trouble," and prefer a quiet life on the shores of the Bay of Biscay to legal proceedings in England. All these circumstances make of San Sebastian quite an English colony. English faces are to be seen, and the English tongue to be heard at almost every step. But the well-regulated habits of the Anglo-Saxon race do not seem to influence much the indolent and unbusiness-like nature of the Spanish portion of the population. At all events, it would not appear from the way in which " the regular diligence communication " of the aforesaid Senor Marcelino Ugalde was carried on. We arrived at four p.m., and were advised to secure our tickets at once, but could not make out until midnight what time we were to start. At mid- night we were told we had better go to bed, as care would be taken to call upon each of us at our respective hotels Avhen the diligence was to start. So we did go to bed, and at three in the morning, some violent knocks at my door, gave me to understand that I was "wanted," either for the purpose of having my throat cut, or for that of being conveyed to

FROM BAYONXE TO MADRID. 131

Ziiminarru^^iv. To my satisfiiction, it turned out that it was for the latter purpose.

Ilunu-r's or George Augustus Sala's wouM ^><- ilio only pen fit to (k-scrilic our noeturnal pilgrimage. Fancy a pitcli-dark niglit in a l»lacc you have never been in before, among jieople who talk Bascpie to you and are supposed to be a set of brigands, with thr prospeet, in addition to all that, of ferocious Carlists falling upon you as soon as you are on the high road. A wretched lantern stuck up on the top of what seemed at first sight to be a little mountain, did not contribute much light for the discernment of tilings. 15y-and-bye, however, I perceived that this moimtain was the diligence, an old nonde- script vehicle of an immensurable height, with a monstrous heap of luggage on it, and witli seven mules to it. My first impression was that the mules would never be able to set it in motion at all, and that, should they manage to do so, the monster would no doubt upset at once. Mr. riimsoll and his overloadeil ships innnediately crossed my mind, l)ut 1 felt at once that there was not the slightest use in meditating about legislative projects or drawing foreign analogies, and that I had better secure a seat, and looked for my luggage.

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132 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

The seats were, of course, not numbered, and I was told I could take whichever I liked best ; as to my luggage, it was already loaded, and all I had to do was to pay another 70 reals for it, in addition to the 80 reals already paid for my ticket. The man who told me that, assumed that I ought to have been quite delighted, and that no more satisfactory position than mine could be well imagined. Giving up, therefore, all hopes of being permitted to inquire whether my portmanteaux, instead of being loaded, were not stolen, I proceeded to secure a seat, and found the atmosphere inside the immense vehicle so full of garlic and other attractive perfumes, and the vehicle itself so thickly packed with objects and subjects of which 1 was unable to discern the nature, that I did not hesitate a moment to decide that I would rather ran all the way alongside the mules than go in such a pan- demonium. But the perspiring priest with whom we had become friends on the previous day, was already on the look-out for me, to say he had secured me a seat outside. Great were my thanks for his attention ; but if I escaped asphyxia inside the diligence, 1 certainl}^ did not escape mediaeval torture. A little portable bench had been placed on the top of the vehicle

FROM BAYONNE TO MADRID. 133

in front of the mountain of lu^^gagc, and a cou[)le of square inches of space on it were allotted to each of us. The bench was thus made to accommodate four persons, my two other companions being the French .Jews from Bayonne, and as I had on the previous day had some clerical conversation with the reverend father, and did not quite meet his views, I began to think now he had jiin-posuly ])ut me and the Jews to this trial. All the horrors of the Inquisition crept one by one into ray head under the influence of the physical pain I was subjected to. and by-and-by the priest became to my mind thoroughly identified with the image of a Tor- quemada on a small scale.

The journey lasted over fourteen hours, and all the time our legs were hanging down without any vestige of a support of any sort, quite as if we were sitting on the edge of a roof. The coachman, whose box was down below us, was all the way howling horribly, and whipping us right across the face with the interminable whip, the reaction of which he said he was unable to control. Each stroke he gave to one of his seven mules was a stroke to souk' one of us too; and these lashes were not to be reckoned by the dozen, but by the hundred. The momitain of luggage behind us pushed us violently

134 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

down, together with our bench, each time the diligence was going down hill, and superhuman efforts were required on our part not to fall on the mules, and thence under the wheels. To im- prove our position in any way whatever was utterly impossible. To argue with the coachman was perfectly useless ; he knew his business, and would not risk the peril of the heavy coche publico crushing his mules, for a few lashes he might spare us. The only moments of rest we had from these tortures were at the villages where mules were changed, or when too rapid ascents presented themselves, and several pairs of oxen had to be substituted for mules. We could then get down and walk for a while alongside the coach, thus restoring vitality to our benumbed limbs.

In this comfortable way did we travel from four in the morning till eleven, when an hour's time was granted to us at Zummarraga for lunch and payment of another eighty reals to Yitoria. Of danger, properly so called, there was yet not the slightest trace. Much to our astonishment we had not even been upset. And except the torture inflicted upon us, and the infamous Spanish cook- ing, we had to complain of absolutely nothing.

It was at Zummarraga that we were for the

FROM BAYONXE TO MADRID. 135

first time positively tuld we shuiilJ meet Carlist bauds within a few miles. But at the same time we were assured that if we had neither oflieial despatches nor escort, we had nothing to fear. We should have a slight toll to pay, and would perhaps be searched for arms — that was all. I need scarcely say that, as we were still travelling through the provinces of Guipuzcoa and Alava, every town and village was thoroughly Carlist in its sympathies, and although all had " fortified '" balconies and windows, the population obviously never intended to defend itself. These fortifica- tions were constructed by Republican orders and for Republican troops, and, had we travelled with an escort, we should certainly have been exposed to the chance of being fired at from the mountains. Our coachman a Carlist to the back-bone, gave us by his mere presence among us the best imaginable protection. When we entered the first village occupied by the champions of Dio.% Fatria, ij Rerj, the leading street was of course full of j)eople, attracted by the noise of our heavy vehicle, and of endless numbers of little bells hanging and ringing on the mules' necks. Women, children, Carlists in arms, rushing pigs, barking dugs fiocked around us ; but wo did not seem to call forth any feeling

136 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

except slieer curiosity, even in the fiercest- looking Carlist. The diligence stopped at the fonda. The coachman alighted, went into the inn with the head of the Carlist band, handed him several newspapers and letters he had for him, talked about five or ten minutes, and after pay- ment of thirty shillings, which made less than half-a-crown a head on every traveller, once more took the reins, and we were off again without having been asked a single question. Of course, we all had an intense consciousness that we were practically at the mercy of a band of armed rufiians, and this by no means made us feel comfortable. But as I have to record here facts, and not individual feeUngs, I have no reason to dwell on the various manifestations of nervousness shown by our fellow-tra- vellers.

Three times were we stopped in that way before we reached Vitoria, and each time we had to under- go the same midangerous process of paying half- a-crown a head, and of waiting till the coachman had delivered his secret correspondence and given all the information the Carlist jefe may have wanted. That murders were committed on the high roads of Spain years and years ago, can be little doubted, for one can scarcely travel a few

FROM BAYONNE TO MADRID. 1;>7

miles without seeing by the roadside a lonely stone with a cross on it, and an inscription telling one that on tliis place Don So-and-so had found his life's end. l>ut it can be as little doubted that now-a-days, even in districts where Carlist war is supposed to rage, an unarmed man can travel quite safely, notwithstanding all the dread- ful stories spread abroad about" this curious and good-natured nation.

The high-road to Vitoria offered also an ex- cellent illustration of the manner in which the Spaniards were then carrying on their civil war. On leaving a village occupied by Carlists, we in- variably reached, after a few miles' drive, one occupied by Republican troops. This alternate, or rather intermittent, position of the respective forces puzzle<l me very much, and I made several inquiries of the men themselves what was the reason of this strange state of affairs, and why — since they were so near each other and almost intermixed — they did not fight it out some day, so that either the one or the other jiarty might become master of the ground now divideil into (piciT litllf bits among them. And the answer to such impiiries was invariably the same. The (Jarlists said they could not attack the llepublicans, because they were in small

138 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

numbers here, and had no artillery ; while the Republicans asserted the}" could never get at the Carlists, for they always occupied villages situated high on the mountains, watched every movement of the Republican columns down in the valley, and set off as soon as they saw that an attack on them was intended.

As a matter of fact, the manner in which our coach was received in villages occupied by Re- publican troops, differed in no way from its reception in villages occupied by the Car- lists, There was the same idle crowd in the leading street gazing at us, the same stoppage at the inn, and the same mysterious talk between the coachman and the commanding officers. In front of the municipal council house, a number of Republican soldiers were playing ball, just as lustily as in the other village Carlists were. The only difference was that we had no half-a-crown a head to pay to the Republicans, and that some of the Carlists had guns in their hands, while none of the Republican soldiers had any sort of arms at all about them. If it had not been for the fortified balconies and windows invariably re- appearing in every village, we should never have had reason to believe that we were really in a coun- try where war was going on. The apparent care-

FROM BATOXXE TO MADRID. 130

lessncss of regular Spanish troops is, indoed, something quite ])uzzliiig. The Carlists had, at least, a couple of sentries jiosted outside the vil- lage on the road ; but the Republicans did not seem to think even that precaution necessary. On approaching Vitoria we met a Republican column, some seven hundred or eight hundred men strong, marching out in search of Carlists, and the manner in wliich that column was proceeding on its way, headed by a handsome colonel dozing on horseback, would throw deep melancholy into the bosom of any English or German dis- ciplinarian. The column had neither van- guard nor rearguard, and a few dozen deter- mined men springing out of an ambuscade could have dispersed it at any given moment. Every man was walking as he pleased, smoking his cigarette, and except by his being dressed in a handsome uniform, differed in his general attitude in no way from British radicals or Irish patriots forming Hyde-park ]»roccssions.

On arriving at Vitoria and alighting at the Hotel de Taliares, 1 learned that \]n'W was little prospect of any train starting to Madriil, as the cure of Alaya was burning several stations near Miranda. It looked as if some more Torquemada diligence torture were in store for us. But our hunirer and

140 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

fatigue were so intense that all thought about the morrow was abandoned, and immediate dinner became the only thing cared for. We rushed into the comedor, or dining-room, without even waiting till our luggage mountain was unloaded, or our beds secured. But nothing was lost through that attack of voracity on our part. The luggage turned up all right, and every passenger had something to lie upon at night ; while 1 had the ad- ditional comfort of meeting two acquaintances from Bayonne : Colonel Butler, the late United States Consul-General in Egypt, and his Secretary, Major Wadleigh. After having resigned his post, the Colonel became desirous of joining the Carlist army as an amateur interested in mountain warfare.

The party started from St.-Jean-de-Luz in a hired carriage, across the Franco-Spanish frontier to Vera, which Dorregary had then taken possession of. The Colonel had all the necessary introductions, and the Carlist com- mander received him with great courtesy, and began at once to discuss the question of out- fit. Horses were the most difficult things to get in the already heavil}'^ requisitioned coun- try, but he hoped he should still find some, and ordered his aid-de-camp to bring at once

FROM BAYONNE TO MADRID. 141

any rklfulilo beasts lie could procure. Before the geijtleiiicu had time to settle various other questions the officer rctiinKd (piite radiant, sayini;' he had loiiiid already a couph; of very fine steeils. The Colonel, anxious to see them, looked out of the window, and, much to his surprise, saw his own horses led in triiuii]»h into the court-yard. "No, that won't do," was his instinctive exclamation in British dialect. He had rendered himself fully respon- sible that they, as well as the carriage and coach- man, should return in safety to St.-.Jean-de-Luz. Otherwise no one would have taken him over the frontier. The animals were accordingly to be restored to their proprietor, and, as no others could be found anywhere, the party was com- pelled to come to Vitoria, where 1 found them busily engau'i'il in purchasing charges, saddles, arms, mules for the luggage, and other articles ne- cessary on a campaign. Vitoria was in Ivepublican hands, and though it is the capital of a province, it is not so large a town that prejjarations of this sort could pass uniioliccd. The gentlemen did nothing to conceal their intentions. N'arious very suggestive things were all day long brought to their hotel, situated in the leading street ; yet no oxm seemed inclined to interfere in the least

142 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

with a project so obviously hostile to the party in whose power the place was. Now, fancy a similar thing attempted in France under the Commune, or in America during the war between North and South. Where would have been now the soul of the bold stranger who would have attempted an experiment of this sort? Yet people out of Spain talk constantly of the blood- thirstiness of Spanish parties, and of the savagery of Spaniards. Really, on seeing things on the spot, one is perfectly puzzled by the inoffensive nature of all Spanish political and revolutionary " horrors." It is quite a peculiar state of affairs : chaotic yet on the whole orderly, armed yet tranquil, penniless yet without any ap- parent misery, and with plenty of leisure and pleasure, — a state of affairs which cannot be better described than by simply calling- it " Spanish," in the sense in which " Dutch " is used by the common people when expressing something particularly queer. The Spaniards themselves describe it in this wise, by their cosas de Espana.

I was still in bed, restoring myself from the tortures of the diligence, when I heard a great mar- tial movement going on in the street. Bands were playing, horses galloping, regiments marching.

FROM BAYOXNE TO MADRID. 143

1 got up and loarned tliat a " great victory" luiJ been achieved b}' tlie Republicans, and that a large number oi" prisoners would be presently brought into town. The Militar}'^ Governor of the province. Brigadier Gonzalez, rode out to meet them, followed by a innnerous suite dressed in glittering uniforms, while he was himself in a light-grey overcoat, and with a chimney-pot hat on his head. It was the Republican column we had met on the previous day that was now returning, after a "brilliant" engagement it had had early in the morning. Considerable importance was evi- dently attached to the event, and the ceremony of meeting the victorious column looked quite a grand affair. P.iit the Brigadier Gonzalez still did not think it necessary to put on a uniform, though he was considered by the .Madi-Jd Government as a great disciplinarian, ami on the strength of this reputation was subsequently appointed Minister of War.

The disarnu'il but (]uite merry-looking prisoners were marched in with a immerous escort ; quite as strong a fonre was escorting the cart carrying the ritles taken iVoin them, 'i'he i>ri- soners were lodged in the town gaol, and their arms in some other safe place; but as Koon as the cercmoniul part of the business was over, and the

144 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

soldiers had retired to their barracks, the gaol was surrounded by a mass of people, and there was no end of greeting and cheering, the fellows looking quite as jolly through the rail- ings of the prison windows as if they were at- tending a wedding party.

To start from Vitoria was almost as difficult as it had been from San Sebastian. Up till four P M. no one knew at the station, or anywhere else, wdiether there would be a train at all. Some said all the rails were taken off near Miranda; others that all the stations were on fire ; the telegraph was cut ; and no exact information could be received unless a train from Madrid should turn up. The platform of the station was all day long crowded with people looking out for such an event, and, after several hours' waiting, they were gratified witli the sight of a locomotive at a distance, and with the sound of its whistle. The joy became exceedingly demon- strative, and the news of a Madrid train having arrived safe spread over the town with electric celerity. Much to our astonishment, when the train reached the platform, the doors of several luggage vans at both ends of it opened of them- selves, and poured out no end of cazadores (rifle- men) and carabineros (fusiliers). It was the

FIIOM I5AYONNE TO MADRID. UT)

■ scort. The Carlists liaviii.i; dechired ovlt uikI i>V(.'r a^aiii that tliey woiiKl file at ami upsijt any train that carried troojjs, the escort was now almost hermetically shut up in the luggage vans. lint notwithstanding the sale arrival of the train at Vitoria, it took the railway authorities a gooil deal of time to decide whether a rctuni-traiu could be started, after all the rumours which were current in the town. It was only under the heavy pressure of the travellers, and on the reiterated assurance of the officers command- ing the escort that there Avere no Carlists on the road, and on their official request to send the escort hack to Miranda, that the railway authorities made up tiieir mind to order the engine to be placed the other way, ami began to distribute tickets. In aiiutiier half hour we were olf amidst the blessings and good wishes of a crowded platform. The escort was, of course, again thickly packed, and locked up in the luggage-vans, while most of the few travellers had each a whole lirst-class carriage to hiiiistlf. The majority, on entering the carriages, began at once to barricaile the win- dows with cushions and hand luggage, so as tu hssen the chance of any (.'arlist balls reaching them. The train went forward with great cau- VOL. I. L

146 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

tion, and an additional couple of men were placed on the engine to look out for places where rails might have been cut. We did not progress more than at the rate of ten miles an hour ; but neither received Carlist balls, nor un- derwent any smash. Still, I must avow that such slow travelling, with the constant idea of the possibility of an immediate accident in your mind, is by no means a pleasant thing. After a while, one gets positively desirous that something should happen, and thus put an end to the un- certainty.

On arriving at ]\Iiranda, about ten o'clock at night, the escort left us, but it turned out that, to all appearance, the really dangerous portion of the line was beyond that town. The Carlists were at the second station from Miranda on the previous day, and had set it on fire, consequent on some " misunderstanding" between the leader of a Carlist inxrtida, the priest Alaya, and the station-master ; but the band — we were in- formed— was now being pursued by the troops in the mountains and the line clear. So off we were to Burgos, and when we had passed the still burning station — which, by the way, presented a very fine sight amidst the darkness of a southern night— and the driver felt

FROM BAYON'NE TO MADRID. 147

quite out of daii<;er, he iiiiule tlie tniin run at a rate wlik'li was by no means comforting to those who know tlic carelessness of Spanish guards and pointsmen. But

" Tired Nature's sweet restorer, balmj sleep,"

rendered us ratlier unconcerned with either the hehaviour of the engine-driver and the guards, or the night aspects of glorious cities like Burgos and Valladolid, through which we had to pass. I awoke early next morning with the sight of the snow-covered heights of Sierra Guadarrama on my right, and that of the monkish and mourn fid giant, Escorial, on my left. The guard entered the carriage to say we had reached the Escorial station, and had to wait there, as a telegram was expected from Madrid to say whether we could proct'C'd further, for tlie capital was, according to the news received during the night, in full revo- lution. The Federals had taken possession of all the imj)ortant jtuhlic buildings, including the railway station, and general fighting was ex- l)r(t.(l to begin at dayimak. Although I had already some ide.i ol" tlie Sjianish tendency to exaggeration, I thought this news looked serious. But in an hour's time "permission" to proceed arrived, and about ten A.M. we

L -2

148 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

reached the northern station of Madrid, which was really in full possession of an armed and ragged mob, but not a drop of blood seemed to have been shed. Gendarmes and soldiers of the late monarchy were noisily fraternising with armed "gentlemen of the pavement." It was clear that there might have been a conflict, but that it had been settled by the very peaceful process of one of the conflicting parties retiring from the struggle.

There is no need to repeat here all the rumours which comforted us at Escorial. The Federals were shooting everybody who did not join them ; the array had partly mutinied, partly fled ; Ser- rano had fought a duel with Pi y Margall, and so on. But on reaching the unlucky capital we were satisfied that, though the streets were crowded with a vociferous and gesticulating mob, the greater portion of which bore arms, there were no shots to be heard, nor anything to be seen suggestive of the probability of any at that moment. The omnibuses and carriages which took up the passengers at the station had considerable diflaculty in passing through the streets, but managed to deposit all of us safely at our respective hotels ; and the absence of any Custom-house officers, and the consequent non-

FROM BAYOXNE TO MADRID. llO

ransacking of our luggage, rather prc-disposed some of us in favour of the regime of mob- rule.

150

CHAPTER VI.

THE FEDERALIST COUP d'eTAT.

niHE events which will be probably described JL in Spanish history as the Federalist coup d'etat of April 23, were very simple in their nature. When King Amadeo abdicated and re- tired from Spain he left behind him a "Na- tional Assembly " which, amalgamated from two houses of Parliament elected under a Monarchy, was of course composed mainly of Monarchists, though of a liberal shade, known in Spanish political nomenclature as radicals. They constituted a majority of nearly three-fourths. But some of the seats on the Opposition benches were occupied by gentlemen of great attainments and very high reputation for integrity, yet strongly inclined towards republican theories. Among them Seiior Estanislao Figueras and Seiior Emilio Castelar were the best known

THE FEDERALIST COUP d'kTAT. I'll

abroad, especially tlie latter, wlio used, without kuowiuij: a word of Enjxlisli, to write a ^ood deal ill the Fi>vtiii(ilitl>i licrit'ir, and iu some of the American periodicals, chiclly on (piestions con- nected with the Republican movement in Europe. The Monarchists of this Assembly were, as they invariably are in Spain, very much out of tune with each other; ever3'one of them wanted some- thini; diflV-rent from what his next neighbour wanted, and so no sort of agreement or common action could ever have been expected from them in a critical moment. When Amadeo, annoyed by the open hostility shown to him, by violent jnirty struggles, and by the heavy expenses of Royalty, deposited his crown, the sundry factions of ^lonarchists were utterly unable to agree as to any line of action. They were, as usual, hesitating and quarreling, and thus gave the Re- publican fraction ample opportunity to jump at the tribune, and proclaim the Republic, which, as it turned out, did not find any actual opposition in the mass of peoph; outside the Assend)ly, and was therefore naturally considered as established. A Republican Ministry was at once formed, and Senor Figueras appointed president of the Executive Power.

The new Spanish Republic had a luck which

152 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

few republics ever had— that of being able, after one or two readjustments during the month of February, to compose a Government, against the members of which absolutely nothing detrimental could be said. Everyone of the men called to power was known as a man of high integrity and irreproachable morals, and some were, besides, known as very able men, especially so Senor Figueras (the President), Sefior Nicolas Salmeron (Minister of Justice), Serior Francisco Pi y Mar- gall (Home Minister), and Senor Eduardo Chao (Minister of the Fomento, or Progress, which includes commerce, public instruction, &c.) The remainder were men who had still to show whether they had the abilities of statesmen, but Avho had, one way or the other, obtained consider- able popularity. Sefior Emilio Castelar (Foreign Affairs) was a fine writer and poet, and Sefior J uan Tutau (Finances), was supposed to be an excellent authority in political economy. The War and ]\Iarine Ministers were the only ones still ob- jected to by the majority of the Eepublicans on account of their Monarchical connection. But it was impossible to find all at once experienced officers beyond the sphere of those who had served nnder the Monarchy. In this way, whatever suc- cess the Spanish Republic has had at the outset.

TFIE FEDERALIST COUP D'kTAT. 153

was entirely duo to tliu personal character of the men coniposini:: the new Cabinet, and I have never lieard in Mailrid or in the jtrovinccs, a single person, however hostile to the Kepiihlic, say any- thing detrimental against any of the Ministers as individuals. The high reputation of these gentle- men was a fact of almost incalculable importance in a country where governmental circles are most corrupt, where scandalous gossip is very much liked, and personal life very open to observation, and very much inquired into. The new Ministry had also another and rare advantage — that of being very homogeneous. The Ministers seemed never to quarrel with each other, and on the whole, I believe, selilom had any members of a Cabinet been more united in their views than those who had to work un<ler Seiior P^igueras.

The old Assend)ly was of course dissolved, and new elections were to take place f(jr a Con- stituent Assembly, which was to fran)e a new constitution for the country. Hut a Permanent Committee, with rather indistinctly limited powers, was left sitting until the new elmtioiis were over. Its duties were supj)0setl to consist of a general superintendence over the affairs of the country and the dealings of the Ministers. This comnjittec turned out to be thoroughly

154 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

hostile to the Republic, and conseqiientlj^ no harmony between it and the Ministry could have been expected from the outset. They interfered with every measure of the Executive Power, made several attempts to postpone the elections, and to reconvoke the old Assembly, and their quarrels grew more and more threatening every day. At the same time, rumours began to cir- culate that the Committee had come to an agree- ment with Marshal Serrano and several other Generals to upset the Government b}'' means of a military coup cTetat, and to bring the Marshal once more to power. On the other hand, Senor Figueras' wife having died, the President expressed his desire to retire for a short time from office, and the Ministry appointed Senor Pi y Margall as President pro tempore. The Committee at once protested, saying it was not the Minister's but the Committee's business to select a president in such a case. In a word, an open war was going on for several days between the two governing bodies, and on the 23rd of April, some eleven battalions of the old Monarchical National Guards (about 4,000 men strong), mustered by General Letona and the Marquis of Sardoal, were ordered to assemble at the Plaza de Toros, under pretence of a review. The Civil Governor of

THE FEDERALIST COUP d'eTAT. 1')')

Madrid, Senor Est(;vanez, a very shrewd Re- publican, knowing wliat tliis review meant, and awaro that Marshal Serrano's house was day and night full of Generals holding commands in the reguhir army, ordered in the first place all the Republican battalions to assemble, also for a review ; and in the second rushed to Senor Pi y Margall, ami induced him to dismiss at once all the conspiring Generals and to appoint others. At the same time he hurriedly published the following proclamation : —

" Madrilcuos ! — ^Vben I took charge of the Civil Govemor- shij) of the Province, I promised you I would watch over the public interests, the security and the rights of all the citizens. If I have compUcd with this up to now, I must in equal manner comply with it in the future, however critical the circumstances may be. The Monarchical demagogism has placed itself in rebeUion against the legitimate Government, but the latter counts on the support of the forces of the Army, Civil Guards, and Volunteers of the Republic. I promise you I shall ro-cstj»blish order, however painful it may be for me to Gght against those who were also Volunteers of the Republic, but who to-day have assumed a traitorous attitude.

" Ilealth and frutcmity.

" Nicolas Estevaxez, Civil Governor. " Madrid, April 23."

He had overtures made to hiuj by the Con- servatives, sliowed a disposition to listen to them,

156 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

and when he had grasped the nature of the arrangement, attacked it with all the un scrupu- lousness of a staunch Republican. The army, under its new officers, was practically neu- tralized, and, for still greater safety, part of it sent out of town. As to the artillery, Seiior Estevanez had fully secured its as- sistance. In that way, at noon on the memo- rable Wednesday, Madrid found itself divided between two armed forces, of which one was incomparably less strong than the other. The eleven Monarchical battalions took refuge in the vast building of the bull-ring, and were disarmed there by the Republican forces without a single shot having been fired, except the few with which the appearance of the Republican commander, General Contreras, had been greeted, and which resulted in the death of a poor uncon- cerned cabman. The Republican victory was as complete as it could possibly be, and, taking full advantage of it, Senor Pi y Margall went, on the same night, a little beyond the strictly legal limits of his position : he issued a decree dissolving both the Permanent Committee and the refractory battalions, adding that he would justify these acts before the new Assembly when it met on the 1st of June. His dictatorial decrees ran thus : —

THE FEDERALIST COUP d'kTAT. 157

" Presidency of tlio Executive Power of tlic Republic, — "The Govornmont of the Republic, considering tlint tlic Pominneiit Coininittoe of the Cortes Ims, by its conduct and tendencies, converted itself into an element of perturbation and disorder ; considering that it has ostensibly endeavoured to I)rolong indefinitely tlie interinidad in which we live, when the contrary is counselled by the interests of the country and of the Republic ; considering that to effect this it attempted, against the text of a law of the Assembly, to postpone the election of Deputies to the Cortes Constituyentes ; considering that with this intent it jiroposed to re-convoke the Assembly, when, so far from the existence of extraordinary circumstances which might justify this, the discipline of the Army had notably improved, public order was almost assured, and the factions of Don Carlos had just received defeats which hud greatly broken them up ; considering that by its unjustifiable pretensions it contributed much to provoke the conflict of yesterday, even without taking into consideration the direct part some of its members took in it; considering tliat yesterday it attempted of itself to appoint a Commandante-General of the citizen forces, thus usurping tlie faculties of the Executive Power ; consider- ing, in short, that it has been a constant obstacle to the march of the Government of the Republic, against which it has been in perpetual machination, decree : —

"Art. 1. The Permanent Committeeof the Assembly remains dissolved.

" Art. 2. The Oovemment will give due account to the Cortes Constituyentes of the results of this Decree.

" By accord of the Council of Ministers,

•• FiiANCisco Pi y MAKn.\i.i., President Iiitrrino of the Executive Power. " Madrid, April 2t, 1»73."

158 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

" Ministry of the Goberiiacion, —

" Considering that the battalions of Volunteers assembled together yesterday in the Plaza de Toros declared themselves in open insurrection against the Executive Power, the Govern- ment of the Eepubhc decree : —

"Art 1. The battalions of Volunteers Nos. 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10, and those of Volunteers known as Artillery, Sappers, Cavalry, and Veterans of the Repubhc, are hereby dissolved.

" Art. 2. All the members, officers, and chiefs of the said Corps must, within twenty-four hours, deliver up the arms, munitions, and other eifects of war which are not their private property.

" Art. 3. Those who fail to obey this decree within the same period will be punished according to the Code.

"Art. 4. The delivery of arms, &c., is to be made in the offices of the Inspections of public order.

" Art. 5. The Civil Governor of the Province is charged with the execution of this decree.

" Francisco Pi y Maegall, Minister of the Gobernacion and President Interino of the Executive Power.

" Madrid, April 24, 1873."

Theoretically, the young Minister of the In- terior, and pro tempore President of the Republic, was now as fully a master of Spain as any dictator ever was in any country ; but practically he had over him the will of an armed and victorious mob, and Allah alone knows what would have happened under similar circumstances in any other country. Here, however, everything passed off in a curiously quiet manner. All the ring-

THE FEDERALIST COUP d'kTAT. 15 'J

K'iulLTSul' the reactionary iiujvciucnt tu(jk to lliglit, including Marshal Serrano and the members ot tlie IV-rniaiK'iit ( 'miimittee, and tliose who liad managed to win the day were left to do what they pleased. When I reached ^ladrid early on tiic 24th, the whole town was in arms. Tiie Puertii del Sol, that celebrated centre of all Spanish revolutions, was covered with noisy and de- monstrative human beings, most of whom had loaded guns in their hands. I purposely secured an apartment looking on the Puerta, but in vain did I wait all day long on my balcony for the sight of a fight. The only objectionable thing a portion of this mob did, was to go to the houses of the ringleaders of the reactionary party, and to make a search there for their proprietors, none of wjiom could be found, of course. But during these domiciliary visits, tlie armed mob no- where connuitted any robbery or caused any de- struction of proj)erty. The searches were made in the most orderly way, and except arms, ot which some of the disaffected Generals had rather hirge and valuable collections, nothing wascarrird iway fium the houses. On looking at the pro- eeecbngs of that ragged mass of what seemed really to be most ferocious-looking rullians, 1 remembered, unwillingly, the days of the Paris

160 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

Commune. A comparison naturally suggested itself to my mind, and I felt a deep respect for the unlucky and much abused Spanish people.

While I was thus engaged in a process of retro- spective and international comparison, my land- lord, who, like all shop and hotel keepers in Madrid, was an obstinate Monarchist, rushed into my room quite pale and nervous, saying I had better pack my luggage again, as we were at the full mercy of the mob, and were sure to have "dogs dining upon our bowels" {tripas) to-morrow morning. Yet that to-morrow morning brought no increase of danger either. All seemed to go on still quite harmlessly, though the crowd covering the cele- brated square in front of the Palace of the Goher- nacion seemed to be still larger. Yet not a quarrel was to be seen, no violence was committed ; and an Order of the day censuring the invasion of private houses was placarded everywhere, warning the National Guards against any new attempt of the sort, which would bring the culprits before the tribunals. At the same time the Gaceta de Madrid, the official organ, published the following version of the events which had taenk place on the previous day : —

" Yesterday the Aleakle of Madrid, Seuor Marina, under the pretext of reviewing the Volunteers, ordered the battalions

THE FEDERALIST COUP D'kTAT. 101

wliich existed during the reign of Amodeo of Savoj to mass in tbo Plaza do Tores. The news of this filled the capital with alarm, and produced great agitation. As soon as the Civil Governor of the Province heard of it, he ordered the immediate convocation of the battalions of Volunteers who have been recently organized, according to the Decree issued bv the Govcniuient of the Eepublic on the 14th of February.

" At 3 p.m. the Pennanent Committee of the Cortes met, as announced, with the assistance of all the Ministers except the Home Minister, who was occupied with tiie question of public order. Deliberation was going on tranquilly, when fresh news obliged the Government to retire before any decision had been come to.

" The Volunteers of the ancient Republican party had carried out the generous idea of approaching those of the Plaza de Toros to see if they could not come to an understanding, and jointly place their arms at the disposal of the Executive Power. When tiiey reached tlio Plaza, they soon became convinced of the gravity of tlie situation. The Volunteers inside were decidedly in insurrection. They were headed by the Unionista General Letouu, and among them were various retired officers of ditter- ent arms. In vain did Brigadier Carraona, one of the Com- mission of the Republican Volunteers, try to harangue them. General Lctona and his friends imposed silence upon them, and did not hesitate to proclaim their hostility to the Government of the Republic. Convinced of the state of insurrection of tlio Volunteers in the Plaza de Toros, the Government met in council, and took energetic means to attack them. Tliey met witli the most deeiiled supiturt from .nil the troops of the garrison, and, tliank.n to the importing attitude of the army, aiid to the skilful disposition of tlie Republican Volunteers elicited by Drigmlicr Carmona, who w;wj made Commandcr-Qejurul v(

VOL. I. M

162 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

the Militia, the insurgents yielded, and the Plaza was evacu- ated, the insurgents being in great part disarmed by the battalions who occupied the streets opening into the Prado. Great zeal and love for the Republic have been demonstrated in this conflict by tlie Minister of War, General Acosta, whose orders were executed with decision and energy by Generals Socias, Hidalgo, Contreras, Pierrad, Ferrer, and Milans del Bosch, and Brigadier Arin, all of whom from the first moment offered their services to the Government. The Committee of the Cortes continued deliberating to the great displeasure of the Republican party, who consider it as having been the cau^seof the conflict by its marked tendency to create obstacles to the progress of the Government, prolong the interinidad, postpone the elections for the Cortes Constituyentes, and convoke, without due and reasonable motive, the Assembly, whose sessions had been suspended, that the Executive Power might have more liberty of action, and devote themselves to the maintenance of order and the salvation of the great interests of the Republic and of the country. Thus the Committee had come to be an element of perturbation, so much so that when the Republican Volunteers saw that, even after the insm-rection of yesterday was subdued, they presumed to continue deliberating over the re-convocation of the Assembly, tliey conceived great ire against them, from which the Government were able to save them with not a little effort. Fortunately, we have surmounted this grave crisis without otlier casualties than those always attendant on even the slightest movement of confusion and tumult among a population. Madrid is tranquil, although armed, and is anxious for the consolidation of a RepubHc surrounded by so many difiiculties and machinations. The Government are re- solved to save it by dint of energy and great sacrifice."

TIIE FEDERALIST COUP D'kTAT. 1<;3

The young Spanisli Republic was tlius a little over two luoutlis old when I reached Madrid. The hardships the newly-born baby was now exposed to, and the trials it had to undergo, wen; something quite desperate. In several large towns the working classes proved utterly unable to com- prehend lvei)ublican institutions, except in the shape of an anarchy tempered by grape shot, and had, according to circumstances, either to be bam- boozled or to be fought. A fanatical civil war was raging all over the north of the country. Justice, administrative machinery, army, navy, everything that constitutes government, was in a state of perfect disorganisation and ruin. Tiie Treasury was literally penniless, and foreign iron- clads were sternly cruising along the coast. But a circumstance threatening still more imme- diate danger, was the open hostility between the Kxecutive Power and the Permanent Committee. It became evident that they coidd not get along together, and that one of the two woidd have to submit. The contest was decided in favour of the E.xecutive Power, ami, truly speaking, it is only iViiiii the '2'.\vd of A]>ril tliat the establish- ment of the Kepublic ought to be reckoned ; for as long as the Monarchical factions were still in the field, and at liberty not only to conspire, but to

M 2

3 64 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

brinf^ an armed force into the streets of Madrid, the Spanish Republic stood on a most shaky basis.

Thus as far as the Republicans were then con- cerned, I could easily make out both the meaning of the memorable Wednesday and the manner in which they carried the day. But I was anxious to ascertain what were the exact intentions of their opponents, and whose guilt it was that the Conservative attempt proved a failure. The officers had then not yet lost all control over the army, and a great feeling of discontent seemed to prevail in the regular troops, consequent on the indiscrimi- nate armament of the National Guards. It seemed rather strange that the opponents of the Govern- ment had not taken advantage of it, mustered the regiments, and upset so eminently an un- military lot of men as Seuor Figueras, Seiior Castelar, and Seiior Pi y Margall. Marshal Serrano was the most likely man to know everything, and I soon made off in search of him.

On the eve of my starting for Madrid I had the pleasure of presenting my compliments to the Duchess de la Torre — for such is the title by which both the Marshal and his lady prefer to be called— at her villa Rue Silhouette, Biarritz.

THE FEDERALIST COUP d'eTAT. ir,5

"I shoiilil like very mucli your calling upon my liusKuul if you have time," said the Duchess, about ^vh()m so many wicked rumours had been spread, and who is still one of the most fascinat- ing and amiable ladies I know. " He would be so glad to know that both the children and I are getting well, and to see some one that has so recently seen us. I will just drop you a line for him," and slowly, in a supine and lazy sort of way, the Duchess began to scrawl something on a miniature bit of Marion paper, still talking, without lifting her eyes from the lines her little hand was tracing. But I was unable to listen to her ; she gave me too good a chance, unnoticed, to enjoy the charming features against which both age and the anxietiesof revolutions seem to haveproved equally powerless. "I am, however, afraid," said she, folding her little epistle, "that my poor Duke will not be of any use to you at Madrid. What is he now ? Nothing. And he has done so much for Spain ! (^>uite recently, he tried again to render the country a service by settling the Artillery question. The gentlemen who call themselves Ministers at Mailrid gave him lull powers, saying that they accepted beforehand all his stipulations. Yet yesterday I received a letter from him showinir that all his cfTorts had been

166 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

in vain, and that these gentlemen behaved towards him like men without honour. You know how moderate the Duke is in his language, and there- fore you will believe that the case must have been a very hard one, indeed, if he speaks in that way. At the same time, everyone feels that he is the only man that could help our poor coun- try out of the chaos. I have received from Mon- sieur Thiers several telegrams within these last days. He not only offers, with his usual courtesy, to place himself at my and my husband's dis- posal, but assures me that, should the Duke come to power, the Republic would be immediately acknowledged by France, and he believed by other Powers too." And while narrating me this underhand escapade of the shrewd little ruler of France, she handed me her almost microscopical note bearing the address : " Exce- lentisimo Seiior Dxique de la Torre" written in so fine and small a handwriting as only a Spanish lady is capable of. Yet notwithstanding my being armed with this little but highly effective pass, I had to give up all hopes of discovering the whereabouts of the Marshal when I reached Madrid. His most intimate friends seemed to have no idea where he could be.

"If anyone knows anything positive," said

THE FEDER.VLIST COUP D'kTAT. IC>7

one of tliein, " it can only he the old Countess 'le Montijo. But lie is not with her, for her house was ransacked yesterday hy an armed band." A lew days later everyone knew that, with the aid of the P^nglish Minister, Mr. Layard, and of an Knglish razor that shaved off the Marshal's mous- tachios, he had safely escaped to France. But in the first turmoil the fact was not generally known, and as the Countess de Montijo had favoured me with an invitation to come and see her when 1 visited Madrid, I resolved to call without any further delay at the well-known mansion of the Plaza del Angel, so plain-looking from the outside and so intensely comfortable within.

168

CHAPTER VII.

THE COUNTESS OF MONTIJO ON SPANISH MOB-RULE.

niHE mother of the ex-Empress of the French JL is ahnost blind now, but her mind is as fresh and bright as ever, and her house remains still the centre where all influential notabilities congregate in Madrid. I called on the Countess early in the afternoon, and found her alone, seated in her favourite artificially darkened corner of a vast hall, transformed into a winter garden. The conversation fell quite naturally on the events of the day, and the old lady, at all times a capital talker, was more animated than ever.

" Serrano was not here," said she, " and I sin- cerely regret that he did not ask for my hos- pitality. I should have been most happy to be of any assistance to him. He is a man of eminent capacities and great energy, though I don't be- lieve him to be fit for an actual leader. He must

THE COUNTESS OF MOXTIJO ON MOB-RULE. KV.I

work uiulor some one — or nt least, in the name of some one — then he is worth any priee. l»ut when he is to be the man he is inclined to hesi- tate, and I know that this time my estimate of him has perfectly jnstified itself. If they did not succeed on Wednesday, it was his fault. Every- one came to him for positive orders, and he did not give any. He permitted himself to be out- done by Estevanez. That is a man ! a brigand ! but really a man. Without hini, the literati ruling to-day over our destinies would have lost a day or two more, and Serrano might perhaps have taken some resolution. But Estevanez spied out everything, caused all the commanding officers to be changed at a few minutes' notice, and not only defeated Serrano, but nearly cut off all his chances of escape. If we were a revengeful people, the poor Marshal might have been shot already. But happily enough we are not so ; we always help each other out of difficulties, and I am sure that Serrano was protected by the very men against whom he fought, and that every one of the vanquished jxirty has escaped with the full knowledge of the (Jovernment. I know that Senor Castelar did his best to I'lace all the leaders of the movement under the protection of some foreign embassy. We are

170 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

don't you see, so accustomed to revolutions, and are so little sure of not wanting some one's help to-morrow, that we instinctively protect everybody to-day. This personal kindness, joined with ap- parent great political harshness, is quite charac- teristic of the Spaniards of all classes. It has got into their blood. Look how the Carlists are protected everywhere. Look at the mob itself, that is now complete master of every one of us. Do they do any harm to anyone? Personal safety was never greater in Madrid than it is now. All the ruffians got a gun, suppose themselves to be something, and are quite satisfied. They watch over that ver}^ property they might have otherwise destroyed, and protect those lives they might have otherwise taken. I begin to like Republican arrangements. Turn all the thieves and brigands into guardians of peace and order, and all the difficulties of the so-called largo agglomerations of modern cities are got over. Is it not nice "? And I can assure you that in fortnight — unless something new happens — Serrano may drive daily on the Prado as com- fortably as if nothing had happened. But what do I say — a fortnight ? To-morrow every danger will be over, especially if there is a bull-fight. You will see it yourself. But you might see also

THE COUNTESS OF MOXTIJO ON MOB-Rll^E. 1 7 1

many new rows, and jjcrliajis actual bloodshed, should the weather get hot, and our Mood begin to boil a little. As long as the weather remains so cold, I do not apprehend any serious dis- turbances."

I could not help laughing at the picture the Countess drew here of the temperament and peculiarities of her countrymen.

" You laugh," said she, " but I am really telling you the truth, although I may seem as if I was joking. We are a strange people, not like every- body else. But all j^laisanteries aside, I must avow I am amazed at the conduct of what we call our canaille. I begin deeply to respect this semi-savage mob. They behave themselves really wonderfully, and I believe nowhere could a similar sight be seen — certainly not in our be- loved France, ^liiid you, that they are absolute masters to do what they i)lease, and what have they done ? I will give you one instance. On an estate of mine in the province of Valladolid, the peasants got the notion that the ' Republic' meant the breaking up (.»f large estates and the distribution of land among them. And so they came to my steward to inquire when and how the partition was to be eflected. They said they knew for certain that the Republic meant such a

172 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

partition. The steward, who is a clever old man, and knows his people w^ell, did not make any noise, and did not contradict them, but said he was quite sure they were right, and was very glad their position would be so much better now ; but added that, before proceeding with any new arrangement, both himself and the peasants ought to receive orders from Madrid, so as to avoid any chance of getting into legal troubles. They quite agreed with him that such was the wisest course to take, and though the explanation was given them three months ago, they have never raised the question again since that time.

Even here in Madrid, where the mob is supposed to be much more dangerous than in the provinces, it seems to me to be just as good-natured. You know that a band invaded my house yesterday in search of Serrano. I was at dinner with a few friends, and on the footman's announcement of the unexpected visit, I ordered him to say to the man in command of the band, that as I had no material force to oppose him, he was at liberty to do what he pleased, but I would not disturb myself from my dinner. And I gave orders to throw everything open. Well, what was the result '? Five men only came up- stairs, the body of them remaining outside. They

THE COUNTESS OF MOXTIJO OX MOB-RULE. 173

searched every corner of the house, but in a niuinier as proper and orderl}' as the best police would have done. And when they reached the dining-room, and I ofl'ered them, according to our natit)nal custom, to partake of my meal, they all blushed like school-girls, and were only anxious to get away as quickly as possible."

The Countess spoke often and much on the inofl'ensiveness of the Spanish character; and I l)urposely give here her opinion, as that of a person whom none will accuse of being a partizan of mob-rule or democratic theories, and who, being now (piite aloof from any political party, has lived lung enough to form a just esti- mate of the political peculiarities of her country- men Even in the worst days of the revolutionary outbreaks, the Countess never left Spain if she happened to be there, and never showed anything like distrust towards any class of her fellow- countrymen. So great, consequently, seems to bo the regard which all S})aniards j)ay to the old lady, that her nejjhew, notwitlistanding his being in no way connected with the Itepublic, is still in otlice at the Ministry vi' F()Ivi^Ml AlVairs.

Every day at half-past seven some half-a-dozen friends sit down at the Countess's table, from which

174 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

the national ^^ocA^ro is never missing, and which is always so delicious that it compensates one for all the miserable Spanish dishes which one may have been compelled to swallow in the most out of the way corners of Estremadura or La Mancha. A little after nine the doors of her drawing-room are opened, and some more guests belonging to all shades of political opinions come to salute the old lady, to listen to what she has to say on the topics of the day, and now and then to afford her the opportunity of having a talk of the olden days when her eldest daughter, the Duchess of Alba, before whose beautiful full-sized portrait she is always sitting, was still alive; or of those nearer days when her other daughter had not to mourn the loss either of a husband or an imperial crown.

The Countess watches with great interest the state of English popular opinion with reference to Spain. Her English lady's companion reads to her every day some London newspaper, and next to such paragraphs as may happen to be in it from Chislchurst, comes invariably the Spanish special correspondence column.

"I am glad to see," said she once to me, when I found her at one of these daily readings, " that the English journalists have given up

THE COUNTESS OF MONTIJO ON MOB-RULE. 11')

describing us as brigands and assassins. They still sneer at us, and sometimes in a very nasty way, but that wo I'orgivc tlieui ; we know that all they want is to carry on trade with this country, and that, whenever there is any dis- turbance in the regular business traflic, England becomes at once discontented. But I hope tlie day will come when Englishmen will know us better and like us better. At all events those of them I see here, and who are residents in our country, have often repeated to me that, whatever may have been the political disturb- ances, they always found that both property and life were quite as secure in Spain as in England, and that in Madrid they were even more so than in London." I did, of course, my best to per- suade the old lady that the notions about Spanish savagery and brigandage had almost disappeared in England, and that, even in so old a book about Spain as that of Mr. Ford, complaints were already uiade that, n(itwithstanding the constant de- mand for brigand adventures in the home market, great ingenuity must now bu evinced by travellers to get up bond fide nuiterials for anything in the shape of ;i story of a nice Spanish nnu'der, or robbery.

On the Sunday which followed the Federalist

176 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

coup (tetat, I took advantage of tlie old lady's advice, and went to the bull-ring to see whether really the population of Madrid would have for- gotten all that had passed during the week. The ring is said to be capable of accommodating about thirteen thousand people, and it was crowded to excess on that day. Even all the approaches to the Plaza de Toros were thronged with a gaily dressed crowd. The National Guards, having apparently forgotten that they were now guardians of peace and order, left their guns at home and were the first to create a quite undescribable noise. Royalists and Federalists were joining in the common excitement, and the young Duchess of Alba, by her anxious watching of the bull-fight from her box, evidently showed that she was just as sure that peace and order were not threatened in Madrid, as her old grandmother. When I next saw the Countess, and complimented her on the perspicacity she had evinced in foretelling that everything would be settled by Sunday, afternoon when the fight was to take place, she answered me with a quiet sort of smile which is scarcely ever absent from her lips : —

" I should have been very sony if I had not been right, for it would have proved that I had lived for about seventy years among the people of my

THE COUNTESS OF MOXTIJO ON MOB-RULE. 177

country without ever learning to know them. I can give you, however, another proof that I know my Spaniards well. I told you the other day tliat Serrano was most likely to escape by the aid of the very men who are now in power, and wlio, to judge by the surface of things, must be most angry against him. And it turns out that he did really escape quite safely, and nut only with the knowledge, but by the direct aiil of the members of the Republican Government, and more especially by that of Castelar. The eloquent orator had a debt of honour to pay, for Serrano once facilitated his escape; and it was uidy fair that he should return the service. As I told you, we live in this country on the principle of a mutual escape insurance. No one knows wiiat may bi-fall him next day or next week; and by aiding other people to escape, he secures his own safety in a like moment of danger. IJesides, what would t he (iovernment have done, had all the leaders of the Plaza dc Toros movement been captured. Why, it would have been the greatest calamity that could have happened to the Ministry. The *' sovereign people " would have at once demamlevl the life of those men, while Castelar and Com- pany have all their life long written and speechified against capital punishment. The European Go- VOL. I. N

178 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

vernments would also have risen against tlie wholesome execution of men of such high posi- tion, and the Republican Cabinet is above all other things anxious to appear as a respect- able body in the eyes of European Powers, so as to get some chance of being ofiicially recognised abroad. All this must naturally have led to their helping the escape of everyone of their oppo- nents and enemies. Castelar and Figueras were for two days conferring with the foreign ambassa- dors in Madrid on the subject of how better to protect the valuable lives of the very men who had conspired to upset them. They were all distri- buted among the sundry Legations ; and it seems it was Mr. and Mrs. Layard who undertook tO' protect the leading spirit of the abortive attempt. After having for about twenty-four hours rushed in disguise about the residences of some of his most intimate friends, the man who had so often ruled Spain was safely brought to the Call© Torija, where his moustaches were shaved off, some English looking whiskers pasted on his cheeks, and an old travelling suit of Mr. Layard's put on him, a big and ugly felt hat serving as a com- plement to the whole. Being shown in this masquerade attire to some of his friends, and they having declared him to be utterly meconnaissable.

THE COUNTESS OF MONTIJO ON MOB-RULK. 1 70

ho was despatched under the kind escort of Mr. and Mrs. La\ anl tliemselves to the railway station, and thence to ISantander, The English ambas- sador and his lady were travelling all the way down, and taking advantage of their position prevented any search in their carriage, or the identification of any ])ersons therein, though on many stations the National Guards showed a great desire to ascertain the personality of the passengers. At Santander, I hear, a little steam- tug has already been hired by the British Legation to proceed on a special mission to St.-Jean-de- Luz, and unless the boat be very bad and the <Iulf of Biscaya in a particuUxrly violent fit of temper, our amiable Duke is pretty sure to be now in the arms of his still more amiable Duchess. 1 am in-art ily iii.ui if it be so, and I hope it is. J5ut I still pity the moustaches which have always so powerfully aided the handsome Serrano in his career. There is always something humiliating for a man in his position, and especially for asoUiier, to be compelled to disguise himself that way. 1 fancy I could never have done so had I been he, or I should luive felt myself more like an adven- turer than a Duke and Generalissimo. How- ever " and the old Countess shut her suflering

eyep, as she always does after having spoken for

\ 2

180 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

some time, and when they have become fatigued by light, and seemed quite absorbed by endless reminiscences — probably not Spanish only — which the story of Serrano's escape must naturally have suggested to her.

181

CHAPTER VIII.

FEDERALIST ELECTIONS AND FEDERALIST FESTIVITIES.

A GOOD many readers might consider it quite an unusual, indeed, almost an unor- thodox thing in this country, to write a book on Spain without giving a description of a bull- fight. A writer might dispense with brigand stories, on the plea that there are now no bri- gands in Spain, or at least that he did not meet any; but no one could believe that he had not seen any espadas, chulos, picadores, and ban- derilleros at work in the bull-ring; and the truth is that he would not be able to speak of Spain, witiiout having seen Spaniards at their national eulertainnient. So we shall, probably, hare to say a few words on this subject; but this by-and-by, when we shall have to talk of Spaniards as a nation, not of individuals, or political parties. Besides, the last week of April

182 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

and the first fortnight of May promised no end of interesting events outside of the bull-ring. In the first instance general elections were forthcoming, and the Intransigentes — or the Irreconcilables, the ultra-Federalists, the Communists — call them as you like, were carrying on an apparently suffi- ciently serious agitation to absorb all other interests. Then there was also coming the cele- brated anniversary known as the Dos de Mayo (2nd of May) at which thousands and thousands of armed men were expected to assemble, and some sort of row seemed to be quite a natural anticipation. At last, though not least, the anni- versary of San Isidro, the rustic patron of Madrid, was speedily approaching, and might also have given a good opportunity for the working classes to turn their gatherings on the hill beyond the dried-out Manzanares into more or less mischievous demonstrations. All those who do not know Spain and Spaniards anticipated great bloodshed on all these occasions, and I knew even of many Spanish families having spent their last onzas to be able to escape from the capital on the approach of these threatening days. Yet it is doubtful whether to unbiassed students of Spanish charac- ter the population of Madrid has ever presented a more interesting sight— a more wonderful mani-

FEDERAL ELECTIONS AND FKSTIVITTKS. IS.T

fe.st;iti(Mi of mixture of impulsiveness and self- command by which they are distinguished ; of ver- hal violence and moderation of action ; of apparent lilood-thirstiness and actual aversion for blood- shed; of intense party hatred, and almost unlimited respect for the individuality of their opponents.

For fully a fortnight after the Federalist roup (Tetat became an accomplished fact, and the Government of Figueras and Castelar were perfect masters of Spain, the Intj^an^igentes got up in various }>arts of Madrid daily meetings of the adherents of their party for the purpose of duly preparing public opinion for the forthcoming elections. Not only were these elections to be general elections, but they were to take place for the purpose of giving the country a Constituent Assembly, which was to remodel the whole governmental machinery, to abolish everything tiiat reminded Si)ain of centralized monarchies, and to present her with a chalice overflowing with those liberties and franchises which have been dreamed of by the theoreticians of all the Kepubliean schools since the great days of Athens and Rome, and which they have as yet laboured in vain to achieve.

For weeks past the walls of Madrid had ln-en placarded with all sorts of manifestoes and

184 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

declarations of the various committees, and in all of them the Government, which had scarcely established itself, was attacked as not being sufficiently Republican, and suggestions were thrown out that, unless certain reforms, indis- pensable from the point of view of the In- transigentes, were granted, the Government should be immediately overthrown. Among these re- forms, the most prominent were the immediate proclamation of a Federal Republic ; the aboli- tion of the Council of State and the reduction of the number of Ministries and Boards forming the Central Government and incompatible with the Federal principle; the separation of Church and State; the readjustment of the Budget (what was to be the nature of this readjustment was not explained) ; and the abolition of lotteries and of the penalty of death. Such were the starting points of the Intransigentes and the topics upon which they dwelt in all cafes, tertulias, and popu- lar meetings, the largest of which, and that to which all the others were to serve as mere pre- liminaries, was to take place on the Sunday follow- ing that on which the bull-fight caused the popu- lation of Madrid to forget all about the coup d'etat. It was the 4th of May, if I am not mis- taken, and at two o'clock I was in the square

FEDERAL ELECTIONS AND FESTIVITIES. 185

or rather in the courty<ard between the ex-royal I'aliice and tlie ex-royal stables. The very fact ol' the Jntransiijentes selecting a retired spot of that sort, showed that they did not wish to pro- voke any j)opular manifestation or to produce any excitement in town, in which case they would certainly have selected the Puerta del Sol or the Prado, where revolutions were, as a rule, begun, carried on, and ended. It may be also that the Government of Senor Figueras and Castelar had suggested to the hitransigentes the advisability of their retiring to the Palace courtyard, for it is another of the many things peculiar to ISpain — cosas de Espana — to make j)olitical (though by do means personal) enemies as comfortable as possible, and often to agree with them beforehand about the general arrangements of the contest.

A man accustomed to meetings of repre.scnta- tivL's of the radical party in otlier countries, would certaiidy have expected to see on that day a great number of working men and rough-looking fellows belonging to that nondescrii)t class which detests prosj)erous artisans still more, perhaps, than capitalists or nobles. But in Spain, where everything is diflVrent from all that is to be seen in any other country, tiie very word "Kadi-

186 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

cal " has a meaning different from that which it has in the rest of Europe. The Spanish Radicals are Monarchists, about one shade only in advance ' of the Spanish Conservatives. In fact, they would represent something similar to the party in Eng- land supporting the Government of Mr. Gladstone, and their organs might be all most efficiently edited by any of the Daily Telegraph lions ; while the Intransigentes party is that which is Radical here — that is to say, which is led by men like Mr. Bradlaugh and Mr. Odger. Wherever one of these gentlemen appears in England, his audience is sure to consist of working men. In Spain, on. the other hand, I don't think I have seen a single working man at the Intransigentes meeting, which numbered about three thousand people. Nearly all of those present belonged — at least, to judge by their appearance and address — to that class of society from which Government clerks, teachers, journalists, lawyers, commission mer- chants, and similar professions are recruited. The speeches delivered were, of course, of a very fierce nature, though a good deal of this fierceness ought to be put to the account of the Spanish language, and the natural violence of Spanish gesticulation. They resembled, in many features, the speeches of French Communards and of

FEDERAL ELECTIONS AND FESTmTIES. IS 7

Russian Nihilists, hut were incomparaMy less sanguinary than either, and pleasantly diflered from lioth thruuirli the absence ol' any jiersonal squabbles between the speakers. 'J'he orators explained their views as to what Federalism meant, and what, in their opinion, a good Go- vernmental system should be. They indicated some suspicion they entertained that the Cabinet was not sufficiently converted to the Federalist theories ; they argued that the best way to im- prove the existing state of affairs was to send to the new Assembly none but Intransigentes^ the speakers evidently meaning that they were about the fittest men to send, although they did not make any positive statement to that effect. In a couple of hours of this sort of speechifying, the audience, kn(»\ving that the bull-fight hour was speedily approaching — for it was a Sunday, and consequently a bull-fight day— brought the meet- ing to a close, and the whole company went straightforward to the Plaza de Toros. There was no procession, no noise of any kind, the whole gathering breaking uj> into small grouj>s, merging, in the Puerta del Sol ami the Callo de Alcahi, into the innnense ami motley stream of quite a Derby-like excited multitude, an<l in a quarter of an horn's time no one in the whole

188 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

city thought any more of Federalist or any other political theories, the whole of them being to all appearance entirely drowned in the enjoyment of the innumerable niceties of the tauromachia.

Two days previous to the Meeting, the pro- ceedings and result of which were so remarkably peaceful and innocent, an opportunity of a totally different kind was offered to the mob of Madrid of making a disturbance, if they had been disposed to do so. It was on the 2nd of May, which is supposed to be the anniversary of the liberation of Spain from the French invaders, a day which is always observed with great festivity.

The reader will probably remember that Murat entered Madrid in March, 1808, and began to treat the population of the capital in the way in which the Generals of Bonaparte treated the in- habitants of all conquered cities. The Spaniards rose against him, and a pretty general massacre took place on the second day of May of the same year. As is usually the case, the memory of the more serious sufferings inflicted upon the unhappy people vanished from the national mind ; but one scene of the struggle was seized, magnified, and embellished by the popular imagination, and

FEDERAL ELECTIONS AND FESTHITIES. 1«9

transformed into one of the most brilliant episodes contained in the chronicle of national Spanish hero- ism. Hundreds of people were slaughtered on that horribly memorable day, but three men only sur- vived in national recollection — three officers of artiller}', who, when the French came to seize the cannons under their command, refused to sur- render them, and were cut to pieces at their posts. Their names were Luis Daoiz, Pedro Velarde, and Jacinto Ruiz, and in their honour an obelisk, round which cypress trees were planted, was erected in the centre of the Prado, and forms now the Campo de la Loaltud (Field of Loyalty), where every year the anniversary of El Dos de Mayo is celebrated. In itself, Murat's massacre at ^ladrid was neither more barbarous nor more significant than numerous similar deeds performed by the French in other parts of the Peninsula ; but it became important because it took place in the capital of Spain, was consequently more spoken of, and seemed to have furnished the final motive for English intervention, and for the embarkation of the Duke of Wellington's expedition. It became also memorable on account of the various retaliative massacres made by the Spaniards on the French in different provinces, as soon as the news of the Madrid events reached them. Thus

190 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

ill Valencia alone nearly four hundred Frencli residents seem to have been slaughtered in the bull-ring; and the Spanish hatred for the French, which has now greatly cooled down, but which raged with great fury during the whole of the reign of Ferdinand VII., had its root planted into the heart of the Spanish nation on the 2nd of May, 1808.

The population of Madrid, which is even more given to sight-seeing than the population of Paris, will certainly never cease to celebrate this Dos de Mayo, for it is most jealous even about the observance of the endless small processions and festivities of which nearly the whole of the Spanish year consists. When there was a crowned head at Madrid, the Sovereign was always bound to be present on the 2nd of May at the Campo de la Lealtad ; and Amadeo, who had nothing Spanish in himself, was compelled to share the Spanish views on the subject, and to join on that day in the demonstrations by which French usurpation and savagery were stigmatized.

Although the actors taking part in this pageant change every year, since there is nearly every year some radical change in the Government of Spain, the ceremony itself remains substantially the same. On each of the four sides of the

FEDERAL ELECTIONS AXD FESTIVITIES. 191

olteli.sk temporary altars arc erected, ami hand- somely decorated. i\lasse.s are uiiiiiternii)tedly served at each of tliese altars, iVom six in the morning till two in the afternoon, wiien the military procession begins, and everyone entitled to wear anything like an official garment is com- pelled to apjH'ar in the cortege, and to march past the Memorial. The Spanish uniforms, the dresses of the Spanish women, and the colour of the Spanish sky, are all brilliant enough to make the sight one of the most attractive that can be seen in Spain. Even this year, when there was no royalty, no gilded carriages and gold embroidered courtiers, this popular manifestation had still something very imposing about it, though here and there some rather comical elements displayed themselves. l>iit with all that, the procession was not only thoroughly harmless, from a political ]>oint of view, but had lost even all the dangers which it some time ago presented to such French lookers-on as may have ventmvd into the street. 1 saw myself vi-ry many of thcni itn the I 'ratio the last time that ceremony took ])lace ; I heanl them talking French ; I talked French myself, and there wus not a single instance of any hostile demonstration on the part either of the peoj>le

192 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

at large, or of the force taking part in the proceedings.

The Republican authorities did not seem much disposed to join the procession. At all events, except Senor Castelar, I did not see any member of the Government. Senor Figueras was still mourning the death of his wife, while Senor Pi y Margall and Senor Salmeron seemed to have in- timated that their philosophical views and prin- ciples did not permit them to take part in any religious ceremony. But there were quite enough of all sorts of municipal authorities and generals to form a tolerably brilliant head to the pro- cession. Another feature which gave it a rather impressive character was the presence of a large number of invalids, children, and old men and women, all of them relatives or representatives of those massacred by Murat, and now ranged in marching order at the head of the troops. The regiments attending were not numerous, as the garrison of Madrid consisted just then of very few troops ; but the National Guards turned out in strong battalions, all the more characteristic as every man in them was dressed according to his personal taste, \hQ uniform consisting exclusively of a little red cap. Being arranged in position alternately with the regular battalions, they

FEDERAL ELECTIONS AXD FESTIVITIES. r.*3

jLi^ri'titly eiilivciied the picture as the procession inarclied iVoiii the l*la/,a Mayor through thi- I'ucrtu del >>ol and tlie Calle do Alcala to the Salon del Prado. The Salon, which is but little shorter than the popular part of Rotten J{ow, and rather wider, was covered with one gigantic awning which, so to speak, con- centrated the various elements of the immense picture, and made it really grand to look at. The numerous bands playing funeral marches added solemnity to the spectacle. The majority of the bands of the regular regiments restricted themselves to the Kiego march, but one or two of them seemed to know some- thing about Chopin's and Beethoven's funeral marches, and if the musical part of the ceremony had bcru limited to bands of the regulars only, the effect would have been very imposing indeed, especially to those who preserved the conscious- ness that these thousands and thousands of ragged volunteers had the i)Ower to do any mischief they pleased. liut a smile unwillingly ajipcared on the faces of a good niaiiy of tin' un- concerned observers, when Vobmtcer battalions jiassed with their bands furiously blustering the Miirseillaise. And as the Volunteers were in- comparably mure numerously represented than Vol. I. 0

194 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

the regular troops, the Marseillaise— HTp-psiYGntly the only niarcli their bands were capable of playing — became quite predominant throughout the proceedings of the day, and the Spaniards did not seem to be cognisant of the incongruity of their thus conducting such an essentially anti- French ceremony to the tune of that immortal song of Rouget de L'Isle, to which, to a great extent, was owing everything they had to com- plain of on the part of France, including Murat himself.

The ceremony did not last long. Some sort of short religious service having been celebrated, the regiments and the National Guards marched past, and in about a couple of hours Madrid as- sumed again its usual aspect, without the oc- currence of the slightest disturbance. The more I saw of Spanish popular meetings, the more I became convinced that these people have a peculiar capacity for sticking to the special purpose for which they congregate. It is not as in France, Italy, Germany, or even sometimes in England, where a popular gathering, assembled for some more or less inoffensive purpose, finishes up with a row. The Spaniards, as a mass, are possessed of a self-command that would make it quite unnatural for them to depart,

FEDERAL ELECTIONS AND FESTIVITIES. 105

in any degree, from the object for which they hud assembled. If they join in a religious or luitiunal procession, they do so in the same stern and serious manner in which they would attend an execution. Tiie bull-fight is the only festivity to which, since time innnemorial, they have been accustomed to proceed in a jnyous, noisy sort of way. With that exception, all their processions have always had a religious, frequently a mournful character, which they still invariably retain. I have been told over and over again of instances in which people, having decided upon the advisability of putting an end to some one's life, have marched quietly and solemnly to the house of the man, nmrdcred him in perfectly cold blood, and returned just as quietly and solemnly to their respective homes, without any of the excitement which is to be seen on the occurrence of much less sanguinary popular proceedings in other countries. Yet ]>eople still persist in calling Spain le jmys de Fimprevn. On returning by the Carrera San (leronimo I im-t an oM Kiiglish resident, sup- jtosed to know all about Spain, and who had been getting rather feverish on the previous night, anticipating some considemble mischief in con- nection with the Dos de Minjo. \Vhen I now called his attention to the peaceful way in which

0 2

196 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

the ceremony had been brought to a close, he said : " Oh, well, you were right, but don't you see my apprehension was inspired by what I had seen of the Madrid mob formerly, when it did not feel itself so completely master of the situation. Now they have no reason for raising any disturb- ance, for they know that they are at liberty to deal wdth everyone of us as they please, and there is a natural chivalry in the Spanish rogue which prevents him from being harsh, or even uncivil, as soon as he sees that he is standing on a footing of perfect equality with you."

Anyhow, people who apprehended great dangers in Madrid, both from the Intransigentes and from the gathering of the National Guards, had to transfer their apprehensions to the general elec- tions, which were to last during four days, begin- ning on the 10th of May, and which, I am per- fectly certain, will remain among the dullest experiences of my life.

Madrid was divided into ten electoral districts, each of them containing upwards of ten or twelve polling-places, and in every one of them the same monotonous proceedings were going on during all the four days. In some large building —

FEDERAL ELECTIONS AND FESTIVITIES. 197

a concert-room, or an empty shop, behinil a table covered with red or green cloth, with a wooden urn placed on it — sat a returning officer with two secretaries, two civil guards posted at the door completing the official arrangement. Lazily, one by one, dropped in the electors, apparently quite disgusted at the bother imposed upon them. There were polling-places in which during the whole day not more than a dozen electors ap- peared, and the returning officer, his secretaries, and his sentries were reduced to passing the time by dozing at their posts durhig the whole of the four days. Of election struggles, as carried on in England or America, Spaniards seem to have no idea, and elections could hardly ever take in that country the character they have assumed with tlie Anglo- Saxon race. Of electioneering bribery and cor- ruption there is not the slightest trace in the \vholo of the Peninsula, except when the Govern- ment interferes, in which case the elections are distinguished by the same features which disgrace them in France. But, on the other hand, Spanish elections present peculiarities of their own. First vi' all, in a good many cases, the jiarty whicli feels itself to be in the minority abstains from voting altogether; and this abstention, with the

198 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

Spaniard, is meant to convey a kind of silent protest against the order of things which may be established by the newly-elected body. They seem to have arrived at the conclusion that it is both dangerous and useless to carry on political struggles by means of elections— useless, because the overthrow of their opponents might be made much more easy by out-of-door movements than by Parliamentary struggles, and dangerous be- cause election struggles in Spain, when a reality, have been, as a rule, carried on at the point of the knife. Consequently, the Spaniard much more prefers sitting in his cafe, smoking his cigarette, and talking politics with his friends until his opponents are in power, when he can combine with all those out of power, and who have, therefore, in the nature of things, chronic cause for discontent.

On the 14th of May, at six P.M., these unbear- ably dull elections throughout Spain were closed, and their result was another victory for the Republican Government. Out of three hun- dred and eighty-seven newly-elected deputies, fully three hundred were in favour of the state of things established by the Republican leaders on the morrow of Amadeo's abdication. The Conservatives abstained from voting almost

FEDERAL ELECTIONS AND FESTIVITIES. 199

everywhere, and in I^Iadrid itself only one-fom-tli of the electors exercised their ri^ht. In many of these cases, where the electors did not take advantaii^e of their right, the retnrning officers, annoyed at having sat for several days for no better purpose than that of seeing one or two dozen men throw their bulk'tins into the nrn, invented a rather curious way of making the thing look more decent. They put into the urns several hundred bulletins of their own, without, however, affecting in any way the result of the election, the supplementary bulletins being equally divided between the various candidates.

Since the great bulk of the ]\I()uarchists of all shades had resolved to abstain from voting, it was evident that none but Republicans could be elected: out of the three hundred and eighty-seven votes, there were returned some thirty-five Con- servatives sent by distant Conservative localities, not sufficiently influenced by the jjarty-leaders of .Madrid, and some fifty Intransigentes, elected cliiedy in the large towns where tlie working man element was predominant. This last point was very important in numy resj)ects. It was, in the first place, a defeat of the Intransigentes, and, in the second, it partly reconciled the politicians of Kurope, and, amongst others, of England, with the

200 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

idea of a Federal Republic. When the Avord Federalism was first uttered in Spain, all the foreign dealers in politics were greatly alarmed. They did not quite understand the meaning of the term, but it did not suit them. They did not wish even to listen to the argument, that Spanish Federalism is founded upon exactly the same principle as that on which the Swiss and American Republics are based. It simply ap- peared to them as a new ism, and they thought they had had quite enough of isms already. But when the elections were concluded, and they clearly saw that very respectable men were amongst the Federalist Deputies, the British and Continental politicians concluded that the devil must, after all, not be so black as he is painted. In this way, the idea of a Federal Republic began to rise in credit in the European political market.

The Intransigentes, defeated in these elections, and apparently conscious of their inability to manage anyything in Madrid, got up small pro- vincial risings, every one of which ended in more or less sanguinary fights (Alcoy, Malaga, Carta- gena, &c.) ; but the Republican Government of Madrid, though recasting itself almost every month, managed still to subsist, notwithstanding

FKDERAL ELECTIONS AND FESTRITIES. 201

ii perfect national baiikniptcy, tlic utter break- iluwn of the whole administrative machinery, the constantly increasing progress of the Carlist rising, and little comfortable incidents like that of the ' Virginius.' But for us, all this is a matter for further consideration.

The last chance left to me of discovering any actual disturbance at Madrid, could evidently present itself only in connection with the popular festival of San Isidro, which was to take place on the morrow of the conclusion of the election, the 15th of May. But even this gathering turned out to be a failure. Formerly, when religious feeling was more intense in Spain, and superstition more generally rampant, San Isidro was a very much reverenced individual. A vast number of Madri- lefios and Madrilenas of all classes used to turn out to the hill beyond the Manzanares river, where his hermitage is situated. But, now-a-days, when the male population of Madrid has become moro atheistic than that of any other capital, only a very small gathering could be expected on the occasion of such an exclusively religious festivity. True that the electoral urns were not yet closed when a considerable number of vehicles, thickly packed with representatives of the fairer sex,

202 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

drove along the Calle Mayor to the Toledo bridge, to attend what is called the Vispera, and that early next morning there were also a number of carriages driving that way; but this movement was made by the female population chiefly with a view to indulge in mutual contemplation of their costumes and head-dresses. They re- turned to Madrid without alighting from their carriages, and the festivity does not seem to have presented even the usual attraction to artists and sight-seeking foreigners, who formerly flocked to it in numbers, to look at the costumes and dances of the peasantry, and to listen to their songs. All that I saw this year was a number of booths, in which clumsy clay images of the saint were sold at high prices, and a number of eating houses, which spread pestilential smells for a mile around. The commemorative service going on all day long in the hermitage was almost unattended, and the beggars exhibiting their deformities at the entrance of the chapel seemed to do very little business.

The story of San Isidro is pretty much like all the stories of Spanish saints, with the only dif- ference, perhaps, that he was not a general dealer in divine and miraculous things, but restricted his activity chiefly to the sphere of agriculture and

FEDEILVL ELECTIONS AND FESTIVITIES. 203

medicine. He was a labourer ])y profession, and used, instead of working at his plough, to remain sitting in the fields in contemplative ecstasy. Tho angels seemed to appreciate very much such a liighly intellectual disposition in a labourer, and so they came down to him, conversed with him, and did his work lor him. It was in this way that tho environs of Madrid were made fertile, notwith- standing their otherwise very inconvenient cha- racter, lie used also, with the aid of the same angels, to render a good many services to his lei low-labourers. He caused, for instance, springs of water to rise wherever there was need of them, like Sir Richard Wallace in Paris, and the Cattle Trough Association in London. He also managed to restore dead animals to life, avert plagues, and render all sorts of such acceptable services. On one occasion he seems even to have most bcno- ficially interfered with the military afl'airs of his country, but that was about two hundred years after his death, when Alonzo VHI. was very much annoyed by an arrangement the Moors had mado somewhere near Toledo, to prevent his passing with his army by a road he wished to take. San Isidro, noticing the state of alVairs from above, came down and showed Alonzo a by-path by which he was enabled to proceed, and, subsc-

204 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

quently, to slaughter a vast number of the infidels. All this taken together, has naturally- elevated the lazy plough boy to the capacity of a great saint, and to the responsible position of patron of Madrid. Since then he has given up agricultural pursuits, and havingtaken to medicine, has now for something like eight hundred years- been performing all sorts of most remarkable cures, having had among his patients a large number of the highest nobility and several royal persons. Upon the whole, San Isidro seems to be a very accommodating and useful kind of saint ; but it appears that occasionally he shows a disposition to get rather angry. For instance, a lady-in- waiting of one of the Queens of Spain, in an access of kissing ecstas}^, bit off one of his toes, and was immediately deprived of the natural use of her tongue. I thought the punishment a rather hard one, since it was more than a tooth for a tooth; but the English friend who told me this story seemed to have taken another view of the matter, saying it was a great pity the body of San Isidro could not be brought over to London, where it could be turned to great advantage by making some of the English statesmen and M.P.'s lunch upon suitably disguised toes of the saint.

FEDERAL ELECTIONS AND FESTIVITIES. 205

Priiluihly on the j)rinci[)Ie that les extremes se touchent, San Isidro just reminds me of Mr. I'.rad- Uiugh. I hud ahuost forgotten that that gentle- man was also, so to say, a May event in ^ladrid. He arrived there as the " representative of the English peoi)le " to congratulate Spain on the establishment of the Republic — !Mr. Layard, "the represfMitative of the English nation," not having, it would seem, properly performed his task. By whom Mr. Bradlaugh was actually sent, on whose behalf and at whose expense he came, did not transpire. But here he was. and the Ministers received him : the Federalists feasted and eulo- gised him, and got up a banquet in his honour at fifteen shillings a-head, with speeches during its continuance, and a serenade after it. About a hundred ultra-red Republicans assembled to jnirticipate in the meal and the speeches, while a considerably larger number enjoyed the serenade outside till a very late hour. The proceedings were throughout just as in- olTensive as the rest of the May festivities, though perhaj)s a little more amusing, lor Mr. llrad- laugh sat nearly all the lime listening to Spanish speeches of which he could not understand a word, while his entertainers listened to a couple of his orations with e(pi;d benefit. His speeches

206 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

having been, however, subsequently translated, the convives of the banquet, and the Spanish public at large, may have become acquainted with Mr. Bradlaugh's view^s and expectations.

Without taking any particular interest in what the different speakers uttered on that occasion, I was nevertheless struck by one or two rather happy thoughts of Mr. Bradlaugh's. The one — particularly interesting to Englishmen — was that twenty years hence the Republic of England would be receiving the congratulations of the Spanish Republic. The other — particularly in- teresting to Spaniards— was that the Republicans of Spain must not expect that their English brethren would help them with arms, but only with ideas.

2o;

CHAPTER IX.

ON THE TOP OF THE SHjVER MOUXTAIX.

MEDITATING on the iincertainity of all Iminaii arrangements, I often thought that' should people at large ever give up fighting and making revolutions, and generally begin to behave themselves as citizens of orderly connnunities, the first result of such a change would be the abolition of that beautiful Anglo-Saxon institution known under the name of " our special," and " our own." 'JMicse indefatigable animals would then bcujuie quitu as useless as post-horses are now in countries well provided with railways. 1 am aiVaid that an iinitrovement in the general condition of the worlil's political aiVairs would even greatly reduce the large size of English and American news})apL'rs. For what on earth wouM then fdl up tlic cnlinuns which are now occupied by reports of terrific slaughters,

208 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

upsetting of governments, wholesale executions, and kindred matters? Except the prices of various articles of commerce, and the rise and fall of public funds, there would be absolutely nothing to communicate from a well regulated country. Fancy, for instance, an Italian or a Spanish correspondent writing from Edinburgh or Glasgow. Why, he would not have material for half a column in a whole year. Even in London the correspondents for continental journals seldom find oftener than once a month a subject which is likely to have any interest at all in a distant foreign country. So intense indeed is the consciousness of the correspondent of the present day that his place is exclusively where people are cutting each other's throats, that whenever he hap- pens to have a fortnight's quiet time he feels at once that he is out of his element, and begins to expect a telegram ordering him to find out some less monotonous place, or else to return to the London office to be placed on the half-pay list.

I had scarcely spent a few weeks at Madrid wdien I began to have an uneasy consciousness that it was not the proper place to stop at. The bull-fights, the Dos de Mayo, San Isidro, and especially the utterly peaceful character of the elections suggested that the Intransigentes were

ox THE SILVER MOUNTAIN'. 209

losing ground, ami that until at least a coui>k' of months were over nothing j)articularly interesting;- could be expected. At the same time news arrived from the North that the Carlists under Dorregaray had achieved a great victory at Eraoul, and that Don Carlos himself was about to enter the land he claims the right to reign over. It became at once clear that I should soon have to bid farewell to the Prado, and to all the other attractions of Madrid, and to go back again to the mountains. And my apprehensions were fully justified, f(.)r within a few hours a telegram to that purpose was placed in my hands.

Carlist bands, however, had advanced so far into the country since I left them, that to return viii Vitoria was a thing no more to be thought of, all connnunication that way being completely cut ofl'. The next nearest route was to go to San- tander, and thence by steamer to Bayonne. This journey, though a longer one, could at all events be made without any interruption, except that caused by the scarcity of steamers ruiniiiiL'^ be- tween the Spanish and {''rench ports. At San- tander, for instance, 1 luul to wait for twi) liays to go by a tug, U)aded with gunpowder for the Spanish troops, uud with a (piantity of petroleum for some Bilbao merchant's. And after a journey

VOL. I. P

210 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

of about six hours, in company Avith a volcano of that description, I had to ^vait another three days before I could get at Bilbao a steam-boat bound to Bayonue. This time the ship had, much to the satisfaction of the passengers, neither petroleum nor gunpowder in its cargo, but it had a captain and a crew with a great proclivity for sleeping, and as the journey was to be made at night, all of them naturally went to bed with the exception of the man at the wheel, who dozed at his post, and was only kept awake by the rather clever expedient resorted to by two Andalusian cahalleros, who were all the way either talking or singing Anda- lusian ballads to him, or else treating him to cigarettes. But as the night was a beautiful one, our journey was performed in a way suffi- ciently pleasant to leave behind nothing but very bright reminiscences.

Arriving at Bayonne, I learned that the battle of Eraoul was a real fight, not an in- vention of the over - sanguine Carlists, or of those opponents of the Eepublicans who were always anxious to spread abroad in Madrid false news of Carlist victories, for the purpose of showing that the Republican Government was not able to manage the army. I learned also that Don Carlos really intended to enter Spain, and that his horses were all in readiness at

ON THE SILVER MOUNTAIN. iM 1

BayoiHie, and his ordnance oflicers gathered antund him. The ihiy of his entry was, how- ever, not yet determined. All that I could ascer- tain from the best-informed persons was, that " the great event" would take jilaee very soon, and that I should kc(.'\) myself in readiness to witness it. I was also informed that the staff would be a very brilliant one, and the horses magnificent. Knowing that a Spaniard's weak- ness lor what is called keeping up appearances is scarcely exceeded even by the same foible in certain classes of Englishmen, I took every care to ascertain what was the proper way to fit oneself out for the occasion, and was made to understand that a gentleman on the staff of >'Su J[agestad, the King of all the Spains, should have at least two horses. One should be a strong and showy animal, fit for hard marches and triumithal entries. The other should be a light horse, no matter of what api)earance, but thoroughly fit for securing the escape of its master when neces- sary. The laster such a horse is, the more in- valuable may it prove under special circum- stances. ( I rasping the hint, I set out at once in search of a couple of animals t)f that description, and during four or five days frequently lamented the absence at Bayonne of anything like those

V -2

212 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

useful columns of advertisements in which one can make known to the world any want one may have — to begin with, that of obtaining a kind- hearted wife, and to end with anything within the range of ascertained objects. Ultimately I found, however, what I wanted, notwithstanding the scarcity of ridable animals at that time in Ba- yonne. The fact is that the Carlists had bought up everything, and wretched hacks for which eight or ten pounds at some village fair would have been thought a high price, were now im- pudently valued at five times that amount.

Happily enough, a remnant of the old Moro- Iberian love for ostentation causes Spaniards greatly to prefer stallions to either horses or mares for riding. They ride a horse only when a stallion is not to be obtained, and seem to prefer riding a donkey to riding a mare. Con- sequently, mares were to be had more easily at Tarbes and in the Landes markets, and I dis- covered two which answered the requirements of the case in a very fair way. The one was a big chestnut mare, strong as the Evil One him- self, and incomparably more showy than any of the animals which took part in the celebrated cavalcade of aldermen and sheriffs organized on the occasion of the Prince of Wales's recovery.

ON THE SILVER MOUNTAIN. 213

Nature had certainly predestined her to be an oniiiibiis liorso, but she was a great Conservative, and seemed to hold the opinion that anything given by the Creator, including strength, should not be used, but preserved. Accordingly, when she was first harnessed to a light carriage she smashed it to pieces, and when an attempt was made to put her to a more heavy vehicle, she kicked it until she bruised herself all over and fell exhausted to the ground. A Bayonnc horse- dealer then bought her, thinking she was exactly the sort of animal to be sent out to the Carlists, who, with mountain marches of twenty and thirty miles a day, would soon bring her to the sense of duty, or else make short work of her existence. Of course, he assured me it was the best imaginable beast for my requirements, and charged about four times the sum he h;ul paid himself for her. But still, with the exception that she frequently objected to crossing bridgi-s, that her carriage reminiscences caused her to kick at everybody and everything that came too near to lier from bchiml, and that Iilt Conservative tendencies prompted her to bite every horse that indicated an intention of progressing ahead of her, she renderetl me excellent services, especially in the way of making a show ; for, thanks to

214 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

her powerful appearance and lier kicking habits, she called everybody's attention, and became thoroughly well known wherever she had once passed.

Quite different was the other mare. A little half-bred animal, from one of the studs Napoleon III. had called into existence in the Landes, she was all fire and nerve, and her walking pace alone was worth any amount of money to a man intent on escaping. True that she was not fit to carry regularly a grown-up person of average weight. But that w^as not a matter of great consequence, as my little Navarre servant, who had usually to mount her, weighed hardly five stone, and it was quite a treat to see the pride of the little fellow when he was parading through the villages of his native country. Though he had never mounted anything but a donkey, he managed to become an excellent rider within a very few days, and I firmly believe that the fidelity and attachment he always showed to me were, to a not inconsider- able extent, to be attributed to the opportunity I gave him of mounting una yegua francesa.

Having harnessed the two animals in the best way I could at a place likeBayonne, and equipped myself as comfortably as my purse allowed, I started once more for the little village of Urdax,

ox TIIK SrL\T:R MOUNTAIN. 21')

wliorc preparations lor tlie reception of Dun Carlos were going on.

Someliow or other, the police watch on the IVontier was considerably slackened during my absence, and, it' not Spaniards, at all events Frenchmen and foreigners were allowed to cross the frontier pretty freely on the simple exhibition of their passes, and a categorical declaration that they did not wish to make any detour either by the Atlantic or the Mediterranean. So no ob- stacle was put to my crossing the Doncharinea bridge, and the French patrol on it, wishing me boji voyage, looked quite jocularly at me as I stepped on to Spanish soil, and the Carlist out- posts surrounded me and carried me oft' to a little inn occupied by their commander.

The officer, on seeing the Carlist passport I had secured, received me in a most friendly manner, and on reading my name seemed struck by it, and exclaimed, " Oh, I have a parcel for you !''

"A parcel?'' said I. " Where from ?"

"I don't know," he answered. And I'rom a heap of all sorts of luggage and odds and ends, lying in a corner of his room, lie picked up a little leather bag with a couple of shirts, some other articles of toilette, and lots of London letters and newspapers, which had been sent out to me some

216 SPAIN AXD THE SPANIARDS.

six weeks previous, when I gave the old boot- cleaning colonel a note for Bayonne. The bag was not locked, and as a good many of the Carlists who were around us had scarcely any shirts at all on them, I was very agreeably astonished to find that neither of mine was missing, and expressed my satisfaction to the officer.

"Do you find anything to surprise you in that ?" was his retort. " I hope. Sir, you never believed that any property, however valuable, could be lost if was entrusted to a good Carlist f

It was clear that a stern denial of any thought of this sort was, on my part, the only possible answer under such circumstances.

Urdax looked now quite different from what it was when I first visited it. It was still the same little loophole, so surrounded on all sides by mountains as to be almost hidden from the eyes of any traveller who enters the picturesque valley of Bastan. But it was peopled now with no end of fashionable Carlist warriors awaiting the entry of "the King" into his dominions. From a military point of view, Urdax is quite an impos- sible place, for no force could defend itself there from the attack of an enemy holding the surround-

ON TUE SILVER MOUNTAIN'. 217

iiig heights. But the Ciirli.sts, always relying upon their good legs anil sharp eyes, have from the outset selected that little village as one of their favourite resorts. It was within easy reach of the smugglers carrying arms and ammunition across the frontier, and this alone was quite sullicient to render the otherwise unsuitable village one of the most important starting points of Carlist operations. Whenever the enemy approached, the Voluntanos de Carlos VIl. stationed at the village climbed the hills and took up their position on them, if they felt strong enough ; otherwise they ran away along the French frontier to Pena de Plata and other inaccessible mountain refuges.

Towards the end of May, some Legitimists at Paris got up a party of about a dozen young noblemen to form the nucleus of a squadron of body-guards for Don Carlos. The squadron was to be formed on the spot, and the organisation and command of it was placed into the hands of Count d'Alcantara, a Ji^lgian gentleman of Spanish extraction, as amiable and valiant a man as one could wish to meet. There was scarcely any oflicer under his orders who did not bear some sort of title, from Chevalier to Marquis inclusive, and every one of them was

218 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

dressed and equipped with all the luxury Parisian outfitters were capable of suggesting. But it was evident that these gentlemen could not remain waiting for Don Carlos at Bayonne, as even if they concealed their uniforms, their glittering arms and splendid chargers would soon betray their presence and intentions to the French police. Consequently they were as quickly as possible despatched, with arms and baggage, over the frontier to Urdax, where they were to await the " great event." Their dark green Hussar uniform, richly trimmed with gold lace, their white Bedouin bournouses, their Astrakhan shakos with a kind of Hun- garian plume on them, were all very attractive, and w^ould have been probably very imposing at the head-quarters of some well-organised and victorious army. But, amid the wilderness of the Navarre mountains and the rags of Navarre volunteers, they had something very incongruous about them, and suggested, I don't know why, the idea of Paris or Boulevard cavalry lost in these wild regions. Still they relieved the dul- ness and loneliness of Urdax, as did also the presence of a number of other Carlist officers assembled here on the occasion of the consecra- tion of the fort Peua de Plata.

Just in front of the French village Sare rises a

ON THE SILVER MOUNTAIN'. 2\\^

Steep mouiitiiin, some two tliousaiul live hundred feet liigli, called Pefuide I'lata (Silver Mountain), on account of tlu- fsilvcry reflection produced by its rocky top \uu\vr the play of the rays of the sun. The line of the Franco-Spanish frontier passes through the very sununit of that height, cutting it, like a pear, into two equal parts, and giving one moiety of it to each of the neighbours. The Carlists conceived the j)lan of erecting a fort right on the to}) of the Peua, and to build it close to the very line of demarcation between the two countries, so that no attack on the fort would be possible without projectiles being thrown on Freucli soil. At the same time the garrison of the fort could, of course, fire into Spain as much as it pleased without exi)Osing itself to any breach of international law. The scheme, as far as it went, was can-ied out with full success. A strong ibrt has i)ecn iiuilt, armed witli three cannons, and provided with plenty of ammunition. It is capable of holding a garrison of three hundred men, and of sheltering, in case of necessity, cer- tainly twice that number; and, unless the supjtly of provisions were to be cut olf iVttm the French side, the fort could hold out for an indelinite jieriod of time. It was natural that a stronghold of this descriptiou should be made a great fuss

220 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

about, and that some sort of festivity should take place at the conclusion of the works. And so it occurred. The ceremony of the consecration of the fort, and of hoisting the flag on their first fortress, was quite an event among the Carlists at Urdax, Zugarramurdy, and the environs. High mass was celebrated, speeches were delivered, cannons fired all day long, and a banquet given, for which wine and provisions were brought over from Bayonne and St.-Jean-de-Luz, and so freely did the ofiicers indulge in these luxuries, that traces of the festivity were to be seen, even on the next day, in the features of some of them.

But another day passed, and all joy had vanished, a heavy gloom being now visible on every face. Some bad news reached Urdax on that day. In the first place, several thousand English-made cartridges had somehow been seized on the fron- tier, and in the second, the Republican Colonel Tejada had fortified San Estevan, and showing the apparent intention of marching on Urdax, had already reached Elizoado, with fifteen hundred men and two cannons, and could easily begin to shell our miserable loop-hole in two or three hours. " What shall we do f was a question that might be read on everyone's face, for the five hundred

ON' THE SILVER MOUNTAIN. 221

raw recruits, who were to j)roteet us under the orders of the ^larquis de Las Honnazas, nepliew of General Klio, h;ul in all only throe hinidred cartridges. Very few questioned the bravery of the Marquis, but the position was too critical to a<hnit of any solution by means of mere courage. Kiglit down flight was evidently the only means of escape left. "I have no fear for my men," said the ^larquis. " They will all find room within the walls of our fortress; but what I am afraid of is the safety of the brilliant staft' we have with us, and of their beautiful horses. They will all come to grief climbing the momitain, or break down for want of food on Pena de Plata." Count d'Aleantara drew a very long face when flight was decided upon, and he saw his brilliant officers doomed to behold the ruin of their chargers, to obstruct the movements of Volunteers, and to increase the general con- fusion.

Nor dill the ohl ^larquis of Valdespinas, head of (Jcntial Dorregaray's stafl", look much lirightcr. Thf .Mai(|iiis led tlu^ cavalry charge at Kraoul. got a bayonet wound in the arm, an<l had since been laid up at a little house at Zugarra- nun-dy. A ilecree of the King, his Master, a))- poinling him Grand Marshal and Grand Cross

222 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

seemed to have quite restored the health of the old gentleman, and to have given him strength enough to join in the ceremony of the consecra- tion of the new fortress, after which he came to Urdax, where he was to wait, as we did. He had consequently to fly, too, with us, having for escort only his two sons and his aid-de-camp. In that way, as far as Carlist notabilities were concerned, the capture of the Urdax detachment would have been quite a treat to the Republican column. But the Republican colonel, not being sufficiently well informed about the position we were in, did not attack us, when he could have caught all of us, and thus gave us ample time for flight. At daybreak on the 5th of June, off we marched to Zugarramurdy, and a few hours later were safe on the top of Pena de Plata, fully a thousand feet above any spot that 'the Republicans could be excepted to reach. What the road Avas like I am utterly unable to describe. Kids, I fancy, would be the only animals likely to find it comfortable. It was all an incoherent mass of stones, big and small, rolling under foot ; and where it was not stone it was slippery mud. The path was nowhere wider than a yard, and about the top of the height ceased to be a path at all. Every one climbed the rocks as best he could.

ON THE SILVER MOUNTAIN. 223

and out of a couple of dozen liorses of the stall fifteen were lamed, the beautiful chargers of the Paris cavalry being of course the first to break down. Over six hours did the march last, and when we reached the fort we had only one prospect — that of being locked up in it without rations until some other and better provided for band came to our rescue. That band every one expected to be that of the cure Santa Cruz, who was within a couple of hours' march at Echalar, on the opposite side of the mountain. As a matter of course, neither the Marquis Valde- spinas, nor the Marquis de Las Hormazas, com- manding the cartriilgeless force, intimated what their plans or expectations were, and this rendered the position still less ])leasant.

Towards the evening only did we learn that the cure had refused all help, and threatened to shoot young Valdespinas if his father sent him down again to Echalar with either commands or proj)Ositions. Being already under sentence of death, the cm-e imagijied that our expedition to the top of IV'Tia de I'lata w;is simj)ly a nuimeuvro invented for the j)urpose of cajituring him and his force. He declared his resolution not to go into the traj), and adiled that if the Urdax detachment hail no cartrid'Tes it was the fault of Sennr Dor-

224 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

ronzoro, late Carlist Deputy in the Cortes, and now Governor of the Fort Peua de Plata, who had the management of the stores, and who got, it seems, an endless supply of money from Don Carlos' cash- box. To that gentleman the cure sent word to say that, both for his spending money for inauguration banquets, like that of a couple of days back, and for his threatening to fire at Santa Cruz when- ever he passed within the range of his cannons, he would administer to him a heavy bastinado as soon as he caught him. With all these com- munications the young Marquis of Valdespinas returned to us, and for a couple of hours a regular war-council was held on the top of the height, with a view to decide what was to be done, when, all at once, a spy arrived with information that the enemy, instead of advancing on Urdax, had retreated to San Estavan. We could, conse- quently, come down again from our eagle's nest and get something to eat. Great was the general joy. Mar char ! was to be heard on all sides, and we had time, before it became quite dark, to reach Zugarramurdy again, where wine, bread, and forage could be found without particular diffi- culty for the whole of the force.

The cause of this Republican retreat from Eli- zondo, when by marching on Urdax their success

ON THE SILVER MOUNTAIN'. 225

was so ccrtuiii, was tlio vory famous cure who refiiscHl to liclp us. Early in tlio. iiiorniiig on the previous day he attacked a fortified post of some forty carbineros near the bridge of Eiiderhiza, on the high road from Irun to Vera. The little cannon he had soon smashed the palisades, calcu- lated to protect the Republicans only from riHe shots, and the carbineros, after having lost several men, lK)isted a white flag. The Carlists began then to descend from the heights down into the valley, and when they were close to the bridge a volley of musketry greeted them.

Santa Cruz's band became quite furious, they threw themselves forward to a man, and slaughtered every one of the carbineros they could lay their hands on. The Kepublicans said afterwards that the curt' executed prisoners who had hoisted a white flag, whih; the cure said he simply killed treacherous enemies who had tried to get him into an ambush. Whatever side may have been right, for us the wholesale butchery of these carbineros had a very favourable result. The news of the Enderla/.a bridge afl'air spread with an i-lectric rapidity, and compelled Colonel Tejada lo retreat from Elizomlo. We were thus saved from partial starvation, and perhaps fmni capture, and the live hundred men of the Marquis VOL. L Q

22Q SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

Las Hormazas had now a fair chance to get cartridges in a day or two, and to be able to defend both themselves and the distinguished and brilliant Paris cavalry they protected.

But in a place like Urdax, even with plenty

of cartridges and a good deal of fashionable society,

life does still not appear couleur de rose. Though

the Marquis of Valdespinas, speaking excellent

French and having lived long among Frenchmen,

was quite glad of the arrival of the fashionable

French warriors ; though their horses and brilliant

■uniforms captivated every Spaniard that saw

them ; and though Count d'Alcantara was at

once lodged in the same house with the Marquis,

and every one of his officers was provided with

quarters, stables, servants, and ample rations, in

less than a fortnight the new-comers seemed as

if they had had enough of Spain. The everlasting

mutton, stale bread, and pig's skin smelling wine,

began to disgust them. Of real work there was

nothing to be anticipated beyond that which we

had seen during our flight to Pefia de Plata. To

undertake excursions to Bayonnc, or St.-Jean-de-

Luz, became impossible, for the names of the

gentlemen composing the Paris cavalry squadron

ox THE SILVER MOUNTAIN. 227

uere quickly made known to the anthoritius on the Fr<>ncli frontier, and an order had been issued to arrest them as soon as they appeared on French soil. The only recreation to them was, therefore, to take, now and then, a ride along such bits of the Pamplona high-road as were free from Repulv licaii ]K)stR, or down to the bridge of Doncharinea. half of wliicii is Spanish, the other half French, and on which the French and Spanish sentries can be still seen amiably conversing, or at least trying to converse, as far as the difference of their languages permits. Every afternoon members of this elegant corps could be seen talking to the French gendarmes on the bridge, joking at their being not able to arrest them, although they were quite close enough, and passing letters which the gendarmes and custom-house ollicers posted to the friends of those very men whom they had the order to capture.

A life of that sort could, of course, present no attraction to men, some of whom had left Paris because, as they said, it turned dull to them and they wanted amusement and good living before everything. From what 1 learned subsequently, I tiiink that tu many ol" thciu Legitinuicy was • piite a sei-ondary, if any, consideration. But. be that as ii may, here they were, and could not.

Q2

228 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

apparently, make up their minds to wait till Don Carlos came over, and the operations of the royalist forces had taken a more decisive turn. Yet, as Dorregaray and Elio were operating much further down in the country, and as I did not see the fun of sharing the Paris cavalry's idle and tiresome captivity in a miserable village, I re- solved, if possible, to make a move, explaining to the amiable Count d'Alcantara and his followers that though, as military men, they were subjected to the Marquis of Valdespinas, as senior officer in the place, and to the Marquis Las Hormazas> as commander of the Urdax force, they were not officially placed under the orders of either, and had, if they chose, the right to go to Elio's head- quarters, which were then in Las Amescoas. I pointed out also that a little excursion in that direction would probably present the attraction of novelty, and, to say the least, of a very pleasant military picnic. The Count d'Alcantara seemed at first to have some objections to my plan, knowing, as he did, that the old Marquis of Valde- spinas, now Grand Marshal and Grand Cross, was anxious to keep around himself the fashion- able escort; but, the officers of the squadron having sided with me, he resolved to announce to the Marquis our intention of leaving Urdax.

ox THE SILVER MOUXTAIX. 229

Yet as, in a little village like that, everything is speedily known, old Valdespinas learned of our I)l;ui, and of niy having proposed it, long before Count d'Alcantara had made up his mind to sub- mit the question to him.

" Go and fetch me that journalist with the curtain on his hat," cried out the infuriated Marquis to his aid-de-camp, meaning me and the puggaree I wore. In a very few minutes I was caught and brought into the presence of the gallant and excitable ]\rarquis, and a really thunder-like scolding fell upon my poor head. I was rendering him ridiculous ; I was taking away his troops ; I was showing an example of insubordination, and I don't know what else. I had the greatest difliculty in making the brave but perfectly deaf Marquis understand, through the aid of his gutta percha tube, that if anyone rendered him ridiculous it was himself, in making all that noise about a foreign journalist having wished to go on a trip to the head-quarters, and having asked a few foreign oilicers, who had abso- lutely nothing to do, whether they would not join him, — tliat I never meant to take away any of his troops at all, and that, if he was discontented either with my presence or with my conduct, the only thing he had to do was to order me to be escorted

230 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

to the frontier. I added, at the same time, that, as I liad nothing to do at Urdax, and was now not permitted to go forward, I had nothing left to me but to go back to France and wait until Don Carlos, who had invited me to follow the operations of his army, should come across him- self.

About a fortnight later, when I again met the good old man, he had of course forgotten all about our comical squabble, and treated me quite as an old friend ; but at the moment of the first explosion of his Castilian fury, he seemed so angry, that I considered my re- tirement from under his jurisdiction as the only course left. But where shall I go now "? was my next thought. I must find something to write upon, as they won't stand in New York any falling off of communication from a quarter where blood is supposed to be daily poured out in streams. Yet, in reality, weeks and weeks passed without a single drop of human blood being shed, except in the barbers' shops of the Penin- sula. There were, indeed, some rows going on in a few towns on the Southern and Eastern coasts. But by going so far away I was pretty sure to miss the entry of the Pretender, and the beginning of what was spoken of as the " Great

ox THE SILVER MorxTArN'. 2;U

( 'ainpai^ii." On a ride ol' nearly six hours from llrdax to Bayonnc, I was the whole time turning the matter n\crjn my mind, till all at onee the genius of "enterprise" whispered to me : "And how about Santa Cruz?" Everyone then spoke of the man as about the worst brigand and assassin that ever existed. Every newspaper liad daily some new exploit of his to relate. Yet, even among the Carlists, few knew him per- sonally, and no one seemed to have ever seen him. To find out a man of this description, and to "interview" him, appeared to me as the very thing to be done, and without any further delay, oif was I to St.-Jean-de-Luz, and thence to Vera, the famous cure's head-quarters.

232

CHAPTER X.

SANTA CRUZ.

IT is all very well now, my chaffing and laugh- ing about this Vera " interviewing " expe- dition, as the reminiscences of it are pleasant enough ; but I am sure that when I undertook it, it did not look like a joke at all. Except that Santa Cruz was shooting and bastinadoing everj'^- body he could lay his hands on, nothing was known of him, and I should certainly not like to experience once more the kind of uncertainty I felt, when, after a lonely ride of a few hours across the mountains, I reached the outskirts of the little town of Vera, and was caught by the famous cure's patrols, who proved utterly unable to understand a single word of what I tried to impress upon their minds.

As often happens in cases of an unpleasant nature, the man wanted was not to be found.

SANTA cnvz. 233

He \v;is iR'ithcr at \'ura, nor at Echalar, where I was tiild at St.-.Toan-de-Luz I was sure to liml him. lie had ah-eady marched oil' towards Ih'niaiii with soine six hundred of his crack men and two cannons. I had consequently to present myself to a rough-looking chap of barely twenty years, armed to the teeth, and bearing the sonorous name of Don Estevan Indart, and the important rank of the Commander of the ])lace and forces of Vera. He was asleep when, after having been taken at the outskirt of tho town, I was brought into his room. Lying across the bed, with a whole arsenal of arms upon him. his lu'ad hanging down and his legs u)t on the wall, he was snoring most fcjrmidably. Jiut after a few calls, accompanied by some pokes from the sergeant, the worthy warrior woke up and began to examine my papers without changing in the least his ])i('turesque topsy-turvy attitude. From the tone of his voice, if not from the words ho uttered, I perceived at once that he swore at the documents, being just as unable to under- stand them as his jtafrols were. Not oidy were the foreign documents iniintelligible to him, but even the Carlist passport, by which the Ministers of Don Carlos granted mo free circulu-

234 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS

tion amid " the armies of S. M. El Rey, Niiestro Senor," and which was worded in Spanish, was a dead letter to Don Estevan Indart. Being a pm-e Basque of Guipnzcoa, as well as the majority of his soldiers, he did not know Spanish, and did not seem to care for it. Without even looking at me, or attempting to arrive at any sort of under- standing, he gave some orders to the sergeant, and I was marched out of the room. A crowd of armed men and of ragged children had already assembled around my horse, and began now to examine me as closely as they had examined my tired " escaping " animal, its saddle, and the bags strapped to it, which carried my scanty luggage ; for I had taken good care to leave, this time, servant, " showy " horse, and every other valuable at St.-Jean-de-Luz, as I did not see any use of losing them too, if I had to get lost myself, and also did not wish unnecessarily to give any temptation to a band which had such a high repute for being easily tempted.

To all my attempts to inquire whether I could see Senor Santa Cruz, I had only the short and abrupt answer of " Salida' (apparently the only Spanish word these men knew, and which meant that the cure had gone). And here I stood with- out knowing what was to become of me, when

SAXTA CRUZ. 235

presently the patrol sergeant appeared with a cleanly ilressed young girl, Avho, after addressing to Mie a lew questions in intelligible French and ex- cellent Spanish, went up to the Commander's room with my pajiers. Within a few minutes she was hack again, and said that Don Estevan had ordered her to take me to her house, where I should have to wait till the return of Senor Santa Cruz. To my iuipiiry whether I should have to wait long, she said no one knew, or was able to tell me anything; while to the question whether I could l)roceed further should the cure not return soon, I got the short hut explicit answer of " No." In this way, I found myself practically the prisoner of Don Estcvan Indart and of my little inter- preter.

Happily enough, my hostess was, or rather my hostesses were quite charming persons. Their father, the only and consequently the leading tailor of the town, seemed to have saved money enough to send his two girls to Bayonne to study millinery. Together with this trade, the girls had learned there French and Spanish, and h;i<l now nothing of the ])eeuliar Basque look about them. They did not wear even the usual Hasquese costume, and considered themselves, and were considered by everybody, as very distinguished " ladies." The

236 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

eldest girl was humpbacked, and consequently less admired ; but the second was evidently a general attraction to the town.

Santa Cruz, known to be full of hate to the fair sex, and of never having kept a female servant, or even allowed his sister to live at his house, seemed to have made an exception in favour of the young Vera milliners, being in frequent inter- course with them, and having appointed them to superintend the manufacture of clothing for his soldiers. There had been for the last two years no millinery work of any kind to be done at Vera, and so the girls were quite glad to become military tailors, and seemed to discharge their duties to the full satisfaction of the ferocious Cura. And while the two American sewing- machines were going their full speed the girls talked to me all day long, and told me about the inner life of their little and unlucky town, more than I could ever have learned by personal observation during the forty-eight hours I was their captive.

The town of Vera was, as a matter of course; thoroughly Carlist. The Republicans had taken possession of it five times since the Carlist Avar broke out, and the utterly ruined population spoke of these Republican occupations as the

SANTA CRUZ. 237

worst inciineiits tlicy liail eiidurcil. Besides tlie usual contributions, the town had additional burdens to bear for being a Carlist centre. When I visited Vera, no man was to be seen in it except those armed, the civil portion of the population apparently consisting of women and children only. Half of the houses were deserted 01- shut up, and. exce})t in the evening, scarcely anyone was to be seen in the street, the women being anxious to accomplish such little field-work as they possibly could. They toiled hard all day long, and the Carlists eagerly assisted them, whenever they got a day's rest from perpetual marching. "^I'lie soldiers of Don Estevan Indart, who were in possession of the place when I reached it, were to the last man at work in the tit'lds, except the men on duty as seiitint-ls. The misery and wretchedness of the place was never- theless quite shocking. Of cows, oxen, horses, or pigs, there was no longer any trace. A few slieej), a few fowls, and a coui)le of tlonkeys, seemed to be all tiie inhabitants df \'era still possessed in the way nf live-stock. Their own number had also decreaseil to barely 2,000, and this small comnnmity, consisting almost ex- clusively of women and children, hail to j»ay everv month over L,M),(l()() Iram.s in rations of

238 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

bread, wine, and meat only, without reckoning either lodgings, or such extras as are always likely to be required, especially when the Re- publicans came in and retaliated upon Vera for its well-known Carlist proclivities. My two hostesses and their father had had over thirty francs a month to pay for nearly two years past, and they said they could not make out w^here families with less resources got the money required. Seeing that the flocks of the place were quite exhausted, Santa Cruz invented a rather ingenious mode of supplying the wants of his bands. He re- quisitioned sheep and oxen in other places, or on the high-road, or captured them from the Republicans, and sold them to the Municipality of Vera for ready cash, which he invested in arms and ammunition, while the town, having bought from him the beasts, delivered them back again in the form of rations. Notwithstanding all this misery, however, the inhabitants seem to be on the best possible terms with the Carlists. They were evidently tired of the war, but not a word of reproach was to be heard against the Carlists or their chiefs, and Santa Cruz himself was almost an object of worship among the population. Now and then only they would whisper that he was too severe, but this was meant

SANTA cuuz. 239

with reference to his own men only, and not to wliiit he was tloing in the field. And it must bo said that the discipline of Santa Cruz's bands was kept up with a stern hand. "Within the week he spent at Vera, previous to the Enderlaza fight, he shot two of his men for attempting to rob some travellers who turned out to be Carlists, and gave the bastinado to three more who failed in tlie pcrlnrniaiicu of their duties. What terrified his men above all was, that he never spoke of what he intended doing or uttered any reproach. lie was really a man of few words, and one of the best characteristics of his nature is exemplified by the manner in which he treated one of his former friends — an old man, sixty-five years of age, of the name of Amilibia.

Two brothers Amilibia, and a man of the name of Recondo, wereconmianding some Carlist troops in May, 1872, when Don Carlos was surprised at Oroquieta by Moriones, and Serrano was thus enabled to compel some of the (Jarlist chiefs to lay down their arms and to sign a convention. Santa Cruz was then chaplain of Kecondo's battalion, which operated in conjunction with that of the brothers Amilibia, and seemed to have urged these uilicers not to lav down arms or sign a

240 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

convention. They did not listen, however, to his advice, and Santa Cruz has felt since that time an invincible hatred to these men, and has never called them otherwise than traitors. During the present year when the Carlist war had been resumed, and Santa Cruz was no more a chaplain, but a cahecilla, he arrived one morning at Echal.ar, where one of the brothers Amilibia had also arrived on his way towards the head- quarters, intending to resume service.

" What are you doing here, traitor !" exclaimed Santa Cruz, on seeing Amilibia looking out of the inn window as lie was passing by with his troops. " You had better leave Spain at once if you care for your life."

But as Santa Cruz's band remained for dinner in the village, Amilibia, probably anxious to white- ■ wash himself in their eyes, asked some of the volun- teers he knew to the inn, gave them some wine, and began to talk over last year's business. It would seem that his language, with reference to Santa Cruz, was not particularly respectful, and that he made some allusions to his being a despot and a rebel, not even obeying his superiors, nor his lord the King. The conversation was soon reported to Santa Cruz, and Seiior Amilibia had not finished his hostile remarks when several armed men appeared,

SAXTA CRUZ. 241

ordering him, as well as his guests, to follow them. All were m.arched to Santa Cruz's house, in front of which a company of his crack men was ranged, and a heap of bastones prepared.

" I gave you an advice which you did not con- sider it worth listening to," said Santa Cruz to his old friend. " You even considered yourself justified in trying to excite my men against me. I will therefore give you a lesson in another way now; and the first time I meet you or your brother, or Recondo, again on Spanish soil, I'll shoot you like dogs."

After this short preface, the very same men whom Amilibia had been treating were ordered to take the prepared sticks and to give a bastinado to the old man. Santa Cruz himself reckoned the strokes, and cried out his "Bastante" after the fortieth had been inllioted. A few days later, when I had to pass through Echalar, I alighted at the same inn, saw an old man lying as I thought hopelessly ill, but no one told me the sad narrative of his illness. It was only at \'era that I learned his story, when I saw (he l>oor man carried on a stretcher towards the I'reneii frontier, on the other side of which ho hoped to liiid the necessary care and medical assistance. Santa Cruz left Echalar the same VOL. I. R

242 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

afternoon, and, from the whispering tone in which the affair was spoken of, I must conclude that its effect was all the wild cure could have desired. No one, either at Echalar or at Vera, has ever since attempted to betraj^ the Carlist cause or speak against the brutal authority of the cure.

Another fact characteristic of the nature of this man is his dealing with the only prisoner he had taken at Enderlaza. The whole number of cara- hineros which took part in that affair amounted to forty-one men. Five of them got off in safety, two were drowned in attempting to escape by swimming across the Bidassoa, nine were killed during the action, twenty-three were massacred because they liad fired after they had hoisted the white flag, and one was, somehow or other, taken prisoner. Santa Cruz carried that man for several days with him, but when he learned that, notwithstanding the letters he had sent to the Bayonne papers giving the particulars of the affair, public opinion in Spain and France still persisted in accusing him of having shot prisoners, he sent word to his captive saying he thought it his duty to justify the accu- sations of the Liberals, and therefore to shoot liim. Ten minutes were allowed the poor man for confession, and four balls put an end to his life.

SANTA CRUZ. 243

It may be mentioned here, by-tlie-by, tliat this economieal phin of shooting with lour balls instead of the customary twelve is an established rule in the Carlist army. They say they cannot afford the luxury of twelve cartridges for a single man. And the fact that the twenty-three cam- bineros who were found lying in one heap near the Enderlaza Bridge were all shot with one ball, not with four, and mostly through the head, was adducL'd by Santa Cruz and his men as addi- tional proof that they were not shot after being taken prisoners, but killed in a hand-to-hand fight by the Carlists, enraged by the treachery to which they had been exposed through the firing at them after the white flag had been hoisted. Yet it must be said that, however savage the fighting may have been, it could not have lasted long, for of the two dead bodies I saw picked out of the IJidassoa. the one had twenty-two cart- ridges in his pouch, the other fifty. Keeping in view that a cartridge j)ouch contains sixty cart- ridges, and that it is seldom quite full, it becomes evident that the two men who threw themselves iiit<» the Uiilassoa had scarcely fought more than a lew minutes.

There is no need to say that the famous cun-

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244- SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

is a man of a quite peculiar type. His organising faculties seemed to be just as considerable as his despotism was violent. He has never received a single penny or a single cartridge from the Ministers of Don Carlos. Notwithstanding that, he armed and equipped nearly a thousand men, established a cartridge manufactory, and was about to open in a secure spot of the mountains, called " The Three Crowns," a regular gun and cannon manufactory when he had to fly to France. He had also managed to make a few hundred rifles with the means he found at Vera, Echalar, and Arachulegui. One became perfectly puzzled when one saw all that man had done almost without any means whatever, and certainly with- out anything like scientific notions as to how such things should be done.

The drill of Santa Cruz's band was just as peculiar as all the rest of his arrangements. There was something quite strange and perfectly original in the kind of dancing movements of his men ; but still they marched remarkably well, with marvellous speed, and for an unusual number of miles in a single journey. None of the men wearing boots, but soft Basque sandals, one scarcely heard when they passed and, for a considerable period of time, both Santa Cruz and

SANTA CRUZ. 245

his oflicors went always on foot with the men. It was only when his force was provided in every otlier respect that he took to riding, and gave a horse to every commander of a company.

Still more primitive perhaps, was the care Santa Crnz took of the bodily cleanliness of his men. Whenever he got to a stream with a suffi- cient quantity of water in it — which is not often the case in Spain — he ordered all his men to take a bath ; and regularly twice a week they had all to change their shirts. As they were not allowed to carry any luggage, and hardly had any shirt beyond that which they wore, the cure invented the simple mode of requisitioning clean shirts against the dirty ones, which he left to the inhabitants of such villages as he had to pass. As the practice had been continued for several months, quite a regular stock of this kind of garment was ready in every village of the province of Guipuzcoa, which was his great centre of operations. The men arrived, received the clean shirts from the alcalde of the village, returned him the dirty ones, and the next day all the village women were engaged in washing for the next arrival of the band. Santa C.ruz seemed to be quite proud of this arrangement. At all events, I saw a letter written by him to his friend, and

246 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

ammunition agent in France, in whicii he boasted of having brought his men to such a state of cleanliness that he was prepared to pay a real (2^c/.) for every louse that would be found on any of them.

But if the cure thus showed great ability and energy in organising his own force, he was far from showing the same care about the general progress of Carlist affairs. I have mentioned already what was his answer to a demand for assistance sent to him from Fort Peiia de Plata. The conditions which he put to his " Lord and King's" request to submit to the military autho- rities was not much better. He said he would do so when his sentence of death was revoked, his enemy and immediate superior. General Lizarraga, removed, and full liberty left to him to operate with the bands he had organised. None of these conditions having been fulfilled, Santa Cruz did not yield an iota. Don Carlos, enraged at such conduct on the part of an obscure cura, wrote to him, through his secretary, ordering Santa Cruz to come at once to France, to which Santa Cruz answered in most respectful terms that he would not do so. If the King chose to come him- self to the frontier, or to send anyone, Santa Cruz said he would find a secure spot where he

SAXTA CRUZ. m

Would i^ive verbally every explanation that mii^ht l»e wanted ; but he thought it most injurious to the Kin;:;*s cause that he should leave his coiu- luand, for he was sure he sliould never be able to return to his post, the French gendarmes knowing him now too well from the portraits published everywhere, and being most likely to arrest him as soon as he had ])ut his foot on Frencli soil. Something similar, though much more rudely ex- pressed, was his answer to the proposal for the opening of the railway traffic on the Northern line. I saw myself the project of the treaty the Company had agreed to conclude with Don Carlos. Every point was approved by both parties. The Company were to pay two thousand francs a-day to the Carlists, and undertook not to carry either troops or ammunition. For these con- siderations the Carlists bound themselves to protect the trains, the telegraphs, the travellers, and the goods transported between Iriui and Vitoria. The only thing that aj)parently re- mained was to sign the agreement, when it became known that Santa Cruz, on learning of the arrangement, had said : — " The line goes partly through the province of Ouipuzcoa, occupied by my forces. As I have never been consulted with reference to thi-s arrange-

248 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

arrangement, I shall never submit to it, and shall upset the first train that comes." On hearing this. General Elio, who, whatever may be said of his political opinions, is above all a thorough gentleman, wrote to Don Carlos that he would never sign an agreement which he was not quite sure of being able to carry out, and requested the King first to settle the matter wath Santa Cruz, and then to send him the document for sig- nature.

When I had spent fully two days in the custody of the two young milliners and the old tailor, and w^as just beginning to speculate how long my detention at Vera might last, my little humpbacked custodian rushed into my room and announced that Senor Santa Cruz Avas coming, hurriedly lisping " Here, here," and pushing me into the front room, which served the family as a workshop. Within a few yards of the house I saw, through the window, the ferocious ciira marching in with a band of his best men. His orderly was walking by his side, leading his mountain hack. Santa Cruz had no arms about him, except a revolver stuck in his faja^ and a long stick, similar to those used in the Alps

SAXTA CRUZ. 249

I'V Englislimen of climbing dispositions. lie was dressed in a rough grayish jacket witli green pij)ings, sometliing like the Bavarian Jiiger coat, and ratlier short light cotton trousers of tlie same colour as the jacket ; some hempen Basque sandals and a dark blue heret completed the cos- tume. There \vas not a brass button, or any- thing military-like, about him ; but nothing either denoted the priest, lie marched with long steps, now and then muttering the usual '•'• adios" to people bowing to him, and went straight to his house, some twenty doors higher than that I was lodged in. My hostesses advised me not to go to him until called, as Don Estevan was sure to report to him my presence in the place. More than an hour passed without my hearing any news from the man in whose power I was. rresentl}- I noticed, however, some movement round his residence, and by-and-by the Cabecilla appeared at his door, lie walked down the street with eight men of his body-guard, armed a la Don Estevan, to their very teeth.

" Is it to me that he is coming? Is it to shoot me that those men are with him .' Thank Heaven they do not seem to have any sticks, so that there is at all events little probability of my getting the bastinado." These and

250 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

similar thoughts crossed my mind with the rapidity of lightning. But the master of my destiny passed our door and turned round the corner.

"There must be something going on in the town square," said the old tailor; and all four of us, as by common accord, w^ent down stairs with the intention of following Santa Cruz, but a sentry posted at the corner stopped us, saying that we had better wait a bit if w^e had any busi- ness that way. Soon some vague noise reached our ears, and by-and-by very distinct cries of a suffering man.

" Some one is being punished again," whis- pered my humpbacked friend, and n^ade a sign to all of us to return home. A few moments later, we learned that the gunsmith of the band, to whom Santa Cruz had given some work to do, had not fulfilled his task, but gone away during the cure's absence for a couple of days to a neighbouring village and got drunk. His reward was fifty hastones, and very hard must they have been ; for, passing by his house more than twenty-four hours after the punishment was inflicted, I heard the poor man still groan- ing. It did not take, however, much time for Santa Cruz to give this new " lesson."

SANTA CRUZ. 251

In less than a quarter of an hour he was \valkin<^ back again from the town square with tiie same body-guards, and as he readied our house, I saw Don Estevan receiving some order, and rushing up tlie staircase. There was no hunger any mistake that nay turn had come to be attended to. " Come along," would be the literal translation of tlie short but expressive speech Don Estevan delivered to me on entering the room. Down we went at once, and found the cure waiting with his staff at the door, and talking to a short and stoutish man in the costume of a private. I learned subsequently that the man was Don Cruz Ochoa, late Carlist Deputy in the Cortes, and now a private soldier in ISanta CJruz's bands, and a secretary to his leader. Don Cruz Ochoa is a well-educated man, speaking very fair French, of which he was anxious to make a show each time an occasion presented itself. But he had not much opportunity that way, for the meeting, besides lasting a very short time, was by no means a verbose one. In fact, I do not remember of having had so busi- ness-like an interview for a long time past with any njan, big or little. The greater portion of it was occujtied by tlie cure examining my papers. Of the Carlist passport and my letters of

252 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

introduction he did not seem to take any notice at all. But he examined very closely my other papers, which, being worded in French, gave him, it seemed, a good deal of trouble, but he went through them without the help of his French speaking secretary ; and becoming apparently persuaded that I was not an agent of the Eepublicans or of his enemies at head- quarters, he put to me the simple and short question : —

" What is it that you want ?" which in Spanish is even shorter than in English. " Qice quiere Ustedr

I answered that a great deal having been writ- ten and told of his and him troops' activity in the present war, it was my duty, as a journalist sent out to the Carlists, to ascertain what was really true in the reports circulated, and what were the operations of the various Carlist corps ; that I had been sent not to him alone, but to the whole of the Carlist Army, as my Carlist pass- port showed, and that my account would not have been complete if I had not visited his corps and witnessed its operations.

" Of my corps you can see but a small portion now," answered the cure ; " Our men are all gone in different directions, and I myself am start-

SANTA CRUZ. 253

ing at once for a place to which I cannot take you. But on some future occasion I would not mind your being present at any engagement we may have, provided you can stand fire and great fatigue. But before allowing you to join us I must make some inquiries about you and the paper you represent. If we are treated by the Heraldo de Nueva York as the miserable French and Spanish papers treat us, I shall never allow you to come here again ; and if you are not pre- pared to serve the cause of Monarchy and the Catholic Religion, you had better not come at all."

I don't know why the gloomy, bearded head of the cure, deeply sunken in his shoulders, ap- peared to me at this moment as the head of some big bull that was going to charge me.

" With whom are you acquainted of our Carlist people 1" continued Santa Cruz, walking at a slpw pace abreast with me towards his house, the guards following us. I named several persons.

" Very well ; I will make inquiries, and will let you know when you may come here again, if you wish it. I must start now, but I hope I shall be soon back to Vera. If you like, you can wait here."

254 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

Being of course by no means anxious to lose any more time at this miserable place, and to run the risk of his receiving information that Nueva York was under Republican Government, and El Heraldo not a Catholic paper, for both of which circumstances he might have prescribed me a more or less strong dose of bastinado, I answered, with many thanks for the proposal, that a previous invitation from General Elio did not allow me to postpone my journey to head-quarters ; but that I hoped to receive soon a permission from him, and to come then once more to Vera.

" Very well ; go to the head-quarters. But do you know where the}^ are ? I don't." I said that I knew them to have been a few days since in the neighbourhood of Pefiacerrada, and that I hoped to find them if I could get a guide knowing well the mountain passes. "I don't think you can get one here ; at all events, not before to- morrow, for we have but very few men disengaged. I will give you a man who will take you either to the next Carlist post or to the frontier, as you prefer, and you must then make out the w^ay yourself. This is all I can do for you at present." And the fierce cure added the usual Spanish Vaya listed con Dios (God help you on your journey), and entered his house, to the door

SANTA CRUZ. 255

of which W(.' liud by that time Wiilkcd. Don Ouz Ochou, ])n)hal)ly anxious to put in a few Fronch wimls and to jii.stily the somewhat dry reception liis leader had given me, re- mained behind the cure, and began to asKure me tiiat Senor Santa Cruz had really not a moment to spare just then. I answered, of course, that 1 was very much obliged for the favour shown to me, notwithstanding the pressing occupations, and that the promise of a further admission was, above all, very encouraging. In less than half an hour they were all off in the direction of Tolosa. and 1 towards the frontier, feeling a considerable desire to get rid as soon as possible of the guardsman they gave me, whose look suited me just as little as his utter inability to comprehend a single syllable that was not of the purest Guipuzcoa Basque.

Hut I had also some t)ther reasons pushing me more in the direction of St.-Jean-de-Lu/. than in that of Elio's head-quarters. In the lirst place, I had promised some friends to return at once to tell them what I had seen ; and, in the second, 1 knew at St.-Jean a Soutii American

256 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

gentleman who had become quite mad in his ad- miration of Santa Cruz's genius, was his most fervent protector and friend, and had supplied him, to a great extent at his own and the vicar of Tolosa's expense, with nearly everything the fierce Cahecilla wanted when he first started. This gentleman was not in town when I started to Vera, and I thought now to avail myself of his assistance for further studies of the curious type I had just seen.

Don Isidoro — for such was the name of the enthusiastic South American who is not to be confounded with San Isidro — on hearing the re- cord of my visit to his protege, began to laugh, saying that he was sure the rather rude im- pression Santa Cruz had produced upon me would vanish the next time I saw him. " He is a most charming man," assured Don Isidoro. "You shall see yourself.. I have just got a note from him, saying that he will be back at Vera on Sunday next, and we shall go and have dinner with him." And so we went and had dinner, and a pretty good one, for there was salmon fresh out of the Bidassoa, and chicken, and a bottle of sherry, and even some dessert. Don Isidoro was too well known by Santa Cruz's men for us to be in any way

SANTA CRUZ. 257

molested on our journey. \\'(' went strait^lit to tlie town .S(]nar(', and met the etire rcliirnini,^ IVoni mass witli his usual escort of ui^ht crack men. Whether it was that he had put on ii clean shirt, or that he had cut his hair, 1 catniot say, but there was certainly a great improvement in his appearance. He looked much youngi-r, and when he smiled on seeing Don Isidoro, and kissed him, his face brightened up considerably, and he looked almost handsome.

By the way, none of the j)ortraits published of Santa Cruz have the slightest likeness to him. lie is everywhere represented as a very dark man, while in reality he is quite fair; certainly not fair in the sense of Scotch or German fair- ness, but what is called blond in France, which is equally as lar iVom dark brown or black as from />lu)id cendre. His blue eyes are rather deeply seated, but that does not prevent them from looking quite bright when the face becomes otherwise enlivened. His teeth are irreproachable, and though the full beard he wears gn-atly conceals the expression of his mouth, what is to be seen of it when he smiles is rather attractive than otherwise. He is under the middle height, but built like an athlete. I rememi)er him once sitting cross-legged and ar-

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258 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

ranging liis stockings, (he wears long stockings not socks, and ties them with a garter), I was puzzled at the strength and form of his calves. He is now thirty-one 3'ears of age, and it would seem that it is within the last two years, since he has been leading the mountain guerilla life, that he has so improved in health. But though he might have been thinner formerly, he must always have been strong, for even as a student of the seminary of Tolosa he was reputed for his agility and his taste for bodily exercise. When Don Isidoro told him that he brought me for the purpose of showing me that, when Santa Cruz knew people and could rely upon them, he was not so fierce-looking as he appeared at first sight, the cure laughed, shook hands with me, and asked me at once to come to his house.

During nearly the whole of our visit the conversation ran upon the illegality of the beha- viour of Lizarraga and other generals of Don Carlos towards Santa Cruz. The cure was evidently quite furious against them. He said all the accusations of cruelty brought against him were false ; he never shot anyone except spies, and in this case he did not make any difference whether they were women or

SANTA CRUZ. 250

men. IIo also never shot prisoners, but his men were sufficiently ^ood soldiers not to allow themselves to be taken ])risoners, and seldom captured any. When they foni^dit they fought. As a matter of course, there was no end of talk about the hidden reasons which, in Hanta Cruz's opinion, caused the Carlist generals to op]>ose him. lie was not a military man, and he had accomplished more than all ni' them put to- gether. He armed nearly a thousand men without having a penny, while they squandered the money of Carlists right and left. They pretended to be, or aimed at being at some future day, grandees of Spain while he was a poor cure. And so on, with a repetition of the petty and uninteresting details which characterise every personal struggle. The real facts are, however, that Santa Cruz having entered first into Spain in December last when the movement began, and having rendered great services to the cause, made ])erhaps some- what unreasonable demands, which the generals of Don Carlos were not disposed to accede to, simply because they knew that a leader capable of commanding a guerilla party of a couple of Inui- dred men was not on that account necessarily tit for the command of large forces, and Santa Cruz is the sort of mau who thinks himself capable of

s 2

260 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

everything. He wanted not only to be made commander-in-chief of the province of Guipuzcoa, but to have also the whole of the civil adminis- tration of it in his own hands, and the counsellors of Don Carlos, knowing the temper of the man, thought that, notwithstanding his popularity in certain districts, he was sure in the long run to spread discontent, and to estrange the whole pro- vince through the stubbornness and savagery of his proceedings. Santa Cruz, on the other hand, thought himself inspired by the " great models " which he desired to imitate. Soldiering was never considered incompatible with theology in Spain. Not to speak of more olden times, Loyola was a soldier before he became a monk. Espartero was preparing himself to be- come a monk when the War of Independence made him a soldier instead. During the Seven Years' War, an obscure cure of Villaviado, of the name of Geronimo Merino, began like Santa Cruz, and soon became quite a legendary figure among the Carlists. Cabrera, though he never managed to become a cure, was a student in a seminary, and became a soldier only when expelled from it. He rose to the celebrity he possesses now among the Carlists, chiefly through his violence. Santa Cruz wished to imitate all of these, and

SANTA CRUZ. 261

to unite in liinisi'ir a coiiiliiiuitidn of the most salient traits of eacli of llifiii, with a strong achhtion of the terrorist tendencies ul Mina and Zuniahiearregni. The chnnsy and wild manner in which he set to work was simply tlic result of his utter ignorance. And this Avas KO great that— to give only one instance — he delivered once a pound of conunon gunpowder to a mining engineer he had captured somewhere among the numerous mines of the neighbourhood, and ordered him to blow up with it the big iron bridge of Endelaza. And when the man told him it was impossible, he threatened to shoot him.

But notwithstanding all that, I firmly believe, from what I have seen of that man, that had he had the leisure to devote a couple of years to reading something besides his prayer-book, he would certainly have acquired a very different notoriety from that he possesses now. His life is in itself a little epic, sufficiently interesting to warrant my giving the princijial incidents of it here, especially as it was narrated to me by Cruz Ochoa in the presence of Santa Cruz himself, during the dinner. iSeuor Cruz Ochoa, always anxious to extol the merits of his chief, thought it very convenient to make the cure's

262 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

life the suLject of dinner talk with a man he supposed likely to put a good deal of what he heard into print, and Santa Cruz did not seem to object to it, for he listened the whole time, and frequently corrected his secretary.

Don Manuel Santa Cruz was born in 1842, at Elduayen, an obscure mountain village in Guipuzcoa. Having early lost his parents, he was, together with his only sister, brought up in the almshouse of Tolosa. A cure, who afterwards became the vicar of that town, and one of the chief supporters of Santa Cruz, discovered some intelligence in the almshouse boy, and placed him in the seminary. On the conclusion of his studies, Santa Cruz was appointed cure of Her- nialde, a village within a gun-shot of Tolosa, and a place he has often frequented since in his new capacity of a cahacilla. The young cure quickly made himself a high reputa- tion for the purity of his life, and for the indo- mitable zeal with which he performed his duty among the peasants scattered in the isolated farms around his parish village. In 1870 a small Carlist rising broke out, and was soon sup- pressed ; but one of its leaders managed to save

SANTA CRUZ. 2<'.:5

some arms from caiitiirt', and eiitniste'il tliciii tn tlie care of Santa Cni/,, Tlif ( i()vcrimicnt becaiiK- awaru of it in about a year's time, and sent some Civil fJnanls to arrest the cure just as lie was leaving the church after having celebrated mass. On the guards showing to him tlio order they had, he answerrd that he was perfectly ready to give himself up, — tiiough he did not know the reason for which he was arrested, — but asked a few minutes to take his meal and to put oil" his gown ; ami while the men were waiting for iiim at the entrance of his house, lie slij)ped out in disguise and was never seen more. That was his first trick, and since then begins the epic of his life. After having wan- dered for several months in Spain, constantly chased by the troops, he escaped to France ; but as he had neither papers nor any knowledge of the French language, he was soon tracked by the gendarmes, and had once a regular run with them througli tlu' whole town of St.-Jean-de-Luz. yet managed to get oil", and to escape across the frontier. This was not long before the Carlist rising of 1872, and Santa Cruz had consequently no great difficulty in finding a safe abode in his native land, until he entered in April of that year as chai)lain into the band of Kecondo. He soon

264 ' SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

became the favourite of the Volunteers, and even a dangerous rival of his commander, if not in any official capacit}^, at all events through the influence he exercised over the men. When Don Carlos was surprised at Oroquieta, and when afterwards the Amorovieta Convention was signed, and Recondo surrendered his arms, Santa Cruz treated him in the way I have already mentioned when speaking of Amilibia, and declared that at all events he would not surrender, and with eleven men, upon whom he could firmly rely, he took to the mountains, A few days later, a party of Amadeo's soldiers was passing from Mondragon to Onate. They were about forty in number, and had a small quantity of arms which they were carrying to the latter to\vn. Santa Cruz, having learned this, attacked them in a narrow gorge, took all the arms away, buried them in a secure spot, and I found them all doing service when I was at Vera.

During this skirmish he had a man wounded, and while he was carrying him one day to some isolated farm, a detachment sent in pursuit captured him together with the wounded man. Santa Cruz was now to be shot as soon as he should be brought to Tolosa. But during the march to that town the escorting party had to pass a night in some village on the road. Santa

SANTA CllUZ. 265

Cniz, with his liaiuls aiid legs tied, was locked Dp on the thir(l lldor of (he house for ;zreuler security. Yet, uu the next morning, when the party was to start, no Santu Cruz was to be seen ; at the back window were only to be found two sheets tied together. l>y means of which he had descended from his temi)orary prison. The Carlists having everywhere surrendered and been dispersed, he could not remain long in Spain, and had again to fly to France. But the Government of Aniadeo had eommuiiicated with the French authorities about the presence of the man, who began already to become a notoriety, and the police of St.-Jean-de-Luz captured him, and sent him for internment to Xantes. Yet the city of jihims (lid not seem to have taken his fancy, for he disappeared about six hours alter his internment, and returned once more to !St.-Jean-de-Luz, where, with the aid of Don Isidoro, who enjoys certain consular ])rivileges, he safely resided up till last winter, when the vicar of Tolosa and the hospitable host of Santa Cruz, supplied him not only with money, but with arms, ammunition, and everything necessary for the new attempt to raise the Carlist banner in the Guipuzcoa. On the 1st of l)eceudier, 1-^72, when 1 >on Carlos had not yet (juite made up his mind wlielher he sliuuld

266 RPAIX AND THE SPANIARDS.

embark upon a new campaign, Santa Cruz crossed at Biriatou with thirty-seven men, marched straight off towards St. Sebastian, upset a mail train bound to Madrid, and began thus both his now flimous career, and at the same time gave the signal for the present Carlist rising.

Up till last Spring, everything went right enough. Santa Cruz spread terror all along the French frontier and throughout the province of Guipuzcoa. Whenever he encountered large Re- publican forces, which were more than a match for him, he took to flight ; but whenever he saw himself strong enough, he fought desperately, and, as a rule, came out victorious, and slaughtered every enemy who did not escape in quick time. But in the Spring, when Lizarraga was appointed Com- mander-General of Guipuzcoa, the quarrel broke out between him and Santa Cruz, and both had then, practically, two wars to carry on, the one with the enemy, and the other between them- selves. When Lizarraga issued the sentence of death against Santa Cruz, the Cure answered by a similar sentence against Lizarraga, and for a considerable time got the best of the struggle, for, being nearer to the frontier and to the sea, it was always in his power to capture the arms and ammunition which were intended for his General.

SANTA CUfZ. 207

Don Curios, Klio, NaMcspiiias, cvcryboily Iricil ill eviTV way to settk' tlir (iiian-rl, Iml all llic e-lVurts i'ailfil. Santa (\-\\7. not Ix-iii;; (lisi»o.se(l to listi-n to anything boforo Liziirrtiga was rcinovcd, and the whole of fJiiipnzcoa given into his hands. This state of alfairs lasted for about two months; till Elio, seeing that the matter caused (juite a split in the party, ordered Valdesjjinas to march with something like fifteen hundred men against Santa Cruz, to capture him, to carry out the sentence, if it was necessary, or to release him, on the con- dition that he should leave for France, if the Mar- (piis thought that the former services he rendered to the cause justified such a course of clemency. Old Valdespinas opened this campaign on the 24th of June, and had to work for fully a fortnight be- fore he was cafjable of surprising Santa Cruz at Vera, surrounding his house, and making him sur- render. On the 9th of July, a Convention was signed between the Marquis and the Cure, accord- ing to which Santa Cruz was to give up all his men, anununition, arms, and provisions, to be himself escorted to France, and never to return more unless called by the King. His bands were taken down to the Bastan valley, where they were dis- tributed between the variiius other battalions, and ISanta Cruz, with three ur four ui his fulluwers,

268 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

passed the P^^rences. Yet, notwithstanding the Convention, he managed to surrender only one cannon out of the two he had, concealing the other somewhere in the mountains, together with a considerable number of rifles, both of which he expects some day to serve him again. But, in consequence of the reckless way in which every- thing is done in Spain, the hict of his having still retained some arms was discovered only when he was beyoud the frontier.

Santa Cruz was now sufficiently experienced in the manner in which things are managed in France, not to fall again into the hands of the French police. Himself, his secretary, Cruz Ochoa, his lieutenant, Estevan Indart, whom we saw lying on his bed in a topsy-turvy position, the fierce Francisco, commander of Arachulegui, and the personal servants of Santa Cruz, were the men who passed with him into France, lived for some time in a small village near Bordeaux, and subsequentl3\ when the sensation caused by Santa Cruz's exploits had a little cooled down, returned again to St.-Jeau-de-Luz.

It might, perhaps, be worth mentioning here, as a cnrious characteristic of the fierce Cure, that the whole time of his residence in France he entirely devoted to military studies. He sur-

SANTA CRUZ. 209

roiintlt'd liiiuself with various military works, and with Freiidi-Spaiiisli Dictionaries, and wlien I saw him auMiii in September hist, at Don Isidoro's house, he spoke a very fair French, and his reading; of military books has also evidently influenced his mind, for he no longer criticised the chiefs from any personal [)oint of view, but Irom the con- sideration of their strategic operations, which of course he did not approve. In talking on these matters he used military terms, of the mean- ing of which, 1 am perfectly sure, he had no idea of three or four months previous.

But while he was thus storing military know- ledge, the adherents he had with him, and who were regular l*asqnes, incapable of anything except hard lighting, or hard Held work, got sick of their idle leisure in France, and wanted to get back at any ]»rice into Spain again. According to the terms of the Convention, none of them had the right to return, but this was disregarded ; and in August last, all, with the exception of Cruz Ochoa, who disappeared from the stage altogether, passed the frontier, and were atlem|iting once more to reunite the dispersed men of Santa Cruz's band. The Marquis of Las Ilormazas. on learn- ing of their being near Vera, marched out one day with a couple of dozen reliable men, captured the

270 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

three Santa Cruz's fellows, disarmed them, tied their hands and legs, carried them to Lizarraga's head-quarters, where they were shot off-hand for the breach of the Convention, upon the strength of which they were released. Santa Cruz is con- sequently so far quite alone in France at present ; but he has probably a sufficient number of adherents to be able to reappear again some day, and to judge from his nature, he is not a man who would withhold from any attempt of that sort on account of being afraid to provoke internal discords in the party he pretends to serve. The man is decidedly bent on mischief, and he is endowed with all the capacities necessary for doing a good deal of it. No one, knowing the man, could be astonished at hearing of his being actively at work again, and one may safely pre- dict that, unless he be captured and shot at the very outset, his next onslaught will be fiercer than ever.

271

CHAPTER XI.

FOREIGN C A R L I S T S.

HAVING mentioned the French Legit unist Squadron in one of the precedinj^ chapters, I think I ought not, for the sake of completeness, to omit showing to what extent other countries were represented in the Carlist camp. And it must be stated at the outset that tlie foreign element was neither very strong, nor did it })rove particularly successful in the defence of Spanish Legitimacy. Except the few French noblemen of the provinces bordering on Spain, to whom Legitimist opinions come as an inheritance, whose families, one way or another, had been connected with the (Jarlists for tlie last forty years, and whose principal supi)ort to Don Carlos was rendered outside Sjiain, nearly all the foreigners I met among the Carlists seemed, with very few exceptions, to be mere petty mili-

272 SPAIN AXD THE SPAXIARDS.

tary adventurers. As a matter of course, I exclude from these my confreres, the journalists, who were present independent of their own wish, and all those whom I have to mention here by name.

The most promising body of foreigners, who entered the service of Don Carlos, seemed un- doubtedly to be the already mentioned squadron of Paris cavalry, but unhappily it lived but the short life of a rose. It made its brilliant appear- ance towards the beginning of June, and in a ] month's time nothing more was to be seen of it, and what was to be heard was not pleasant to listen to. Count d'Alcantara became ill and had to go back to France, while the majority of his officers discovered, it seems, ^at the battle j of Udave (Lecumberry) that to take actual part ' in Carlist fighting was not a particularly jolly pastime. In fact, Count d'Alcantara and Baron Barbier were the only two officers of the little squadron that went bravely into fire on that occasion, the remainder having retired to the village in the rear of the force, and retreated to France the ver}^ next day. The brilliant escort came thus to grief before Don Carlos had ever , seen it, and the horses, saddles, and the rest j of its splendid equipment were sold by retail to i

FOREIGN CARLISTS. '^~i'o

the highest bieldtT. 01" course every one of the ofliccrs hud u reason of his own lor withdraw ini;, liiit one, I rcniendier. struck nie as particularly cluiructeristic. It was that of a Monsieur le Marquis packing up his luggage, and pre- ])ariiig to cross back into France. On my in- quiring why he had resolved ne)t to continue any longer with the (Jarlists, he saiil :

" Ce.st inn- vie de chien. Vepuis nn niois je )i\ii pas seulement pit ohtenir un lerjume.'^ (It is a dog's life. For a whole month I could not get any vegetables.")

Some more Frenchmen had engaged in the rank and file of the Carlist battalions, but not knowing either Spanish or , Basque, and con- sequently not being able to explain themselves, felt all the more intensely the hardships which were so easily endured by the Navarre and the Guipuzcoa men, and which were so ofteusive to the French sense of importance. Two or three of them fared even worse, for they were shot by Lizarraga for petty thefts.

The (lermans were less numerously but more happily and much more romantically represented in the Carlist army. An Austrian and a I'russian olKcer, whom I knew there, were amongst the most valiant men. They managed also to pick

VOL. I. T

274 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

lip Spanish very promptly, and to make friends with everybody, The Prussian, a lieutenant in the German Army, had had a duel with his captain, shot him dead, and was to have been judged by a court-martial. To escape this, he v.'ent into Spain, entered the ranks of the Carlists, and when I last saw him he was on the point of being made aid-de-camp to Lizarraga. The Austrian was a member of a very high and Avealtliy family, and had been connected for years with the Diplomatic service. He had been Secretary to the Embassy in Paris, and for some time, I think, charge cCaffaires in Portugal. He seems to have fallen into a love affair which did not quite answer his wishes, and took to Carlism out of despair. With plenty of money at his command and with no end of courage, that man became at once one of the most dis- tinguished Carlist officers. At Eraoul, at Udave, at Cirauqui, at Dicastillo, he was always in the hottest of the fight : and the rank of major, the Star of the order of "Military Merit," and the position of ordnance officer to the King were the rewards bestowed upon him. When I last saw him at Durango he spoke Spanish like a Spaniard, and everyone of the Volunteers, none of whom would even attempt to pronounce the name of Baron

FOREIGN CARLISTS. 2 i .')

Von Walterskirclu'ii and who seldom cared to know the iiaiiie ol" even their own ullict-rs, knew perlectly well, and were always anxious to salute " Don Carlos, el Austriaco."

The Anglo-Saxon and the Celtic races were almost as numerously represented as the Gauls. Not to speak ot" the i;entleiiicn connected witli the Carlist Connnittee of London, the various other bodies of Irish and English Catholics which were working at home for the cause of Don Carlos at the risk of legal prosecution, and those gentle- men who, on board the Ih'erhoinid and other ves- sels, exposed themselves to be captured and dealt with as pirates, England, and es])ecially Ireland, have, from the very outbreak of the movement sup- plied the Carlist army with a number of gentlemen anxious to get a bit of fighting, and to win some military rank or order they had no chance of obtaining in their own country. Some of them had already tried to do so in the Papal army, in the French army, and in that of the Southern States. They came as a rule with more or less considerable pretentions, and as none of them knew the language of the country, and but few Iwul Huilicient means to purchase ahorse or equipment, I do not believe they had any great success in Spain. One of these gentlemen, however, left

T 2

276 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

an excellent name behind him. Mr. John Scannel Taylor, an Irish law-student, I believe, entered a battalion as a private, never asked for any favour, and was the first to fall, under the walls of fort Ibero, near Pamplona. It was the first and last action that young gentleman ever took part in.

America and Italy had each a couple of repre- sentatives in the Spanish camp. I have mentioned elsewhere Colonel Butler, the United States Consul-General in Egypt, and his secretary, Major Wadleigh. They were both attached, in the capacity of military amateurs, to the stafi" of Dorregaray, and stood a good deal of fire at the battle of Eraoul. At Penacerrada they narrowly escaped being captured by Republicans when the Carlist forces were surprised. They lost every bit of their luggage, but did not seem to be discouraged by their first experiment, and went home promising soon to return again. A couple of young American doctors were also trying to join the army, but the knowledge of Spanish being quite as indispensable to a surgeon as to an officer, and the Carlist medical arrange- ments being so poor that they were not able to suppl}'^ the surgeons with the barest requisites of an ambulance service, the American doctors did not even cross the frontier. The nephew of a well

FOREIGN CARLISTS. 2 t i

known Sontli Aincrican CJonenil, a smart and niilitarv-lookingyonnj;^ ^entlenian, was also about to enter the ranks of the Carlists at tlie time I left Spain, and — let us hope — will have fared better than the majority of foreigners.

Italy sent, as far as I know, only two persons — a captain of engineers, who was doing some actual service with the Navarre battalions, and a priest (supposed to be a Jesuit father) one of the most curious specimens of priesthood I ever met with. He spoke very bad Italian and quite unin- telligible French, a mixture of which imperfectly spoken languages with some Latin — which I sup- pose must have been better — was intended to do service as Sjianish. No one knew where he came from, and what he came for. He was attached to no military body or person, constantly changed his abode, and had consequently no regular corps to draw his rations fi-oiii. Of UKMicy he had, apparently, none at all, and lived upon any- thing he could find. But, wherever there was fire, the father was sure to be in the field with a gigantic siher cnicitix in his hands, administering the last consolations to the wounded, some of whom I am perfectly sure he frightened to death by the abrupt and hurried way in which he jumped at them with the heavy crucifix in his hands. One of the wounded actually conqilained

278 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

to me that a wound the worthy priest had in- flicted on his eye with the crucifix, was much more painful tlian that caused by the enemy's bullet, which entered his calf. The behaviour of the reve- rend father on the battle-field, his attire, which was by no means attractive or clean, and the general mystery as to his personality made him soon known everywhere, and the kindness of the various officers in inviting him to share their meals more than once, I believe, saved him from the danger of starvation. On learning one day that I was a newspaper correspondent, the worthy priest got hold of me, saying that, being very well ac- quainted with everything concerning Carlism, he was anxious to place in my hands some notes he had, and that although he knew my journal was published in the English language, he thought I could easily translate them from the Latin, the language in which he preferred to write. As such exercises in translation frightened me very much, I thanked him oft-hand, saying that I thought my position as a mere looker-on much better fitted for the observation of facts and details, and that his incessant and beneficial activity would make it very difficult for me to get these notes from him in proper time for the couriers. "But," retorted the mysterious father, "that

FOREIGN CAULISTS. 271)

is L'XiVCtly what I want to koo|) yon aloof from — the coiiiiiiiinicatioii of what is c-alh.'d iirws. 1 want yon to si)cak of those eternal trnths and principles to which so little attention is paid nowadays, and which it should be the dnty of every honest paper to revive amongst the erring masses of the people."

I need not say that, after a suggestion of this sort, I did my best to avoid meeting the reverend gentleman again ; and as the (Jarlist forces soon after divided into three distinct corps, operating in diflerent provinces, my object was very easily attained.

The foreign journalists were, almost exclusively, all representatives of English and American papers : Times, Standard, Daily News, New Yorh World, Illustrated London iVeivs. The Paris Figaro had sent out M. Farcy, but he remained only a short time in the camp, and returned to Paris. As to my English colleagues, they fared as they always do in such cases — that is to say, worki-il much harder than soldiers, for they underwent the same privations, and exposed themselves to the same danger dm-ing the day, and wrote at night when soldiers were at rest, b or some months I was quite alone wuth the Carlists, the English papers not having '' gone in" yet fur Carlisim, and for all

280 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.'

that time I was more or less exposed to " in- spirations" on the part of the Carlist leaders. They all wanted to explain to me, as they said, the philosophical and political importance of the movement. Some of the cures were particularl}'- zealous in that way, and a good many of them did not much differ from my Italian friend, except that they talked in intelligible Spanish, and did not propose to favour me with any Latin notes to translate. But when Don Carlos had crossed the frontier, several more correspondents ar- rived, and the burden of those Carlist "inspira- tions," which I had previously to bear alone, was, of course, henceforth divided between us. The Times representative, whose sympathies the Carlists were particularly anxious to secure, was naturally the most courted man, and there was no sort of compliment that Don Carlos and his- Generals did not pay to the correspondent of the leading English journal, in the vain hope to make him and his paper serve their cause. The arrival of that gentleman produced quite a sen- sation in the Carlist camp. He came with seve- ral horses and a couple of English servants. That was already something to astonish the Carlists. But the pink envelopes, with the printed address of the Times on them, produced

FOREIGN CARLISTS. 2H1

a still stroii.L^iT iiii|»r(.'ssii)ii ii|)()ii Hoii Carlos, when one (if tliut joiiniars leUcrs liaiipeiietl to lie handed to him lor the purpose of sendini;" it over to France witli his courier. It seemed us if the pink envelope, containing the record of his deeds, made him ai)i)ear greater in his own eyes.

By-and-by, however, as the campaign Avent on, anil the Carlists got accustomed to the presence of the " gentlemen of the press," much less fuss was made about us. In fiict the Carlist chiefs began to take so little notice of us as to leave us sometimes without a shelter at night. But during the whole time we were present in their corps, none of us had the slightest unpleasantness or difficulty with the authorities, the population, or the volunteers. And this strikingly contrasted with the experiences of some of us during the Franco-German war, when every correspondent, however devoted to the French cause, was several times locked up by the French military com- manders, and some very narrowly escaped being shot. Yet, if you speak with Fivnchmen about Spaniards, you are sure to hear all sorts of sar- castic remarks, amongst which some allusions to their abrutissonent are sure to occur. But then it is well known that the Freneh an' le peuple le plus spiritxiel de la tcrre.

282

CHAPTER XII.

THE ARMY AND STAFF OF DON CARLOS.

rN September last (1873) the Carlist forces X were composed as follows.* In the province of Navarre were eight battalions, consisting of about nine hundred men each, and four mountain four-pounders : the whole under the command of General Olio. The eighth battalion was then only just in course of formation, and they were arming it with rifles taken from the enemy when Estella was captured. I still remember the joy of the population of that town, when the bugle sounded to call the men of the eighth battalion to receive their arms. After the usual signal for marching, distributing rations, or anything of that sort, the Carlist trumpeter always gives a number

* To judge from the reports, the Carlist forces have greatly mcreased since. But the author speaks only of what he saw himself.

THE ARMY AND STAFF UF DON CARLOS. 283

of al'nii)t hiiglu kouikIs, a kind of tu ! tu I tii I tlie iiuiiiIkt of wliicli corrcsjioiids to the iniml)L'r of tliL- iMltHlioii coiiciTiifil, iuitl when on that occiisioii the cii^dith tu ! was soiMnh'd, tlu-rcwas no end to the ajiphiuse and hurrahs on the part (d" the citizens and vohniteers congregated in the town square.

The province of Guipuzcoa hail six battalions of ahout eight hundred each, and i'our fmir- pounders, the coniinanding general being Lizar- raga. The province of Biscaya had ten battalions, of which eight were composed of liiscaya volun- teers and two of Castilians; they had. also, two cannons, and were under the coniinaml of General Velasco. They were the best equii)i)ed and the best disciplined ; but the Navarros and the Guipuz- coanos said that the Biscayinos were not fit to tight. The triilh of this accusation 1 have not been able to ascertain, as I never saw the Biscaya men nnder fire, but 1 think that the general looseness and carelessness of the ^^'avarre and Guij)UZcoa men had a good deal to do with their dislike to the clean and snian-looking volunteers of Biscaya.

Besides this, there were three battalions in the province of Alava, under (General Larramendi and two in that of Kioja under Llorente. The enrol-

284 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

raent of troops was also to be begun in Aragon nnder General Ceballos and Gamundi, in Valencia, in Murcia, in the province of Burgos, and in a couple of other districts, but in all of these the movement was quite in an incipient state. In Catalonia, where the Carlist movement began first of all, Don Alphonso, youngest brother of Don Carlos, and his wife Doiia j\Iaria de Las Nieves, who were commander and commandress- in-chief respectively, had under their orders some ten thousand men, with the Generals Savalls, Galceran, Tristany, and Torres, commanding in the provinces of Gerona, Barcelona, Taragona, and Lerida. The whole strength of the Carlist force might thus be estimated to consist in the Vasco-Navarre provinces and Catalonia of about thirty-five thousand, all well armed and pretty fairly equipped men, without reckoning the bands spread in other provinces.* Don Carlos was sup-

* General Kirkpatrick, the military representative of Don Carlos in London, gives the following data concerning the strength of the Carlist forces in districts vehich I have not been able to visit myself.

PrincipaUti/ of Catalonia. Province of Gerona. — General Saballs had under his command 1,850 men— Barrancot, 350 — Isern, 250— Chico, 500— Farriugol, 200— Iluguet, 250. Bar- celona.— General Galceran bad 1,400 men— Muxi, 150 — Eodereda, 150— Nasratal, 100— Campo, 200— Malo, 325—

THR ARMY AXD STAFF OF DON CARLOS. 285

j)Osc'cl to liL' tla' f Jciirialissiiiio of the whole fortx', but tho real coiiiiiiainlci-iii-rliit'l" was, as I liavo all ready saiti, (Joiicral Klio. 'J'hc young Don Al- pliouso occupk-d ill Catalonia the saiiiu j)o.sitiou as Gopcral I )orrcgaray occuj)icd in tliu Basque proviiKX'S.

Ill tlitj lirgjniiiiii;' of tlic raiiii)a gii CJciieral Don Antonio Dorivgaray, eoiiniiaiKler ol" the Carlist

Vergas, 200 — Gieu, 850. Tarragona. — General Triataiiy bad 900 men— Espolet, 300— Mirot, 250— Quico, toO— Valles, 2,100 — Peqiiuj'i, 500. ZerjV/a.— Command of Torres, 750 men — Vallfi, lOO — Tallada, 350 — Sans, 580. Lower Aragon and I'alentia. — Pifiol, 'JOO men — Masaclio, 500 — Molinc, tlOO, Pujol, 350— Duocastello, 300— Tidal, 250. Upper Aragon — Camaclio, 500 men — Xassarre, 400 — Barris, 250. Castellon. — Cucalla, 700 men — Firrar, 150 — Martinez, 200 — Gimeno, 260. Granada. — Jiientar, 300 men — Torres, 350. Huesca. — Camats, 525 men — Rufo, 125 — Cadirere, 100. Maestrazgo. — Coquetaa, 250 men— Villalonga, 200 — Poto, 200— Pauls, 150 — Talaras, 275 — Barrera, 200 men — Merino, 225 — Ferrar, 250. Andalucla. — Sanchez, 450 men — Utego, 250 — three other bauds, 050. Teruel. — Poto, 400 men — six new bands, com- manders not reported, 600. Leon. — Tlnve bands, about 500 men. Malaga. — Lara, 450 — Gerasco, 300 men.

The figures are those of February, 1S7;{, since which time General Kirkpatrick became President of the London Carlist Committee, after liaving commanded a brigade in Catalonia at tho outbrc.ik of the present Carli^.t rising. For further infor- motion on tliis subject, see his pamphlet, ".''itain ami Cliarlcs VIL" (London : Bums, Gates and Co. 1873.)

286 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

forces in the Basque provinees and Navarre, had some real business to do, and seems to have accom- plished a pretty fair amount of work ; but the farther the Carlist movement progressed, the more did Dorregaray lose both prestige and power. His nick- name amongst the staff officers became " General Boom," on account of his fierce appearance, and his being rather fond of hanging about the balco- nies with such ladies as could be found willing to have a chat on non-political matters. As the forces of each of the provinces increased, the various commanders became more independent in their action; they often received orders direct from Elio, and the post of Dorregaray became quite a sinecure. In fact, for the last three or four months I saw him, he was doing nothing but riding with his staff behind Don Carlos, and looking at battles and skirmishes from a more or less safe point of view. His previous career, however, indicates that he was an officer of some merit. He is a Navarre man by origin, but he was born in Africa, and enlisted as a cadet in the troops of Charles V,, at the early age of twelve. In 1839, at the conclusion of the Seven Years' War, he was a lieutenant, and passed, on the strength of the Vergara Convention, into the regular army of Isabella. He was a Colonel

TIIK ARMY AND STAFF OF DON CARLOS. 287

durini;- the Morocco canipaifi:n, ami k-l't the Qiieoirs service at the lime of lin- fall. In the Spriii;^ of 1872, when the m-w Civrlist movement first begiui, he was coiiimaiuliiig some baiuls in Valeiieia, and the bepiiiiiiig of 18713, was a})i)uiiite<l Com- mander of the liasqne Provinces and Navarre. lie is a rathi'r handsome man, and his iiowcrful appearance, liis full luaid, carefidly parte<l in the middle, and his left arm suspended in a sling, give him, when mounted on his white charger, on the whole, a very martial appearance. As the General's wound seemed to he serious, an<l the doctors constantly told him that the arm must either be amputated, or he nuist submit to undergo a careful medical treatment, Don Carlos wrote to Dorregaray, proposing that he should take leave of fibsence for the benefit of his healtli ; but he did not st'em disposed to take advantage of this permission, generally considered as a sug- gestion to retire from the post he now occupies. On the whole, I think Dorregaray is disliked by the stafi' of Don Carlos, simply because he is not a nnblfinan, has not always been a Carlist, and is supposed to be capable of turning in favour of Don Alphonso, should that Prince ever appear in Spain again.

The chief of Dorregaray's stalf is the Marquis of

288 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

Valdespinas, one of the most charming and curious types in the Carlist army. He is a man about fifty-five, deaf as a post, as recklessly brave as can be well imagined, and as nervous and excitable as an old maid. Although he has not much to do, in consequence of the position of his commander, he is to be seen everywhere in the war-councils as well as in the battle-field, and when he happens to have no command, he takes a gun out of a Volunteer's hand, and rushes on at the head of a charging battalion, or, brand- ishing his sabre, dashes at the head of a cavalry charge, as he did at Eraoul. It is impossible to speak to Valdespinas, except through the gutta-percha tube which is invariably hanging around his neck ; and like a good many deaf people, he thinks everybody else is deaf too, and is constantly shouting. At the battle of Dicastillo he was for more than an hour under a heavy artillery fire, and was apparently so un- conscious of where he was, that he is said to have exclaimed to his aid-de-camp, " I wonder why those fools of Republicans don't fire at us," and was quite surprised when the aid-de-camp called his atten- tion to the exploded shells lying about. In private life the Marquis is one ofthe most amiable and charming men, and is every inch of him a true Castilian caballero.

TlIK ARMY AND STAFF OF DON CARLOS. 2X'J

'J'lic ( 'oiiiiiiandcr <il" the |ii'(niiic(' of Xav.irro. < iciKTal ( )lli), is iiiiicli less of ail iiristocral, aiiil Intnic tliu oiitliivak of this war liis iiaiiiL' was little known even aiiiuii^ (Jurlists, exee})t tliroii^ji his having niariieil a very remarkable woman, the widow of ono of tlie heroes of the Seven Years" ^\ ar. ^\'h(■n \\ry lirst hll^llanll was killfl, 1 )oria liamona never ceased to serve the (Jarlists, and Znmalacarregni acknowledged that he owed to this lady, on several occasions, his life. He was once on the point of being captured with the whole nf his force, when Dona liamona saved him by smuggling several thousand flints concealed in a cart-load of cabbage, which she conveyed from l'ami)lona into Zumalacarregui's camp disguised as a mnle-tlriver. By this dashing act, she gave the (.'arlist Commander the opportunity of delV'at- ing the enemy instead of being captured, as he Would have been without the flints. On another occasion she entered Pamplona at the risk of her life, and carried on with the Christino General Saarsfield the negotiatitm fur the surrender of the ttiwn and citadel with all the forces and ammu- nition in it. On the eve of the day when the sur- render was to have taken i)lace, h'aarslield was dis- missed, and this was the only cause — say theCar- li■^ts — why Pamjtloiui tlid nut become their capital.

VOL. L U

1^90 SPAIN AXD THE SPANIARDS.

One could make quite a three volume novel out of the adventures of that extraordinary woman. When the Seven Years' War was over and Dofia Ramon a was released from prison, she married a Senor Zubiri and kept an hotel at Pamplona, where the defeated and banished Carlists always found a refuge, and where all the petty risings were organised after 1840. Her second husband does not appear to have lived long, at all events a few years back we find her keeping a large iron- monger's shop in the same town of Pamplona, and married to Don Nicolas Olio, the present Commander of Navarre. Although Dona Ramona worked very hard, she does not seem to have ever made a large fortune, perhaps on account of her constantly spending money for the Carlist cause. At all events when Don Nicolas received his appointment as commander of the Province of Navarre he was in Paris, on a visit to a step- son of his, and could not accept the post for want of the small sum necessary for the journe}- from Paris to Bayonne. It was only after obtaining from a friend a loan of one hundred and fifty francs that he was enabled to start for the frontier. He entered Spain on the 17th of December, with Argonz, Perula,

THE ARMY AND STAFF OF DON CARLOS. L".'l

and twciity-lliroc voluiitccrs. 'I'Ik'V disinterred Rome throe hundred rilles which h;id been con- cealed soincwht're in the forest at the close of the previous year's rising, and in less than ten months Olio managed to raise, arm, and organise eight battalions, each of which, whatever may be said of the external appearance of the men com- posing it, consists of as good a raw fighting material as any general could wish to possess.

Since the time of his entry into Spain, Olio has not left his troops for a single hour, not even when the news reached him that his wife was dying in a small village near Pamplona. He is always at work ; and I never saw the serious serenity of his demeanour desert him for a moment. He is quite destitute of that agility and verbosity with which we are so familiar in Spaniards, and in character very much resembles General Elio, with the advantage that he is some twenty-five years younger. His only shortcoming seems to be that he has a little too much of Xavarrese conceited- ncss, which often prevents him from co-operating with the generals conniiandiiig in other provinces. And as the Navarre volunteers are all possessed of the same defect, there occur differences between the various corps, which give some trouble to old Klio, and seem often to disconcert his plans.

U 2

292 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

General Olio has under his orders a few supe- rior officers too popular in the Vasco-Navarre pro- vinces not to be mentioned here. First of all tliere is the interminable General Argonz, the head of his staff. I mean interminable in the sense of length. He is a regular telegraph- post. It is almost an ocular feat to raise your eyes to the man's shoulders ; and when you have accomplished this much, you find that it is only to see a neck to which there is apparently again no end. The general's stature strikes you all the more because he seems to have a fancy for little aid-de-camps. He has two of them, and both are so short that they could as easily pass under him as the Lilliputians passed under the giant Gulliver in the familiar tale. Argonz is an invaluable man in his way. He knows the country better than anyone. Even the smallest mountain-paths are indelibly impressed upon his mind, and he is known far and wide under the nickname of the " perambulating map." Formerly, during the Seven Years' War, he is said to have been very brave, but, now that he is getting old, he rather dislikes to be under fire, and in the war-councils advocates, as a rule, marches and counter-marches for the purpose of tiring rather than fighting the enemy. But in cases of unexpected retreat or

THE ARMY A\D STAFF OF DON CARLOS. 20;i

attack, there is no man like him to tlin'rt the troops, especially if he can do so without beiii^^ ohli,i:;eil to expose iiiiiiseli" too imifh. In the 1"- fiinniiig of the outbreak, wlien Olio had hut a few hundred hadly-anncd men, and was pursuiMl by several stroiii; cohnnns f)f the RepuMieans, he would probably never have escaped if he had not had Argonz by his side.

Next to him, as a character, stands the cele- brated Perula, the commander and organiser of tlie Carlist cavalry, lie is a lawyer by profes- sion, and was never a military man, but he looks a real sabreur. His thick ami big moustache, and his fierce general aspect, at once suggest the idea of a man destined to lead cavalry charges ; and I believe that it was through looking at himseli that he came to the conclusion that such was his true vocation. At all events, nothing else war- ranted him to undertake the task of organising the ( 'arlist cavalry when he first came across with Olio. In a couple of months he had nearly a thousand mounted men. Where he got the horses, saddles, ami other equipments for tlu'ui I am unable t(> tell; but what I know is that, in a few weeks after the corps had been formed, there remained but twe hundred horses, all the rest of them having been so miserably fed and badly eared

294 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

for that they had either to be shot or let loose. During the present Carlist war, there has been only one cavalry charge worth mentioning — the charge of Eraoul. It was a very thorough one, and decided the victory ; but few horses were lost then. Ferula's cavalry came to grief almost without fighting, and the brave commander has now but a very small force under him, and from what I have heard on Don Carlos' staff, even that would have been taken from him had it not been that the services he rendered to the cause at the outbreak of the war call for more than usual con- sideration.

There are two other celebrities amongst the Navarre men, one of whom is Colonel Rada, or Radica, as he is called, in order that he may not be confounded with the other Rada, who managed Carlist affairs so badly in 1872, and exposed Don Carlos to the hazard of being captured at Oroquieta. Radica is commander of the second battalion of Navarre, a corps that, through its valour, would do honour to any regular army. There was scarcely any important Carlist battle in which the bayonet charge of the second battalion of Navarre did not play a prominent part, and the popularity of Radica is so much increasing all through the Carlist army, that, if the war is

THE ARMY AND STAFF OF DON' CARLOS. 20.'»

tlestiiK'd to last, lie is sure sonic tlay to becoim' one of tliccliii'f coiiiiiiaiKlcrsor the Un-vv. Next tit liiiii, ami almost c(|nal to liiiii in jiojmlarity, stumls Major Carlos C'alderon, a y(»ung, handsome, and j)o\vorlid-lookinf; fellow, in whom there is certainly moreof theP^nglishman than of the Spaniard. ( al- deron is the son of a rieii i>anker; he was educated in England, and used, but a short time back, to spend nearly the whole of the shooting season in this country, lie has friends in all classes of English society, and from that circumstance alone I do not believe him to be much of a ( arlist, as Carlism is at present generally understood — 1 mean to say that he will never side either with Popery or absolutism. liut, being very rich, and not belonging to the celebrated family of Calderon de la Barca, he was probably anxious to associate himself with the Spanish nobility, and to ac- quire a name of his own in defending the Spanish legitimist cause. At all events, I know that his mother, who is now a widow. but still a comparatively young ami energetic woman, taking great interest in politics, was formerly very closely associated with a good many of the Alphonsist families. Now, how- ever, both iiiotlier and son are tridy Carlists, and leading Carlists, too. Madame Calderon

296 SPATX AND THE SPANIARDS.

and her dangiiter, married to the Duke of the Union de Cuba, are at tlie liead of the Carlist ambulances, and are frequently to be seen in the Carlist camp ; while yoinig Calderon, avoid- ing all court charges, or aid-de-camp-ships, serves the cause at the head of his battalion, almost constantly under fire ; and, when there is a prospect of a few days' relaxation, he rushes to London to buy arms, or to arrange for the shipment of those which are bought already.

The commander-in-chief of the province of Guipuzcoa is a man of quite a different type from any of the Navarre chiefs. Don Antonio Lizar- raga was lieutenant-colonel in the Spanish army, a comrade of his present enemy, the well-known General Loma, and had always the reputation of being an excellent officer. When I saw him in April at Lesaca he had scarcel}^ four hundred men ; in September he had nearly five thousand, and his task both of forming the battalion and of organis- ing the general management of the provinces was a much more difficult one than that of Olio ; for Guipuzcoa, or, at least, a certain portion of it, is much less Carlist than Navarre. The popula- tion of that part of the province which borders on the sea and on France lives chiefly by means of trade and smuggling, and does not care much about

TIIK ARMY AND STAFF OF DON CARLOS. 297

Dins, l\itri<i, y li'ij. 'I'his |.:irt of the comitry, liaviiii:: constant intercoursu witli Inix-i.^nt-i-s at San Scl.astiaii ami Iniii, is, as far as I uasal)l<.' to make out, ratla-r Aniadeist, if anytllin;,^ in its political views. Tliei-e is here little of that in- veterate hatred witli wiiich Spaniards ^ixenerally rcf^anl forei^rners. and as under Amadeo trade was brisk and sniniz-uliuL;- pretty freely carried on, the leading inhabitants of the jjrovince do not seem disposed to sacrifice their interests in favour of Don Carlos. This caused a good deal of trouble to Lizarraga. At the very outbreak of the war he was also nnich impeded by Santa Cruz, the ferocious cure not only refusing to obey his commander, but declaring open war against him, and seizing all ammunition and provisions whenever he could lay hands u]ion them. Lizarraga managed, however, in less than six months, to settle all these matters, and with the excei»tion of the towns of San Sebastian, Irun, and Tolosa, the whole of the province is in his hands ; the troops are well armed, and well jirovided for, and the gun- factories of I'lacencia and I'libar are in a position to deliver daily about a hundred good riiles.

Elio sjieaks always of Lizarraga in the highest posbible terms, and I believe that he i)laces in him

298 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

more confidence than in any otlier of liis generals. His personal courage is beyond any question, but there is rather more of the fanatic than of the Avarrior in him. Lizarraga is intensely religious. When under fire he exposes himself frequently to nnnecessary danger, and if his attention is called to the fact, he invariably answers that he is under the protection of the " Divina Providencia." His nickname is the " Saint," for he goes to confession every week, and to mass and vespers every day, and there is a general belief that he has never spoken to a woman, except ex officio, although he is already a man of fully fifty years of age, so that he has a fair chance of dying like Giacomo Leopardi — in a state of irre- proachable chastity. But commendable as may be the moral and religious feelings of Lizarraga they have a drawback, for he is exactly the sort of man to assume that any idea which strikes him when in church, or during prayers, is an inspiration from heaven, and, however absurd it may be, he carries it out. I was told that in this way he was prompted to lead his troops into two or three engagements, which were by no means successful. He might also be reproached with being a little too verbose for a general in com- mand, but that is the result of his natural frank-

THE ARMY AND STAFF OF DON CARLOS. 21'0

ness and sinijilicitv, both of wliicli <|ualities, howL'ver, do not prevent him from nu'rcik-ssly shootinjjf Ills Volnntcers for any serious breach of discipline, and esj)ecially lor anything' that has the asj.ect of theft. He has shot several men, even for snch small matters as the " nidaw- ful requisitioning" of a low). Xothini; is ever taken by tiie (Juipnzcoa volunteers without being paid for. Lizarraga imposes heavy contribu- tions in money, especially on villa<,'es and towns \vhich show any opposition to Carlisni, but everytliing that is taken for the troops, whether in the way of food or other requisites, is always paid for.

Of Generals Velasco, Larramendi, Llorente, and the Carlist chieftain in Catalonia, I am unable to say much, since, though f saw all of them, I had but little personal intercourse with any of them, and have seen none at work. What struck me, however, very strongly, in tlie case of Velasco and Larramendi, was the great despatch and efficiency with which they have organised their fonvs. In the beginning of August there was nothing to be heard of the Alava Carlists, yet towards the beginning of September Larra- mendi aj)peared at the siege of Tolosa with several battalions, rather indillVrently dressed, but well

300 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

armed, and sufficiently drilled to be brought at once into action with considerable success. As to Velasco, his troops had al\va_ys been the most smart-looking of any among the Carlists, and being thoroughly Parisian by his habits the General evidently paid more attention than his fellow-commanders to the external aspect of his men.

But if all the chief leaders of Carlism seemed to be men against whom no unprejudiced observer could say anything detrimental, the same can by no means be said of the personal staff of Don Carlos. Like a good many other staffs, it was composed of real chevaliers and chevaliej's d'industrie. By the side of representatives of the most ancient f;i,milies of Spanish nobilit}'', you saw men who had passed through all imaginable pro- fessions without having obtained a standing in any. One of the officials nearest to the person of Don Carlos Avas, if I have been rightly informed, for a long time a commercial traveller in Spanish wines, and a most disagreeable person he was too. Another, who, though without any official position on the staff", was frequently to be seen with it, and enjoyed a large share of the Pretender's confidence, being somehow or other connected with the purchase of arms, was a sort

THE ARMY AND STAFF OF DON CARLOS. 301

of en^^inecr out of enii)l()y. llaviii"; lived jihroiid, he had acquired some knowled^^e of hvuj^uaj^es, and was j»erlia|>s ;i little more husiuess-like than Sj)aniards j^eiierally are; l»nt, on the other hand. he had lust every vesti;j;e of tiiat gentlemanliness which is so characteristic of his countrymen, even of the lowest class.

Ha])|»ily enou,i,di, all serious matters were transacted without any particularly strong in- fluence on the part of the personal stalf of the Pretender, General Klio not being a man inclined to yield to any sort of camarilla. The unfavour- able influence which some of the members of the staff might have had on Don Carlos, was also at all times fairly balanced by the better portion of his orderly ollicers and his chamberlains. At the moment these lines are being written, matters may have imj)roved, lor when the author left Don Carlos at iJuraugo, the Duke de la Koca (a converted Alphonsist, by-the-by) was about to be a[)i)ointcd grand-master of the Royal house- hold, and may i)erhaps have greatly altered the state of affairs. At all events, IVom news which has since appeared in the newspapers, there is reason to believe that some of the most objectionable persons surrounding Don Carlos have already left fur France.

302 SPAIN AND THE SPANL\RDS.

The clerical element was, as we have already seen, not particularly strongly represented on the staff of the Prince, who is supposed to be the chief supporter of the Spanish priesthood. As far as I know, only three or four priests were more or less intimately connected with it, and only one of them formed, so to say, an integral part of the Royal Staff, and that was probably on account of his being a person of very high standing among the clergy. Monseigneur Jose Taixal, Bishop of the Seo de Urgel, and Prince (!) of the Republic (!) ofAndorre, was in some way or other officially com- missioned by the Pope to proceed to Don Carlos' army as head of the Churcli in the State which may some day be established. The earnest- ness of the Roman Catholic tendencies of that prelate must be of course beyond any doubt, and *are, perhaps, most strikingly illustrated by the fact that he assured both the Correspondent of the Times and myself, that Queen Victoria had long ago passed over to Catholicism, but was afraid of making it known to her people.

Two other cures having free access to Don Carlos were Don Ramon, the private secretary of Elio, whom I have already had occasion to men- tion, and Don Francisco Aspiroza, chaplain of Dorregaray's staff, the man to whom Don Carlos

THE ARMY AND STAFF OF DON CARLOS. 303

owes his lilo, since it was ho who assisted the Pretender to escape in i\hiy, 1872, after the defeat at Oroquieta. Ik-sidcs that, I)i>n l-'niiicisro and Don Kanion are about the cleverest represen- tatives of the Spanisii clergy 1 have met with, ex- cepting only a little priest, Don Manuel Barrena. late professor of philosophy in the seminary of Pamplona, a young man of barely thirty years of age, of quite an un-Spanish amount of knowledge, and an nnpriestly liberalism of mind.

Don Manuel is a kind of diplomatic courier of Don Carlos. He is constantly on the move between the head-quarters and 15ayonne, Bordeaux, Paris, or any place where something important is to be transacted. At« the outbreak of the war he put his clerical garment aside, took to private clothes, and scarcely anyone would take him now for what he really is, a man of the most rigid habits, of indefatigable energy in the cause he serves, of really remarkable attainments in every department of knowledge, and, above all, of most pleasant and charming presence. 1 had travelled several times with Don Manuel in the mountains before 1 knew that he was a priest, but it hapi)ened that, on the day 1 learned it. we had to make together a little journey in France. and he asked me not to call him by his real name

304 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

as long as we were on that journey, as he had some suspicion that the police were watching him. Chaffingly I said to him. " Then I will call you Don Alonso, maestro di musica."

"Oh," answered Don Manuel, "that is very kind on your part. Why not Don Basilio, then 1 Though I don't believe either Don Alonso or Don Basilio to be prototypes of mine, I don't mind your calling me by either of these names. It won't be the first calumny Spaniards, and especially Spanish priests, have had to put up with, nor will it be the last."

But one uf the most curious persons on the Pretender's staff was a squint-eyed captain of the regidar army, who had deserted the Re- publican ranks, joined the Carlists, and was, on the strength of a literary reputation he had somewhere and somehow acquired, appointed Cronista de S. M. El Rey, or chronicler of the royal staff. I think I never saw in my life a man less capable of putting two sensible thoughts together. What he wrote, he wrote always in the most bombastic style, and frequently in verse. On one occasion, when 1 left Don Carlos' staff for a short time to go to witness the siege of Tolosa, the Pretender, on my return, told me that, being anxious that I should have a systematic account

THE ARMY AVD STAFF OF DON CARLOS. 305

of every day's pl•oeecllin^^s of iiis army, orders liad been given to the chronicler to coinnninicate to me the notes he had taken diiriii^^ my absence. The captain accordingly came to my hxlgings, and began reading the clironicle of tlie ten or twelve days during which I was absent, and as I soon perceived that there was very little except quite unbearable " poetry," 1 said to him that what 1 wanted was merely a record of facts— that is to say, where the head-quarters had been, and what they had been doing while I was away.

"Oh," answered the captain, " I have nothing of that sort; I don't put it down. ^Vhat chiefly occupies me is to take note of the sentiments and feelings wliich the events provoke within me.''

And it would seem that the expression of those sentiments and feelings must be very attractive in some cases, for not unfrequently on our marches I have noticed Don Carlos call that captain, make him ride by his side, and read what he had written down. And in this manner the Carlist troubadour enlivened the monotonous hours his Spanish would-be Majesty had to spend on the endless marches.

vc»L. I.

306

CHAPTER XIII.

SPANISH CLERICAL MATTERS.

IN the course of this narrative, the present position of the Spanish clergy has been already touched upon. Old Elio told us what part the priests played in the Vasco-Navarre provinces, while some half a dozen curas, whom I had occasion to introduce, showed what sort of men the average contemporary repre- sentatives of the Spanish Church are. There can be no doubt whatever, that had they still pos- sessed the power and wealth they held but a com- paratively short time back, they would have been a very different set of men, and would have shown quite different proclivities. But we all know that any body of men — Protestant parsons certainly included — when invested with undue power and wealth, are about as naturally apt to turn voracious, wicked, and violent as any set of

SPAVISn CLERICAL MATTERS. 307

unsociaMc aiiimals whose tcclli have not yet hcu siiwn ami chius not cut. As we are, however, eiiga;;ecl here ehielly in ascertaining how things stand in the nnha])j»y I'eiiinsula, nc^t liow tliey viiijlit have stood, it is no business of ours to dwell upon topics which various reverend persons never miss an occasion for more than amply dis- cussing. 1 will even leave to one of them the task of describing the physical appearance of the Spanish priests, being perfectly conscious that I should never have been able to approach him on this subject either in smartness of writing or in truly Christian p)ity for the defor- mities of our fellow-creatures. The reverend gentleman — an LL.D., and author of several books on the subject of Popery— depicts in the following manner the priests he saw at Burgos some four years ago :

"They seemed to be of the sons of Anak. Their long robes had no patches ; their limbs were not thrust into untanned cow-hide, nor did they in features or form bear any marks of ])inching hunger, or vigils unduly prolonged. Portly their form, tall their stature, slow and majestic their gait; conscious they seemed that they were the priests of 'the grand old town' of Burgos, and ministered in a temple than which

X -2,

308 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

are few grander on earth. Their legs were as massy and round ahnost as the pillars of their own church, and yet, strong as thej^ were, they seemed to bend and totter under the superincum- bent edifice of bone and muscle and fat which they had to carry. Their neck was of a girth which would have done no dishonour to the trunk of one of their own chestnut trees. Their head it would have delighted a phrenologist to con- template ; it was bulky and vast, like some of those which, chiseled out of granite, lie embedded in the sands of Egypt. Their face was about as stony; and then what a magnificent sombrero! It ran out in front in a long line of glossy beaver ; behind it extended in a line of equal length, and it gracefully curled up at the sides. It was truly worthy of the majestic figure which it topped and crowned."

Now, that the Spanish curas sombrero (hat) is very ridiculous, is perfectly true. It is frequently more extravagant than that we see on Don Basilio's head on the Covent Garden stage. That many cuoxis are fat is also correct, though I have seen some who looked — if it be possible — more angular and bony than Signer Tagliafico ever did in the days when his impersonation of Don Basilio was most successful. Whether the Spanish

SPANISH CLERICAL MATTERS. 309

priest's Ici^^s ;ire always "as massy and round" as the pillars of the Cathedral of Jiurgos, I am unable to tull, having never unrobed any of tiicm either at IJurgos or elsewhere. But what I know for certain is that, in olden as well as in modern days, in the Catholic as well as in the Protestant (Jhurch, the most dangerous and objectionable representatives of clericalism seldom were the fat, but always the slim ones. Stout people are, as a rule, more or less good-natured, or, at all events, easily bamboozled. They are too fond of eating, drinking, and sleeping to take much trouble about the consciences and thoughts of other men. The great masters in all branches of art have often embodied in mastodon-like representatives of humanity all kinds of roguery and brutality, but seldom any of those qualities which are emblemati- cally represented by the serpent and the witch. The real plagues society has not yet discovered the means to get finally rid of, are not the i)riests or parsons with legs as massy and round as the |)illars of their own churches, but those with toothpick-like legs, tlie thin, bilious, nervous, restless guardians of " ecclesiastical rubbish," individuals in whom and from whom, in the proper as well as in the figin*ative sense, one never hears anything but what Mr. Bright so graphically

310 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

describes as " the rattle of the dry bones of theology/' Coi#rary to the views of the dis- tinguished aforesaid LL.D., one Avoidd be led to think that a universal law prohibiting admission to ordination of any person under twenty stone weight, wonld. perhaps, present the best guarantee for the tranquillity of the world at large as well as of the individual conscience. Ami the usually slim figure of Jesuits on the one hand, and of the most turbulent and intolerant Protestant parsons on the other, would be the best justification of such a measure.

However, whether the reader's sympathies may lie with the fat or the flat representative of the clergy, the fact remains nevertheless undeniable, that the power of both fat and flat priests is gone in Spain, and gone for ever. And future historians will speak of the change which has been effected in this respect in the bigoted and superstitious Peninsula as one of the greatest revolutions that has taken place in our century of great revolutions.

Spaniards have been at all times greatly abused by other nations for their religious fanaticism. But any people similarly situated would have developed itself exactly as the Spaniards have done, and acted in precisely

SPANISH CLERICAL >L\TTKRS. .'HI

the same wiiy. To bci^iii wiili, tlicir Koil uiul cliiiKile are of sucli a iiatiin; as to k-ad iin-n iu an early plwise of civilisation to l)c on the lonk- out for the help of Kiipernatiiral agencies rather thau try to take care of themselves. With earth- quakes, with high mountains, with almost no water — consequently with frequent famines and pesti- lences— and with tropical heat cliarring the soil, notions of "■ self-help" and " go-a-headism'' do not easily occur to the human mind. All forms of super- stition had, therefore, more opportunity to take root here than in other, more connnou-place countries. The sixth and seventh centuries the inhabitants of the Peninsula spent in religious wars with the Franks; Latinism, in its tendency to spread it- self, invaded Spain and fought Arianism. In the next century the Moors came across, soon conquered almost the whole of the country, and the contest had to be maintained with them for nearly eight hundred years (invasion 711, recapture of Granada 1492). In this way, for fully ti.'n centuries, the defence of the native soil was at the same time a religious war. 'J'he crusades, which were for the rest of Europe a mere incident, became here the permanent, all-absorbing work of body, sold, and mind of the nation, the more so as it

312 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

was carried on in their own country, not in a distant land called Palestine. The warrior and the priest had to go hand in hand, the latter frequently assuming both functions. That he should thus have immensely grown in importance was only legitimate ; that he should have taken advantage of his position was quite natural. Kings bowed and kneeled to the monk, and the common man threw himself prostrate at his feet. Proud though we may be of the mighty grasp of our intelligence and imderstanding, we cannot realise anything like a faint approach to the idea of what it really means for a people to spend some thirty-five or forty generations in the defence of their faith and their soil.

That a nation who had passed through such a trial may have been brought to the sincere belief that every man differing from their religious opinions was a mere piece of combustible can be easily imagined, and that, on the other hand, the flames of some thirty odd thousand burning heretics warmed np the Spaniards — as indeed they would have any mortal— to the highest pitch of devotion and submission to their priests is perfectly intelligible too. It was in Aragon in the middle of the thirteenth century, that these national Spanish spectacles

SPANISH CLERICAL MATTKRS. 313

of the (lostnictidu of In'ivlics l»y fire are s.-iiil to have been first iiitnxhicrd. I'.y-aiid-lty, as the Spiiiiianis ji'lvaiiceil southwards, the dulo-de-j): went with them, and it heeaino a very easy thiiij^ for the |)nesthi)0<l to persuade the people that it was not the Inquisition that took advanta;^e of the retreat of the Moors, but the ^b)()rs that took to flight at the mere apjiroach of the Ib>ly Tribunal. And so, the historian assures us, that the very moment the new light— obtained from the combustion of the heretics— shone over the C(juntry, Spain had new forces infused into her, which renderril her capable of routing- the Moors. But this conqu(!st of the gallant and ingenious African invaders had results which neither the Spanish clergy nor the Spanish people could have ever anticipated. Up till the })resL'nt day, the traveller in Spain can easily distinguish the places where the Moors ruled and the Christians obeyed, from those where the Christians ruled and the Moors obeyed. Without going any deeper into these matters, it will be (piit<; suili- cient to point out the i)resence or absence of arrangements for irrigation, and the prepon- derance of Gothic over ^loresque, or of Moresque over Gothic ornamentations in architecture. The fact is that along with those Moors who invaded

314 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

Spain for the sake of fighting and conquest, a large number of sunburnt sons of Africa came over for business purposes. A good many of these, seeing that the country " answered very well," and that the Spanish women were very " nice-looking," did not take much notice of the defeat of their countrymen. They formed connections in the country, and had no desire to leave it. And it was their continued presence in the Peninsula that enabled Ferdinand, Isabella, Charles V., and Philip II, to accomplish all they did. Intelligent and skilful though these sovereigns may have been, they would have been utterly unable to achieve what they did, had the Moorish colonists not w^orked properly, and pro- duced the means required for the important operations undertaken by these most Catholic Majesties. The conquest by and annexation to Spain of a considerable portion of Europe and America was thus more the work of the Moors than of these sovereigns, still less of the Spaniards themselves. But the clergy, who were then, just as they are now, intent ordy on their own interests, could not endure these Moorish settlers, for, though they had been all baptised, and were thus supposed to have turned Christians, the wolf was, to the priest's mental eye, still visible

SPANISH CLERICAL MATTERS. 315

under the slieej)'s skin. Tlic liai)tiseil Moors— or Moriscoes— did not seem willing; to give np their fortunes to the monks ; they washed themselves frequently, us all Eastern infidels do ; they read l\Ioorish books, and showed a general disposition to do a good many other just as oitjection- ahlc things, as it would be considered now-a- days— in Scotland, for instance— to whistle or to smile on a Sabbath-day. The sharp scent which characterises all clergy, caused the Spanish monks and jn'iests to discover that the converted floors bore within themselves the seeds of a kind of progress which might prove very antagonistic to the power of the Church, and they watched with great anxiety for an opportunity of getting rid of them. As early as the reign of diaries V. the clergy succeeded in subjecting the Moorish settlers to persecution all over the country, with- out, however, any more substantial result than that of provoking a desperate revolt on the jiart of that valiant population. It was reserved to the idiotic Philip 111. and his servile and i>ricst- ridden Minister Lcniia to bring to a final close the period of Mooro-lberian glory and greatness. In lOO'.t a decree commanding the merciless banishment of all the^Ioorish settlers was issued; aud about a million of men, forming the most

316 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS. •

useful part of the population of the Peninsula, were driven by means of sword and fire towards the shores of Africa. Nearly the whole of them perished on their way ; the priesthood was triumphant; but they soon perceived that the banishment of the Moors was the first blow they inflicted upon their own power and wealth.

In a very few years after the departure of the African colonists, the King, as well as his Minis- ters, discovered that there was no more money to be got out of the nation. Everything had gone to ruin, the monks alone remaining in a flourish- ing condition. There were at that time about nine thousand convents for monks alone in Spain, without reckoning the nunneries for females, and all of them were immensely rich. Whatever might have been then the abstract views concern- ing the sacredness of ecclesiastical property, they proved powerless against the action of the natural law, according to which, in periods of distress, those who have something are invariably made to pay for those who have nothing, and it was in 1626 that the Cortes of Madrid, for the first time, timorously suggested that there existed some available resources in the hands of the clergy. The hint was not of a nature to be easily taken advantage of, but the first blow was

SPANISH CLERICAL MATTERS. ?,\1

given, and some eij^hty years later a "loan" was obtained from the clergy, wliile nnder Allicrniii we see them paying regular taxes, and a hundred years hiter everything that was still left in the convents and churches after the French plunder, was, without further ceremony, confiscated. Along with the ecclesiastical wealth disappeared also the Jesuits (lUiT), and the IiKiiii.sitioii (1808). True that attempts were subsetpiently made to return to the old state of affairs. Ferdinand VII. tried to re-establish the monstrous tribunal of the Inquisition; Isabella "the Innocent" decreed twice or three times the return of ecclesiastical property ; but such incidents were the last dying flames of a burned-out torch. The best proof that the old hold of the clergy upon the ])opular mind was gone was in tiie fact that Pro- testants Were allowed to be buried, to establish cemeteries and churches of their own, while Scotch and English missionaries began to per- ambulate the country without any particular molestation.

The progress whieli anti-clerical and anti- religious tendencies have made in Spain wiihin the last ten years is something amazing. The reverend author whom I mentioned above, states that there were hlill no fewer than three thousanil

318 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

priests in Burgos, in 1869. I suppose he must have added a 0 too much by mistake, or taken his information from a very ancient guide- book. Reduced to a merely nominal pay, which is, into the bargain, nearly all over Spain two years in arrears, utterly disregarded by the Government, frequently insulted by the people they have so long oppressed, and with nearly no congregation to attend to, the Spanish priests decrease in numbers every day. Where they disappear I am unable to tell ; some of them have taken to trade and professions in the country — if what exists in that line in the provinces of Spain can be so denominated. A large number took refuge on the territory occupied by the Carlists. Churches in large towns which had, perhaps, fifty priests each under Isabella, have three or four now. There are first-rate Casus de Misericordia (alms-houses) with not a single priest residing in them, and when sacrament is to be administered to a dying person it must be fetched from the neighbouring church. Even the largest cathedrals are seldom frequented. Over and over again, and at all hours, did I enter churches in Madrid as well as in the provinces, without ever seeing in them more than half a dozen old women weeping out their grief in the

SPANISH CLERICAL ^LVTTERS. .il'.)

ilcirk coriK^rs of" llic temples, lonin-rly so over- crowdoil, and now (luiti- dcsrrlnl. Except in the Carlist regions, tlie scarcity of men attending mass even on Sumiaysand Feast Days is striking. The women Hock still in numhers, but it is quite perce])til)le that the majority of them come rather through liahil — many, perhaps, only to show themselves and to see other peojilc — tlian from any religious motive. The incomparably larger attendance at out-door religious processions is the best proof in support of this supposition : women and men congregate there equally readily. But the devotion shown in former days on such occasions is speedily vanishing. A writer, pub- lishing in Mucmillan s Maijazine some notes on his residence in the interior of Spain, during the sunnner of 1873, tells in the January issue a lact very nnich to this point: —

" A few nights since I stood witli ruisied hat as the ' hobt ' piuiscd by, lieralded by its many hiinps oi" niiiuy culoura ; the viulicuni was being curried to some Christian dying treat. Sud- denly a drove of pigs eunie squeaking down a street close by ; women in mute adoration were on their knees on the pavement, sightly and devoutly enough ; men were divided into hats-on and hats-oH", but the majority was of the latter class. The pigs charged the proccd.sion, and, to n>y horroi", a loud and audible titter ran through the luiitern-bearers, which became a Ihjuimi laugh iu the mouths of the pig-drivers.'

320 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

A sliort time back, the poor unconcerned pigs Avould have been beaten to death, and the pig- drivers and lantern-bearers, (who, be it remem- bered, are amateur members of such processions) would not only have forborne from laughing, but would have paid an extra visit to church to repent their having been witnesses of such an occurrence. The same writer says, that but a few years back, in the reign of Isabella : —

" An Englishman who, ignorantly, merely took off his hat, and did not dismount also from his horse as the ' host ' passed him in tlie street, was in this town dragged from his horse by order of the priests, and fined or imprisoned, for the offence."

But when T venture to state that bigotry and even a good deal of sensible religious feeling is departing from Spain, I by no means mean to assert that superstition is seriously decreasing. Among the Latin race especially, bigotr}^ and superstition are perfectly distinct things. There are plenty of people all over the world who never believed in anything, but would not enter a business on Monday, start on a journey on Friday, or cut their nails on Sunday. It would, therefore, be quite absurd to expect that ancient, deeply inveterate superstitions should be soon abandoned by the utterly ignorant mass of a people living in

SPANISH CLERICAL MATTERS. 321

a country so iniu-h j)re(lis|)osing tli*^ mind to sujierstitiona, and preserving Ruch an iiinm-nso stock of niiraclcs and saints in its national memory, as well as in its national monuments. A good many earnest Protestants may exclaim, on reading this, " But what is, then, to become of a country where religion is gone and super- stition remains? It must finally collapse into a horrible chaos!" Nothing of the kind. The same thing has been going on for a long time ])ast in France and Italy, and the business of life runs on in its usual way. Superstitions will dis- appear, poco a poco, under pressure of the spread of knowledge ; while indifferentism in religious matters does not necessarily turn men into savages — at least it did not produce any such effect on that portion of the Latin race which has already fallen off from the Church. The reyiine of civil baptisms and civil burials, in which the ultra- Republicans in Spain delight just now, and under which a man is welcomed into the world or ushered out of it by a band of local Volunteers blustering the Marseillaise under his windows, or on his way to the cemetery, will probably soon be abandoned. As long as baptism, religious burial, and religious marriagi' arc regarded with respect VOL. I. Y

322 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

by any considerable portion of society, every | sensible man, however indifferent to religion he ! may be himself, will always submit to them, j What does it matter to him that a cura reads I some prayers over his body when he is dead, and j when he knows that any objection on his part to j such a harmless ceremony would cause grief to.; people who may be dear to him, and whom he leaves behind ? Upon what sort of ground can ^ he withhold his child from baptism, when he does not know whether, wdien grown up, the child will j not become so religious as to feel quite unhappy i because he has not been christened in the usual i manner? What sort of justification can he plead | for withholding from the marriage ceremony, as long as he is not quite sure that some fool may not turn up some day and insult his wife by call- j ing her a mere concubine, or a law may not be passed depriving her children from inheriting their father's property ? For a long time past in Catholic countries, this way of dealing with the practical side of religion has been, and is, daily acted upon by thousands of men ; only not all of! them are disposed to avow it. How far the same! principles are at work among Protestants, is not' here to be discussed. But it is certain that: indifferent Protestants are still more reluctant!

SPANISH CLKRICAL MATTKUS. '.Vl'.i

to avow tlioir iiidinVruntism than iiiililV<-i-i'iit ('atliollc'8.

It may lie naturally asked, how do snrli families manage to live where the wile is hi^'-oted or even simply religions, while the hnsband hecomex, hy-and-by, an indillerent i To this 1 am not able to answer. All I know is, that iliey do manage it. and that, in the majority oi' cases, they never think of quarreling about any religions question, except when the religious zeal of the wife begins to interfere with the home comfort of the family ; when through her too long and frequent visits to church children break their noses, tir dinner is neglected, or anything similar occurs. Many men prefer a religious wife, as oflering a greater guarantee of conjugal fidelity, and as being less likely to be fond of expensive l)leasures. Others sec in religion a check against a woman's becoming dull in doing nothing Avhen they are engaged. 1 knew some medical men and professors of natural sciences, who said that a wife constantly soaring into ideals was a relief to them wlien they come hoiiif after a hard day's dealing in organic matters, l>ut the great majority. I believe, think nothing, except that it is ipiite a matter t)f course

V 2

324 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS. i

that women should be religious, while men should be left to think as they please.

For a good many people in England such a state of affairs may seem quite impossible, and they may perhaps be inclined to suspect the vera- city of my statements. I feel, therefore, almost delighted to be able to adduce here an authority which they will probably be less dispose to ques- tion. Just as I was writing these pages, a copy of the Times containing a letter from that journal's special correspondent at Rome, on the subject of " Religious iVpathy in Italy," was laid upon my table. The letter is so outspoken, and contains so few common-place remarks that I am surprised how the Times printed it at all. Some hesitation must, however, have arisen in Printing-house Square, for the letter was dated Rome, January 5th, and appeared only on the 12th. This is what the able correspondent said on the subject we have been considering here : —

" The religious movement wliich is now convulsing Germany and Switzerland, and wliicli is followed with eager attention by England and America, is looked upon with the most perfect indiiference in Italy. . . . They will, as they say, not only have no religious squabbles, but even no religious differences among themselves ; no heresy, no schism. They aspu-e to that re- ligious liberty which is, in their opinion, perfectly compatible with religious unity. There may be in their country unlimited

SPANISH CLKUICAL MATTERS. :;2")

dissent, but it must ho individual ; as many peraunsions as there are lieuds, but no distinct confessions or denominationtt 5 III) liabel of Churches or sects. It must be quite possible, as it lias indeed always been, oven under the most nnconjpromising I'apal tyranny, for husband and wife, for brother and si>ter, to live together in love and unity under the same roof, tiiou^ii the male members of the " happy iamily," are, or think them- selves, thorough atheists or materialists, while those of the other sex are plunged into the most abject and silly superstition. . . . What tlie Italians did in the days of Luther and Calvin they ill) now in those of Dullinger and Loyson ; they receive the news of a religious squabble with curiosity, but dismiss it with a sneer. . . .The Italian will carry superstition to any extent, but there is no bigotry in his composition. It was oidy against the Dominican inquisitors in ililan and Naples that the populaee frequently rose in open rebellion, and it is only against their Jesuit teachers that the Italian youths throughout the country always harboured and evinced violent hatred, because tliey imagined that both those Monastic orders, eiuih in its way, attempted to interfere with the right of private judgment in religious matters. So long as a man confessed and took the Sacrament, christened his children, and paid his marriage fees, what business was it of priest, monk, or Pope to pry into his thought or probe his heart? . . . For those who want a Church there should bo a Church of some sort or other. What nuitters it how many new dogmas are proclaimed or how nniny new Saints are canonized if no one compels you to belierc in them .' Why should you distress yourself about the Pope's Infallibility, if you arc allowed to laugh at it in your sleeve? Therti have been Prelates , and there have been Cardinals, and even Poj)es whose religion, if inquired into, would have been as complete a blank as your own, but these went througli life, and rose

326 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

from rank to rank in the hierarchy, with a mere semblance and mockery of behef Why should it not be so ? Let it be fi"ee to every man to be a Christian, a sceptic and even a hypocrite. ' Dieii connait ceux qui sont a lid.' Let there be peace on earth, and let every man go to heaven, or elsewhere, his own way."

This is exactly the state of affairs speedily becoming prevalent all through Spain, and which has been reigning throughout the educated classes in France during the whole of the present century. It will only assume a more rough form in the Peninsula, for the Spanish character is more frank than either the Italian or the French. In Italy tlie presence of the Pope, the existence of the convents and the wealth still hold by the ecclesiastical corporations necessarily mitigate the aspect of things on the surfece. Still more so is this the case with France, which but a short time ago supported the Holy Father by means of " thinking bayonets " and " Chassepots,'' which never cared a brass farthing for His Holi- . ness. The worship of political, religious, and every other form of decorum in the great mass of the population of the latter country will probably considerably retard there the progress of avoioed religious indifferentism ; but anyone who knows these countries can entertain no doubt that ulti-

SPANISH CLKIUCAL MATTERS. :V21

inately Spain. Italy, ami France will standi un tho footing; of j)eiTei-t eqality in this respect. One must be brought u|) within the jiah' nf the I^atin Church to be able fully to realise how natural unJ unavoidable all this is, and how thoroughly sincere and conscientious men can be brought to feel perfectly indilVcrciit with regard to religion, yet be deeply convinced that on that account they are neither savages nor criminals. If the most zealous and intolerant of the Protestants knew only a few stories of the internal struggles, the hesitation, the grief, and the despair through which a man brought up as a Catholic — unless he becomes a student of natural sciences, and con- sequently be turned at once into a pure materialist — has to pass in his transition from bigotry to indifferentism, they would not have a single word of censure to utter against such men.

But I feel afraid that in saying all this I may cause some Protestant readers to suppose that, since matters had come to such a pass in Catholic countries, the best thing would be to introduce some form of Protestant worship among them. Nothing could be more erroneous than such a conclusion. Protestant missionaries have not been wanting in any of those countries, and the result of their efl'orts has invariably been zero, or

328 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

little better. Bibles printed in the languages of the natives have been distributed ; chapels and preachers established as soon as the civil code of the countries permitted them. But if the French- man, the Spaniard, and the Italian entered these chapels it was by sheer curiosity ; if he read the Bible it was (even in the happiest cases) merely as a sublime and new book, but never as one calculated to make him accept the religious views of the nation which has " only one sauce, and a thousand religions." The cold form of Protes- tant worship, with its long discourses, will never suit the Latin race, especially the more southern representatives of it. I again quote the above Times letter in support of my assertions.

" A religion all of pomp and ceremony and grovelling asceti- cism, suited the Southern temperament, and down almost to the present day the Opera and Ballet in Rome were always worse than third rate, and poorly attended, because the theatre could not compete with the Church in the pomp and circum- stance of mere scenic effects. . .Italians do not see the advantage of raising many churches on the ruins of one. It would be, in their opinion, like ' marrying the Pope, and begetting a whole brood of Infallibles.' . . • There are now Waldensian, Methodist, and other Evangelical churches and schools in Rome as in other Italian cities, but their success is not very encom-aging even in the opinion of their candid promoters."

The same is the case with Spain. There are

SPANISH CLERICAI. M.V ITERS. 329

c'liiipels ill M.uliiil, Sc\illc', Alicante, and a few otliLT towns, lull they iicviT had and ncv<T will have any more inllneiiee upon the general stato of religion in these countries than a chapel got up somewhere near Wolverhampton by, if I rightly remember, some twenty-three gentlemen anxious to introduce the rite of the (Jreek ('hurcli in Miighind, will hav(; in the United Kingdom.

True that should one be disjjosed to give oneself some trouble, one may find in Madrid and in a few of the southern towns a cj\)y of the Bible. But it is always sure to be a very dusty one ; and for my part I have never seen any either in circula- tion or even in the show-windows of the book- sellers. All the efiforts of the "British and Foreign Bible Society," of the " National Bible Society of Scotland," of the " Edinburgh Evange- lisation Society," and what not, have never obtained any greater result than that which crowned the cfTorts of the " London Society for Promoting Christianity among the .lews," which spemls, I believe, about thirty thousand pounds a-year for converting on the average about thirty Jews, at the expense of something like one thou- sand pounds a piece to the country. But what -truck me above all in these matters is the correct-

330 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

ness of a remark once made by some one — that it" one happens to meet a Spanish, Italian, or French Protestant, one is ahnost sure to find him in the long run either a fanatic or an idiot, or both, though as a rule he looks at first sight a very respectable and intelligent man.

I feel it a duty, however, to qualify my asser- tion that all the English and Scotch efforts to spread the Scripture in the Peninsula have had no result whatever. They had at all events one I know of. They gave an opportunity to Mr. George Borrow to write his delightful " Bible in Spain." It speaks of the cosas de Espaha as they stood nearly forty years ago ; yet the work re- mains still an inimitable one— the more so as it is evident that the author set out to labour in perfect earnest, and wrote one of the most amusing volumes that has ever been produced in connec- tion with any similar subject.

END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.

London ; Printed by A. Schulze, \'?>, Poland Street.

SL»AL\ AMj TIIK SL'AMAUDS.

VOL. II.

If.tf

SPAIN AND THE SPANIAIfDS.

BY

N. L. Till K li LIN.

"AZAMAT-BATUK.-

IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. IL

LONDON: IIIIKST AND BLA(;KETT. I'lMUJSli KHS,

13. GRKAT M.VHLnoKorUll STKKKl.

LsTL

Jll riyhls rfxrttJ.

CONTEXTS

THE SECOND VOLUME.

CUAPTtK

I. CAMPO DEL HONOR

II. THE SEVEN YEARS* WAR

III. SPANISH FIGHTING .

IV, ALFONSISM VCVSUi CARLISM

V. PEIM AND AMADEO .

VI. SPANISH REPUBLICANISM

VII. CASTELAR AND FIGUERAS

VIII. MARSHAL SERRANO, DUQTJE DE LE TORRE 246

IX. ADIOS ! ..... 261

PACK 1

60 114 15:; 177 202 224

E R R A T A.

Pa(je 120 line 26 for " not Scotcli, and therefore exiratijero, till- ))l;ii(lwas" read " Scotch, and therefore fx/ran^ero, tlif plaid was not" Paffe 141 line 18 for " charges" read " cliargcrs" Paje 160 //;ie 2-4 /or "taenk" read "taken" Paffe I'JO fine 18 /or " votes" read " deputies"

VOL. II.

Pa/je 'io /<«e 15 /ur " liattv" read " chatty."

SPAIN AND THE SrAXIARDS.

CHAPTER I.

CA.MPO DEL HONOR.

rilHE Field of Honour is nowhere in par- JL ticnliir. It may sometimes be ou the l)al(l top uf a hill, sometimes in a wayside hut, sometimes at the bottom of a God-forsaken valley, or rather of a loophole amidst the moun- tains. It always reminded me of those Con- tinental hats, watches and umbrellas upon whirh the rather vague stamp of "Lundon" is marked, but a mere look at which tells you at once that tht-y have issued from the back workshop of some iialf- starvcd Gernuin working-man. The Carlists in- vented this Campo del Honor, in the first j)late, because tiiey thought they were really doing an honourable work ; and, in the second, because

VOL. IL II

2 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

they had reasons for not wishuig to give their exact address. Orders, or manifestoes issued by Don Carlos, or any of his Generals, being dated from the " Field of Honour," no clue is given the enemy as to the whereabouts of the Carlist forces.

Up till July last there was no end of Campos del Honor, for every small cahecilla had the right of dating his communications from that indefinite locality. But when Don Carlos entered Spain, the Field of Honour, j:>ar excellence, became his head-quarters.

We have already seen that the Carlist generals were greatly opposed to the entry of the Pre- tender into Spain, before they had quite organised the troops with which they intended to carry on the struggle. But Don Carlos seems to have become sick of his retreat, and, acting upon his own responsibility, entered Spain without informing any of his generals ; and it must be said that the moment he selected for his entry denoted, on his part, a larger amount of intelli- t>-ence than is usually jiitributed to him.

On the 9th of July his partisans obtained a very important victory over the Republican troops near Ripoll, in Catalonia. They captured something over six hundred prisoners, killed

CAMPO DEL IIOXOR. 3

Brigadier Cabrinetty, took a couple of (Mil- lions and a large quantity of arms and animuni- tion. A partial Carlist rising broke out abuiit the same time in the prDvince of Leon and iu (xalicia; while, on the other hand, the news was spread tiiat Malaga, JMurcia, Seville, Alcoy, (Iranada, and Cadiz were in the hands of the fniransigentea, and that a sort of Commune had been established at Carthagena. Don Carlos received also information that Valdespinas had captured Santa Cruz, and signed a Convention, according to which all internal Carlist dift'erences seemed to have been settled. At the same time a considerable landing of anns and ammimition for the ("ar- lists had taken place at Lequeitio, and enabled the Carlist chiefs to arm at least six or seven thousand fresh volunteers. The moment really seemed most fovourable to the Pretender for tlu- commencement of his campaign, and without saying a word to even his most intimate coun- cillors, Don Carlos left the chatean of St. Lon on the loth of July for Bayonne, on his way through which town to the village of Ustariz, he gave orders for his horses and eipiipment to be for- warded to Zugarramurdy.

The next morning, at five o'clock, the gates ol

B 2

4 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

a chateau, situated within a mile of Ustariz, were opened in order to allow a riding party of five gentlemen in private clothes to pass out, apparently for the purpose of enjoying the fresh morning air of the mountains. Three of the five gentlemen were Frenchmen, well known in the neighbourhood, and the two others were guests of theirs. They took the direction of the hills and forests of St. Pee and Sare, and soon disappeared in the mountain paths. The morning was most lovely, and the company seemed greatly to enjoy their ride. Neither gendarmes nor Custom House ofiicers were encountered ; but, even had the case been otherwise, the three French gentlemen could not have been stopped, and as to their foreign guests, they were provided with all the papers necessary for proving that they were neither Carlists nor even Spaniards.*

As soon as the party turned off the high road and entered the forest paths, every chance of annoyance was gone, and one of the two foreign-

* How far Don Carlos and his Fi'encli friends set M. Thiers and his poKce at defiance, may be seen from the subjoined de- cree issued on the 27th of October, 1872 : —

" Le ministre de I'interieur,

" Vu r article 7 de la loi des 13 at 21 noyembre et 3 decembre 1849, ainsi con9u :

CA>n?0 DEL HONOR. 5

lookini; gentlemen, riding an excellent bay Irish hunter, urged his horso ahead of the party, Avho evidently treated liiin with the respect due t(3 a personage of some importance. The other foreigner, a young and fair-looking man, followed

"Yn rarticle S do la nii'mc loi, ninsi coin^u :

" Vu Ics rapports de MM. Ics profets Acs Basses-Pyrenees et do la Girondo, ctablissant que le prince don Carlos de Bourbon, due do Matlrid, se serait livrc dans ces deux departemenfs i\ des manoeuvres ayant pour but de fomcnter la guerre civile dans un pays allie de la France ;

" Cousidenint que la presence do IV'tranger sus-designo sur lo territoire franijais est do natiu-e i compromettre la sArcte pub- lique :

Arrt^tc :

" Art. 1<T II est enjoint h S. A. R. Ic prince don Carlos do Bourbon, due de Jfadrid, de sortir du territoire franfais.

" Art. 2. M. Goullez, commissaire geueral de police, attache i\ la direction de la silrete gen^rale, est charge de I'execution du present arrete.

" A Versailles, le 27 octobre 1872.

" Le min'utre de rinft'rieur, "victor lefr.\>'C.

" Pour ampliation : " Le direcieur de la mlrete generate , " DE NEIlVAnX."

The Spanish Pretender has resided and carried on his afTairs on the French soil till the 16th of July, 1873, tliat is to say for fully nine months after his expulsion was thus ordered.

6 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

close behind him. The former was Don Carlos de Bourbon, the latter his orderly officer, Ponce de Leon, grandee of Spain.

After having ridden for a couple of hours, the party reached the frontier, crossed it at the foot of Pena de Plata, and alighted at a small smuggler's inn close by the border line. Marquis de Valdes- pinas and General Lizarraga, to whom word had been sent during the night, were already waiting with the members of their staff and an escort. These officers having saluted Don Carlos as their King, and kissed his hand, the Prince proceeded to change his travelling costume for a brilliant uni- form that had been brought over beforehand, and then continued his journey to Zugarramurdy, where some three thousand volunteers were as- sembled to greet hira. A Te Deum was sung in the village church, after which the villagers and the volunteers pressed forward to kiss the hand of him whom they acknowledged as their Sove- reign ; and, whatever might have been the poli- tical opinions of the spectator, he could hardly fail to be impressed by the spontaneous enthu- siasm which prevailed in the mass of the people assembled. For fully an hour Don Carlos stood on the door-step of the church, unable to proceed forward. The cries were really deafening, and

CAMPO DEL nOXOR. 7

overpowered llie sound of the c:iimons firiiii; at Pena de Plata, and the desperate riiigin.i; of th<' chiircli bells.

As soon as the Preten<ler was able to liberatr himself from the crowd of his over-enthiisiastie adherents, he went to the villa^^e prison and re- leased some sixty Rcj)id>licans eonfnied in it, pive each of them half a sovereign, and ordered them to be escorted to France. Afterwards, he visited the few wounded who were in the village, and went to lunch at the house of the village priest, whilst the volunteers outside the house were entertained with the reading of the follow- ing Proclamation :

" Volunlarios ! Invoking tlie God of armies and listening to tlie voice of agoni/ed Spain, I present myself amongst you fully confident of your courage and jour loyalty.

" Poor in resources, but rich in faith and heroism, you have gloriously maintained an almost incredible, fabulous campaign, and in tlie midst of unceaaing privations and fatigues you have asked only for one thing — arms.

" My efforts for satisfying this want will not have been quite fruitless. And having, as far as it was in my power, fulfilled that duty, I come now to perform another, and one much more pleasant to my heart. I como to combat, like yourselves, for our fatherland, and for our Ood. No sort of political consider- ation shall compel me longer to luuk on, my arms folded, at this heroic struggle.

" I doploro the blindness of the army which fights again:*t us,

8 SPAIN AND' THE SPANIARDS

because it does uot know you, and does not know me. Both you and myself would have receiyed it with open arms if in an hour of inspiration it coidd have perceived that the Monarchical flag had been for fifteen centuries the ilag of all the glories and honoiirs of the Spanish army, and if it had understood that the only truly Monarchical ilag is my banner — the banner of Legitimacy and Right.

" But as, unhappily, this is not yet clear to them, we are compelled to subdue by force a ruinous and impious revolution which maintains itself only by violence.

" It is with irrepressible emotion that I receive the sincere homage of your enthusiastic loyalty, and that I put my feet on the noble Vasco-Navarre soil, whence I address now the ex- pression of my gratitude to the generous defenders of the just cause, and speak my friendly welcome to all the Spaniards.

" Spain asks us with loud cries to come to her rescue !

" Volunteers ! forward !

" Volunteers, Spain says that she is dying !

" Volunteers, let us save her !

" Caelos. " Zugarramurdy, 16th JiUy, 1873."

Then followed a review of troops, a visit to Pena de Plata, receptions of officers, who began immediately to pour in from all sides, until at last Don Carlos started with some two thousand five hundred men and two cannons for the celebrated Bastan valley. Here began for me a kind of life I shall not soon forget.

Marching, reviews, popular demonstrations, and- hunting for quarters and food, took me during

CAMPO DEL IIOXOR. 9

six weeks fully eighteen hours daily, leiiviii<^ barely six hours a day lor writing, rest, and refreshment.

As every one expected that Don Carlos would be anxious to begin his new campaign by some brilliant engagement, and as we knew that Eli- zondo, the first lar^e })lace on the road we took, had been fortified by the Republicans, and was guarded by a garrison of some six hundred men under Colonel Tejada, we all hoped to have a nice little fight in a coujde of days. The village of Arizcun was the place at which we were to pass the night of the 18th, and whence, as we supposed, we were to move on the next morning for an attack. But it turned out that, except some manoeuvres upon the surrounding heights, we liad to witness no military spectacle of any sort. The troops commanded by General Lizar- raga manoeuvred very well, satisfied Don Carlos thoroughly, and showed the column of Tejada that the Carlists were already in sufficient Dumbers to protect their master. That was appa- rently all the Carlist generals wanted for the moment. They did not care about attacking Elizondo, for they were sure to lose a great number of men, and to be unable to hold the place should the forces of Pamplona attempt to

10 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

take it back again, for no support could be ex- pected Elio's troops being then far away in the Amezcoas. But the General himself, leaving his command to Dorregaray, came to salute his King as soon as he heard of his having entered Spain. The old gentleman rode on horseback, with two aid-de-camps and a small escort, through nearly the whole of Navarre to meet the Prince at Arizcun.

It was probably owing to Elio's advice that we had no fight at Elizondo, and marched next morning off the high road to those abominable rocky paths which I had never been able to re- concile myself with. Narvarte, Labaen, Erasun, and Leisa were the little mountain villages which had successively to provide with food and night shelter some two thousand five hundred soldiers, a King, his brilliant staff of marquises and counts, and two or three hundred horses and mules. How they managed it one would be puzzled to say, but everybody had some shelter, and every stomach some sort of nourishment. That both were abominably bad can be easily imagined, but in nearly all cases the bad quality of the supply was fully compensated by the heartiness with which it was offered.

Of the manner in which Don Carlos was

CAMPO DEL nOXOR. 11

receivfd liy the siiiipK-nrmdc"! villa^^crs, no one cMii make oneself an idea, unless one knows the temperament and notions of the Basque people. It was not only that houses were deco- rated in every village he passed through, that green stulV and (lowers covered the streets, that cries of *' \'ica el Rey T '"''Vuia Doha Marr/arita!" and " I7c« la RcVkjIoh T gave everybody a headache, and that every man, woman, and child got perfectly mad in attempting to kiss anything belonging to Carlos Setimo, from his hand down to the tail of his horse. The real degree of de- votion of these people was best to be seen in the manner in which the wants of the Carlist columns were attended to. "When the Republicans passed, all that still existed in the way of horses, cattle, sheep, and pigs were high up in the mountains, and no rations could be got by any human force under several hours' time; while when the Carlists passed everything was at hand. When the Ivcpublicans passed tlie men were all away from the villages, so were the alcalde and the priest too, and the democratic commander had to get his information about the enemy from old women and children ; while the smallest Royalist band was inl'ormed in every jiossible way by the members of the ui/uiitumiento (municii)al

12 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

council), who were the first to welcome it, and every man of the village was quite ready to risk his life for the sake of getting the band out of danger. Don Carlos had already been four days in Spain before the commander of the Pamplona troops learned it, and was enabled to make a move ; while we learned at Navarte of this commander's intention to move within about three or four hours after his trumpet had called out the regiments.

Don Carlos was quietly taking an afternoon walk through the village of Narvarte, when a confideyite, or spy, came with the news that four thousand men with six cannons were leaving Pamplona, some six hours' march distant from our village. A council of war was at once called, consisting of the Elio, Lizarraga and Marquis Valdespinas, and the question whether a battle was to be accepted or not was brought before them. Don Carlos appears to have been in favour of a fight, but as the Carlist forces were considerably smaller than those of their enemy, the generals insisted upon not accepting a battle, and continuing the march for a junction with Dorregaray. Consequently, in a couple of hours, off we march very much as if we were flying, for we scarcely stopped anywhere for more than

CAMPO DEL HONOR. 13

a couple of lioiirs from Sunday the 20th, to Tuesday tlio 22iid, and this our first iiian-li may be considered a very fair specimen of Carlist marches.

To be<;in with, we left Narvartc about six P.M., and had to march all night, and the rocky foot- path we liad to follow jjassed within a gun shot of San Estevan, another strongly furtified and well guarded Reiniblican place. A company of good shooters could have completely routed our column, spread in an endless line over two or three miles of a most impracticable mountain track. No- thing was, however, attempted by the Republican troops shut up behind their fortifications, and ap- parently only too glad that we did not attack them. But the consciousness that one is marching under such unfavourable conditions is by no means com- forting. Fancy a pitch dark night, a most horrible Abyssinian causeway, which makes man and horse stumble on every step, and is constantly and most abruptly going up and down hill; add to that the effect produced on one's ner- vous system by orders of a general Jesjuon- tadiira (or getting off the horses), and silencio, a strict prohibition of anything like a cigarette or a match being lighted, and you will have a fair idea of this little promenade. We

14 SEAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

knew, of course, that the Pamplona column was unable to reach us, but the proximity of the San Estevan garrison, actually full masters of our lives, was by no means refreshing. Our appre- hensions of danger calmed down only after mid- night, when the village of Labaen was reached, where at all events some rest was allowed to our exhausted limbs and nerves. It should be added here, however, that Don Carlos and his generals fully shared the fatigue of the men. All of them walked throughout at the head of the column, leading their horses by the bridles and having but a small vanguard before them.

At Labaen a rather original sight presented itself. The place, which is so small that it could not even be called a village, was all at once crammed as it has certainly never been before. It was utterly impossible even for Don Carlos and his staff to move a single step forward before the vanguard was marched to its quarters, consisting of a couple of little huts outside the village. The loud talk of some two thousand men, for several hours kept silent and now set at liberty, the neighing of horses, the roar of donkeys and mules, the barking of dogs— everything had its place in this picture of indescribable confu- sion, lit by means of straw torches and such

CAMPO DEL HONOR. 15

bits of \v;ix cumllc us could he fdiiiiil in tlio village cliiircli. It toitU us two hours hofore every one of the oHicers, men, ami horses liaJ shelter. Of food there coidd, of course, he no question at such an hour ; but a sound sleep and a little cup of everlasting chocolate, wliich you find wliL'U nothing else can be fouinl, rendered us quite fresh and bright next morning.

Don Carlos, who is invariably entertained at the priests' houses, which, as a rule, are the best in the villages, IkuI here an oppurtuiiity quite unexpectedly, to show his courtesy to the foir sex. The ^larchioness of Vinialet, whose son liad been severely wounded at the battle of Udave, and for a time left as dead on the field, came to see him at the ambulance of Lccumberri, and was on her way back to I>iarritz when we met her at Labaen. The brave lady had travelled on horseback, with a couple of guides, all the way from the fashionable seaside place to the frontier of Guipuzcoa, and the best bed in the priest's house was, of course, given to lier. On the next morning when the troops inarched oft' again and' passed her wimlow, she was made the object of an ovation which, I am sure, few women have ever received.

I)Ut no fatigues or i»rivations seemed to in-

16 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

fluence in any way the Carlist volunteers. When- ever there was no prohibition, singing and laugh- ing were going on all day long, and when there was an hour to spare after dinner, or before night- fall, the fandango was sure to be seen danced somewhere in the village square, and ball playing everywhere. At Erasun, halfway between Labaen and Leisa, where we dined, or at least were supposed to dine, the mounted body-guards of Don Carlos gave us quite a performance in that way. A brass band, which usually played not only on en- tering and leaving the villages, but took advantage of every halt, began to play a national dancing melody, and nearly the whole of the horsemen of the escort set at once to dance the fan- dango, with tumblers half full of wine on their heads. The great thing is to dance so as not to lose a single drop out of the tumbler, which result was attained with full success on this occasion, to the perfect delight of the population of Erasun and to the apparent satisfaction of the Pretender himself, who was looking out of the window, throwing now and then a duro (five-franc piece) to the most clever of the dancers. To march twenty miles over mountains and to dance and sing as soon as an hour's rest is given, seem quite natural to the Carlist Volunteers and the

CAMPO DEL IION'OR. 17

Republican iiriny, recruited chiefly outside of tin- Vasco-Navivrre provinces, will liave ti loni; time to wait before it equals the Carlist voluiitrcrs in agility, endurance, and gaiety.

On reaching Lei-sa, the largest of the villages on our way, we had a regular triunijihal entry. The place was brightly decorated, and the viliag-- square being a rather large one, a march past had been got up of all the troops we possessed, with the band playing, church bell ringing, and all the rest of it. U'he iniprefssion jiroduced on the inhabitants of Leisa nnist have been very strong indeed, for the landlady at whose house I had my quarters ,cut the throats of two Spring chickens and presented me with them, supposing, probably, that 1 liad something to do with the grand sight she had just witnessed. But, alas! though I had for several days not tasted any- thing beyond stale ammunition bread and ndserable ration mutton. I was too exhausted to be able even to look at the chickens. 'J'hey went straight into my saddle-bags and were on the next morning regularly devoured by a number of my companions in misfortune, stalV- ofllcers of the Pretender. All I saw of them (I mean of the chickens, not of the oflicers) was a rather dried up leg.

V(.»L. II. C

18 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

But these triumphal entries and marches past occupied rather more time than we could safely afford, for when we reached Lecumberri the Pamplona column turned out to be only two hours behind lis, "chastising" the Lesaca inha- bitants for the reception they gave us. Matters began to look quite unpleasant, and we pushed off more smartly than ever with the view of effecting our object, which was to make a junc- tion with Dorregaray,

It was only on the 24th of July, fully six days after his entry into Spain, that Don Carlos was out of danger of capture. There was an expres- sion of relief to be seen on everyone's face when, on approaching Salinas de Oro, Dorre- garay's forces, some four thousand five hundred strong, with two additional cannon appeared drawn up in order of battle on the surrounding hills. The Republican Commander-in-Chief, General Sanchez Bregua, having missed his chance, had nothing left but quietly to retire, ordering a general concentration of troops to be made at Vitoria, in the direction of which Don Carlos had evidently to move. Knowing, however, how slow the Republicans are in effecting all their movements, General Elio did not seem to take much notice of the enemy's prospective arrangements. The

CAMPO DEL IION'OR. 10

(.^irllsts marched now ;is quietly forward as it" there was no enemy at all, enjoying anew no end of enthusiastic receptions inevery village and town, and having solemn military masses and Te Deum^t whenever a suitable occasion presented itself, that is to say, wherever any miracle has been formerly performed or some hermitage still preserved. lu this manner it was only on the 2i)th that we reached the neighbourhood of Vitoria, leaving thus the enemy fully Kve days to effectuate his con- centration. But no enemy was to be seen outside the walls of the city, in sight of which we then passed with all the smartness of a British army corps marching towards the field of its autunni exploits. Oidy at a place called Tres Puentes did we see some traces of the Republican cavalry ; but as no attack was made upon us wc pushed on, cut the railroad between Vitoria and i\Iiranda, stopped a train, took out of it eleven ofiicers going to reinforce the garrison of Vitoria, had them sent as prisoners to Las Amezcoas and marched off to Orduna, the ancient Basque city, from which our journey through Biscay was to begin.

If Don Carlos could have had any doubts about his popularity in the Basque provinces, his journey through the rich i)rovince extending from the plains of Vitoria to the walls of Bilbao would have

0 2

20 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

finally dissipated tliera. British loyalty itself has never produced anything similar to the re- ceptions Don Carlos, his staff and the several thousand men marching with him had to enjoy at Ordufia, Durango, and Zornoza, not to speak of the numberless little villages situated between these towns. Besides the province being throughout Carlist, the "Biscayinos" knew that "His Majesty Charles VII.'s " object was to revive the old custom of the Kings of Spains giving their oath to the fueros under the traditional oak-tree at Guernica. True that the old oak under which Ferdinand and Isabella swore, in 1476, to uphold the Basque fueros had been long ago cut down and burned by the French, and that another planted in its place underwent the same treatment from the hands of Queen Christina's generals. But, some- how or other, there is still a big oak on the tra- ditional spot, with two young reserve trees by its side. On the 2nd of August an altar was dressed with the image of Nuestra Senora de la Antigua on it, and Don Carlos de Bourbon, in full uniform and surrounded by a numerous staff, rode down from Zornoza, not exactly to swear loyalty to the fueros, but to swear that he would come again and give his oath to uphold them when he had

CAMPO DEL UONOR. 21

succeedod in conquering; the tlirduc of his rin- cestors, and when his coronation as Kin;; oi' Spains will have actually made him " Senor" of Biscay a. The ceremony was in every way a success, and the road from Zornoza to Guernica, a distance of about eight miles, was almost as thronged with people as Fleet-street on a Lord Mayor's show. Peasants and gentry from all parts of the country assembled to witness the cere- mony ; but, as only a few thousand people could possibly find access to Guernica itself, the great majority had to content themselves with a mere glance at the passing King, his staff and escort, only the most lucky of them succeeding in kissing the hand or the leg of Don Carlos, or perhaps even not more than the tail of his horse. Some of the old women got quite mad, cried bitterly, and one of them, in screaming out her " LhraruJo hablo r fell senseless under his white Andalusian stallion.

Purposeless and unbusiness-like as all these military promenades of the Pretemler may look, I must confess my belief that Don Carlos has done more for his cause by this tiresome journey through Navarre, Alava, and Biscaya, than he could have done by half a dozen of those moun- tain "battles" in which several thousand cartridges

22 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

are used on both sides for the purpose of killing two and wounding three men. By showing him- self to the Vasco-Navarre population, he stimulated their enthusiasm, and revived the courage with which they have to bear the burden of the war.* He also put a stop to the very unfavourable stories which began to circulate with reference to the reasons of his absence. I was asked myself, by some of the peasants, whether it was true that Don Carlos was dead, and an Italian cobbler sub- stituted in his place, and by others whether it was true that he was living in Paris in debauchery. It was the least Don Carlos could have done, to come over and give the simple-minded highlanders at least the satisfaction of having a steady look at him for whom they sacrificed so readily their lives and their hard-earned pesetas.

There was another point also in which his appearance on the Spanish soil and his promenade through the provinces had a favourable effect.

* As far as a Spanish alcalde's statistics can be relied upon, OTer 70 per cent, of the yearly produce of the country was, in less tlian a year, swallowed up by the rations alone, both Carlist and Eepublican. At all events such was the statement made to me by the alcalde of Leisa ; and he added, that that was nothing when compared with the hardships imposed upon the peasants bj heavy money contributions.

CAMPO DEL HONOR. 23

On the news of his arrival, Vchisco was not only able to brinix liis Bisc-aya hands to eight strong battalions, hut to get up a couple of CaBtilian battalions in aiKlition to tlieni. These two battalions formed iminediately the nucleus of a separate Castilian force, and before such a force has been got up there can be little thought of crossing the Ebro, for the provinces of Castile would not stand an invasion of Vasco-Navarre men. They will rise only in so ft\r as Carlism shall be represented to them by their own volun- teers, not by those of other provinces. The English press was constantly urging upon Don Carlos to cross the Ebro if he desired to be regarded with proper deference by London leader writers ; and in this the press showed an utter ignorance of Spanish affairs and Spanish character. In the first place, very few of the Vasco-Navarre volun- teers would care to march beyond the Ebro. They fight well and willingly at home, but they are neither fit nor disposed to carry on war in the plain. In the second, if Don Carlos entered Castile with three or four Castilian battalions and plenty of tire-arms, he could, within a few days, have quite an army there, which his Navarre and Basque troops would reinforce, and serve as a reserve to. But if he attempted to enter

24 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

The provinces of Castile only with the troops he has now, he would appear as a conqueror entering by the help of strangers, and would be received accordingly. By forming the two Castilian battalions, Velasco has built the first arch of the bridge by which Don Carlos may some day cross the Ebro.

But if the entry of Don Carlos presented some real advantages, it had also a good many most comical sides. First of all, the attention which the Pretender and his courtiers paid to all the popular demonstrations of the peasants, which, after all, ought to be greatly attributed to the delight with which the simple-minded highlanders witnessed pageants, which they have, as a rule, so few chances of seeing, was perfectly ridiculous. Over and over again Don Carlos and his courtiers called my attention to petty demonstrations of loyalty and to the patriotic acclamations with which he was received by the population of the little mountain villages. There can be no doubt what- ever that these villagers are Carlistsat heart, and the best proof of it is in the willingness with which they sacrifice their life and property for the cause. But having had occasion to talk to the peasants after witnessing the shows, I became perfectly satisfied, from the rather pessimist view

CAMPO DEL IIOKOIl. 25

wliicli tlicy took of things in general, that as f;ir lis royul pageants are concerned, they would ho just as niurh interested in a circus cortege, with camel and elephant, passing through their pro- vinces. They wanted simply a spectacle, and that is what Don Carlos presented to them — mounted as he was on a handsome horse, and surrounded by a hrilliant stall', njion the fornia- tiou and arrangements of which he has, 1 believe, bestowed more thought than on any other subject in the whole of his life. The Times correspon- dent sketches Don Carlos in the following terms : —

" The Republican journals of Madrid iiave described Don Carlos as being a mere tool in tlic hands of designing agents. This is an absurd fabriciition. There arc few men less easily led, either in politics or military matters, for, to sound com- mon sense, and a keen knowledge of cliaracter, he adds a cer- tain amount of Teutonic obstinacy and perseverance, qualities which make him either a friend to bo admired, or a foo who cannot be trilled with. Very liberal in his opinions, and far from being a bigot in religious matters, his favourite maxim is, that with Spaniards ' two and two do not make four,' and ho eays the nation must be tauglit its mistakes by degrees, ami not be pulled up too soon." {Times, September 15th, Letter from tho Royalist hcad-quartors )

The impression which the Pretender produced upon myself, and which 1 tried to describe in

2Q SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

another chapter, somewhat diflfers from that pro- duced on the able representative of the great journal, and I am almost sure that had he seen the Pretender for a longer period, and not when he was addressing the Times, but while he stood " at ease," or was exhibiting himself in his military- promenades, he would perhaps have looked at him from a different point of view. But what- ever may be the correct opinion on the individual character of Don Carlos, he seems to have in himself some stuff of which a fair Constitutional Sovereign could be made, but he requires to be taught a good many serious lessons before he gets to power; for, in the present condition of his ideas and views, he is no more fit to govern a people than the author of these pages is fit to be Archbishop of Canterbury.

Besides having lost six weeks of the most precious time in the best season of the year, when his troops, by taking advantage of the critical position of the Republican Government, might have captured all the large towns in the north of Spain, Don Carlos, by his pushing towards the front, has considerably paralyzed the movements of the Carlist army, for the value which is attached

CAMPO DKL HONOR. 27

to the safety of his person causes his p;enerals constantly to clctach consi(h'ral)h' forces to protect him. lie is seldom left with so few as two or three thousand men ; sometimes seven, ei^^ht, and even ten thousand troops were marching with him, and whenever a Republican column was en- countered, unless it was very weak, battles were almost invariably declined, on account of the danger of His Majesty's capture. Sometimes even worse things occurred. One fine morning, early in September, Don Carlos had the fancy to take a sea-bath, and olT was his column marched to Lequeitio. Meanwhile Lizarraga, who was then near Tolosa, gets a chance of striking a good blow at the enemy. But he wants more forces, and so he despatches a request to His Majesty to send them up, and occupies the position. But the despatches do not find either the bathing Don Carlos or his force, and so Lizarraga not only misses the opportunity of licking the enemy, but gets licked himself.

Practically speaking, Don Carlos became an ob- struction, standing in the way of the Legitimist army, and if the Republicans had only had one good general, they might, within the first six weeks after the Pretender's entry into Spain, have put an end to the whole Carlist insurrec-

28 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

tion. But, iinliappily for the young Republic, they have neither commanders nor money to pay the troops, who marched well and obeyed orders only when liberally paid. I shall never forget an episode which oc- curred with us during our journey through Biscay a.

Thanks to Renter's telegrams, all Europe be- lieved, in the first days of August last, that Don Carlos was marching with the whole of his force on Bilbao, which was then besieged by six batta- lions of Velasco's troops. The truth was that we never approached Bilbao nearer than within ten or twelve miles, and that none of the Carlist generals would have allowed the Pretender to throw himself, with nearly the whole of his army, into a venture which, if unsuccessful, would not have left him any other chance of escape but that of throwing himself into the sea, since all the Republican forces were concentrated at Vitoria, and could come to the rescue of Bilboa within something like twenty-four hours. Still the news, spread in London and Paris that we were march- ing that way, was transmitted to Sanchez Bregua, and caused him to move with something like eleven thousand men and a considerable number of cannons from Vitoria on the same day we were

CAMPO DEL HONOR. 29

wituessing the Cliicriiica ccreinony. Every one at the head-quarters of Don Curios thouglit at first the news to be a false rumour, and .so we started next morning quietly back to Alava and Navarre.

All at once, as we were half way to Durango, the confirmation of the previous day's report arrived to us, and though -.vc could muster nearly ten thousand men, the presence of Don Carlos caused General Elio, instead of accepting battle, to return back to Zornoza. in order to watch from a little village behind the town what the enemy's intentions were. The comical point, however, was that the Republicans learned of our march almost at the same time as we learned of theirs, and that they did exactly the same thing that we did — that is to say, that they turned their backs to us, and marched oft' to Vergara, leaving us to do what we ])leased. In this way the two armies presented the curious sight of apparently marching on each other, and making a " right- about face" as soon as it became evident that they must meet. The fact was, however, that Sanchez Bregua, believing from the London telegrams re-telegraphed to him that the Car- lists were going to attack Bilbao, wanted to rush at them from the rear, when they woukl

30 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

be likely to be engaged in street fighting. But as soon as he learned that they had no intention of exposing themselves to such an emer- gency, he began to suspect that their plan was to draw him out of Vitoria and meet him on the road, a thing which he objected to on account of the advantageous positions on the heights which the Carlists might have taken.

Having in this way got rid of the Republican commander-in-chief and his eleven thousand men, we quietly marched through Alava and the whole of Navarre towards Pamplona, within sight of which we passed, turned off north-east, took, almost without a shot, a couple of forts close to the Aragon frontier, and after having pro- menaded for about a fortnight more, marched towards Estella, where some real business was to be begun, and were Don Carlos took, for the first time, part in active war- fare.

" So that, after all, you must have had rather a quiet and pleasant time of it," might remark the reader " after having been initiated into the operations of Don Carlos during the Summer months."

CAMPO DEL HONOR. 31

"Well, that is a matter of opinion," would he my answer. To purposelessly march day and nights, frequently as much as thirty or forty miles a day ; never to know where you will have to stop, or at what time you will have to start; frequently without a shelter till very late at night, and still more frequently devoured by vermin when under a shelter; exposed all day to a burning sun, with little to eat except stale am- munition bread, and a piece of mutton which your servant chars under the pretence of cooking; all that, and a good many things be- sides, do not constitute exactly a pleasant sort of life. For men of good health the experi- ment niight have proved very hurtful ; at all events, I saw a good many who, although they came in perfectly good health, became sickly in a fortnight. But to used-up indi- viduals of the journalistic and literary class, locked up, as a rule, the greater part of their life in their rooms, at tiresome and dull work, sometimes for twelve and fourteen hours a day, with an accompaniment of sleepless nights and all the rest of it, a Carlist campaign may prove quite a beneficial change. At all events, Buch was my experience, for when I started from London 1 could not read without glasses, and

32 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

through my not having seen a single book during six months, the improvement in my sight alone was quite a blessing, not to speak of the in- fluence which the fresh air of the mountains, and the constant riding produced on an exhausted frame. I often thought that with reference to health Carlist campaigning very much resem- bled gambling. Those who entered into it with anything to lose, were pretty sure to be the worse oif for the venture, while those who risked but little might possibly be gainers.

The only element of which our Campo del Honor life was perfectly devoid, was dulness. Idleness was, of course, quite an unknown thing amidst a state of aftairs in which five or six con- secutive hours' rest was all a man could have a chance of getting. If it happened now and then that a whole day's repose from marching was given, there were plenty of things to be attended to. Saddles and bags arranged ; bits, stirrups, and spurs polished (a work of which your Na- varre servant would obstinately refuse to see the necessity) ; horses shod, or their sore backs dressed ; some old woman to be hunted up suffi- ciently indifferent to gossiping with the vohai- tarios to undertake the washing of your linen;

CAMPO UKL HON'on. \V.\

jK'rliaps a liatli to l»c taken in sonic (Irit'd-np stream, or a shave at the shop of a vilhige Figaro, lint the getting up of " fine dinners" was tlu- prevailing occupation on siicli occasions, and look always the greater ])ortion of the day. 11" the halt happened to lie in a t(jwii, various delicacies in the shape of fruit, vegetables, or eggs coidd he sometimes discovered; while, if it was as usual, at some miscrahle but pretty safe mountain village, excursions iiiti) the valley had U) be made to get something more inviting than the ordinary rations. The details of one or two of such ex- cursions will be suiliciently characteristic to give a general idea of the rest.

I messeil with 15aroii T.arbier, the French gen- tleman I iiH'iitioned before. The wretched diet we were living upon made us at times quite de- sponding; we, however, managed to iniprovt- things by buying, for the considerable sum of twenty-two duros (.£4 !>.•<. 10(/.), a little Navarre animal, which was neither a horse, nor a mule, nor an ass, but something of each of them to harness it with alfuvjas, and to load it with our luiTiraiie and such ])rovisions as we could occii- sionally get from France. As a ride, the latter consisted of a few pots of " Liebig's Extract," a few boxes of sardines, a ball of Dutch cheese,

VOL. II. D

34 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

and similar not very perisliable articles. The great chemist's meat extract proved quite in- valuable. About half a spoonful of it put into the liquid of boiled potatoes and onions, with a good deal of salt and pepper, gave always an excellent soup, and thus with the aid of our perambulating pantry, we sometimes managed to get up quite comfortable meals. One day, how- ever, when we were at a village about three or four miles from Lecumberri, our provisions be- came exhausted, and nothing was to be obtained except some goat's milk, which Barbier's servant succeeded in extorting from the supjDlies of our landlady by making desperate love to her. The important question arose now in what shape the inilk should be served, and, after due considera- tion, we decided to convert it, with the aid of some /ideos (vermicelli), or some rice, into milk soup. Neither of these ingredients was, however, to be found nearer than Lecumberri, and so off Ave started at once. It was late in the afternoon, rain and darkness set in before we reached the place. My companion had, into the bargain, a savage stallion, always walking on his hind legs, as if objecting to his being considered a quad- ruped. The beast was altogether a match to my unbroken " showy" mare, so that there was be-

CAMPO DEL HONOR. 35

tween them, as usual, a scries of violent attempts to fight iluring the journey. l*>ut on arriviiif^ at Lecumln-rri we were i'ully ivpaiil for our trouble, for after a couple of hours' search we found not only vermicelli, but potatoes, coffee, sugar, and a coui)le of bottles of Muscat wine, and a pound or so of nuiiiteca, a semi-li<piid lard, sold in sausage-skins about a yard long, ami serving as a substitute for butter, which is almost unknown in iSpain.

While we were thus loading our saddle-bags and our top-coat pockets, Barbier was all the time repeating Milher's celebrated: n'onhHovK pat tpie nous soit.f a c/iirn/. But the good luck we had in finding all these delicacies was esteemed too great for us to entrust our booty to any messenger. So off we set with the precious load, and the usual galloping, rearing, kicking, and neighiiig began, of course, immediately : the bottles were broken, the wine saturating the coffee and sugar ; the sausage- skin of the iiKinteca liurst, ind)edding our supplies in its greasy contents ; the potatoes were jerked out wpon the road by the gambols of our steeds, and oidy the vermicelli, which had been carried in om* hands, was, though wetted by rain, yet saved from utter destructiiMi. We had thus not much left to boast of, yet it was more than the

D 2

36 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

majority of onr comrades had, and we set imme- diate]}^ to work to prepare the soup. Unhappily, we were none of us good cooks, and our servants still worse ones, so the much-expected dish turned out awfully thick and lumpy, and the wine- saturated sugar gave it quite a novel flavour. Still we partook pretty heartily of it, and, much to our astonishment, were both taken ill in a couple of hours. " There must have been some- thing wrong with that blessed vermicelli," grumbled my friend several times during the night when colic s'eized him, and I thanked Pro- vidence that I had taken scarcely half the quantity of the soup in which he had indulged. On the next day he felt worse, symptoms of dysentery soon manifested themselves, and he had to be carried to France. Fully two months later I called upon my unlucky companion at Biarritz, and found him still in bed. " It is still that sacre vei'jnicelle," exclaimed he, on seeing me, " but thank God, I think I am getting better now !"* On another excursion of the same sort, a

* Provisiops of a conservable nature were not only frequently very bad, but were sometimes ascertained to have been pur- l)Osely poisoned. Sucli was, at all events, tbe case with some cigars manufactured at Vitoria and Pamplona, aud sent out to the Carhst camps.

CAMPO DKL HONOR. 37

Spanish fricml uiul myself were on the look-out for a fowl. There was in the whole villaj^e but one house in possession of a few of them, ami an old paralysed woman, the lamllady. and appa- rently thu only inhabitant of the house, at Hrst refused to part with one of them, liut as we increased step by step, our ofTer from two to live francs, she ultimately consented to let us have one upon the understanding that we should catch it ourselves, as she was unable to move. And if we had needed any proof that acts appa- rently most simple and menial require experience, we could not have had a better lesson than the catching of that fowl. The five or six clucking bipeds, which were perambulating and flying about the vast desolate barn, made us rush about, dodging and cursing them for nearly an hour without being able to catch any of them, till at last my cominuiion took out his revolver, and resolved to solve the problem by a shot. Unhappily, instead of killing a hen he brought down the cock, and— a still greater misfortune— the bullet finished its career by hulging itself in the leg of an old pig domiciled in the same barn. The result of this little sport was an endless ex- planation with the old woman, the alcalde, and half of the villagers, and a disburseinent of

38 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

a rather round sura for the woimclecl pig, which Avas immediately transformed into Carlist rations. But justice requires me to add that we were presented with a hirger quantity of that useful animal than we could ever consume, and that the roasted cock — whose death the old landlady lamented more than that of the pig — travelled with us for several days, being much too hard to be disposed of at one meal.

Such and similar episodes were almost of daily occurrence, and the whole of our life in the Campo del Honor, with its eccentric adventures, its various encounters with strange characters in the most astounding costumes, and its serio-comic background of religious crusades, and daily masses celebrated by priests in top-boots and spurs, had something about it which reminded one immensely of Offenbach's and Herve's operas. In fact, when Don Carlos and his Generals were not present, we — the foreigners and the Frenchi- fied Spanish officers — used to salute each other with the well-known chorus of " Little Faust :"

" Vaillants giierriers, sxir la terre eti'angere, Combattre est un plaisii- ! Les cnnemis y mordront la poussiere, Et ?a les f ra mourir !"

CAMro DKL lIoXoH. 39

Occasionally, indeed, it seemed to nu\ frniii a good many analogies, as if this chant had l»een sjK'cially written lor ns; and, as 11" to complete the joke, it tnrned ont that the jjopular song of the two gendarmes in "Genevieve de Hrabant"was sung by every volnntcer in the force, it being — so I was told — a national melody of Gnipuzcoa. ]\Iaestro Offenbach having ajijiarently borrowed it, changing only the few last bars corresponding to the words, "We'll run 'cm in," words which the Gnipuzcoa volunteers could all the more easily dispense with, as, comj)ared with the recent ex}>loits of the London police, they have cer- tainly done little in the way of running persons in.

Even the Royal household itself did not present an aspect to much solemnity or seriousness. Though it comprised a bishop, a military secre- tary to the King, two chamberlains, lour orderly officers, and half a dozen of old generals com- manding the force protecting ns, all of them, including the King himself, were too frequently seen in deshabille to ])reserve, even in the eyes of Spanish Royalists, the prestige they might have otherwise secured. Truly speaking, the majority of stafl-officers disliked to follow Don Carlos, for they were much better lodged, and had moreo[iportuni-

40 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

ties of procuring provisions when they were follow- ing some less brilliant detachment. It frequently happened during our marches, that, for the sake of placing the Pretender in a position of safety, our head-quarters were established somewhere on the top of a mountain, in a village consisting, perhaps, of only a couple of dozen houses, in which accom- modation had to be found for a staff of some fifty or sixty persons, with several horses each, and two or three thousand rank and file. And as Don Carlos is a man who does not particularly interest himself in the comfort of others, provided his own wants are attended to, the members of the staff had frequently to content themselves with accommodation at the best only fit for pigs. Yet it must be admitted at the same time that the Pretender's own comfort was not always of a high class. I frequently found, when calling on him, that he had to sleep on the floor on account of the chinches (an annoying insect known to the J\largate lodging-house keepers, under the musical denomination of B flat). Nor was his table always luxuriantly supplied, for, except in large towns, where a Avealthy cure, a merchant, or landed pro- prietor offered his hospitality, it was conducted on the mess principle. The members of the

CAMPO OKL Honor. 41

Koviil liousfhoUl had their usuul Dflicors' rations* served out U) thciii, Don Curios' cook and the posi'ntdiliir, or (iiiartcr-master, wlio were always sent on in advance, securing; what addi- tional provisions could be Tound. But, in many cases, the resources of the villages were so i>oor that not much could be obtained even I'or I'd Key, Xuestro Seiior. Don

• Carli-st rations consisted of 1 Jibs, of breiid, Jib. of incut, and a pint of wine. OUicers of all ranks received double rations, and a quantity (very insulUcicut) of grain for one horse. The otlicers' allowance was also granted to newspaper correspondents, who would have starved otherwise ; but of course they had to pay for their rations. Here is a copy of a pass and ration order, which I still preserve as a souceuir of uiy past tribula- tions : — " Hecrelaria de Campana de S. M.

" Permitase circular librcmcnte en el tcrritorio ocupado por

las fuerzas del Key N. S. al Sr D" N. L T , corrcsponsal

especial del ' Heraldo de Nueva York,' facilitandole las autori-

dades alojamiento y racioncs que el S"" D" N. L. T t^atis-

fan'i al precio de coutrata.

" Cimrtel ileal de Zubiri. Doco do Agosto de 1873. " El Brigadier, Secretario de S. M.

" I. DE IrAUKAGVIKBE."

Stamp of tlie Kcal { J unta Gubemativa I

del Kejno de 1 Kavarra.

42 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

Carlos, however, ver}^ frequently enjoj^ed pre- serves and pasUy, which were amply supplied to him from the nunneries we had to pass, and which he was most generous in sharing with the staff attaches. Justice requires me to state here that the amiable Spanish nuns excel in these preparations, and more especially in the confec- tion of a kind of thick quince marmalade, which excels in delicacy anything I have ever before tasted in the same line.

In a life of this sort, entertainment or change is seldom looked for, as every hour is a change in some way, and every minute is entertainment, though by no means always of a pleasant nature. But even those who might have looked for entertainment in the usual sense of the word, could not feel disap- pointed. In the first place, if battles were not to be witnessed every day, skirmishes were never wanting, and one could always, if he felt disposed, get up a little expedition on his own ac- count. One of Elio's aid-de-camps and nephews. Captain Tristan Barraute, frequently made an opportunity for some such pastime when he began to feel dull at head-quarters. On one occasion he

CAMPO DEL IIOXOR. 43

crossi'd (lie Kliro, and |»iisli('(l towards r^D.^^'raao with a liaiidrni (if ci-ack iiilaiitrv and ravalrv, equally smart in atta<-k and in lli^lit ; ainl (lie dash with which they crossed the river was equalled oidy hy (he celerity with which they recrossed it on the next day. Very l'n'(|iu'ntly that pdlant oflicer disappeared from head- quarters, no one knowing' whitlu'r he had ii:one, and in a few days it would turn out that he had had news of an enemy's column about to pass throUL::h some {ijorj^e, where he at once i>roeeede<l to ari-est its progress. Two mounted men, armed, like himself, with sixteen shot cnral tines, which he kept for this special purpose, were qnite enough for him. They would start at night, gallop like madmen to the top of some roeky hill, wln-re they place themselves in ambuscade, and o))en a "deadly" fire, at day- break, on the approaching colunni. The enemy, bewildered at the unexpected encounter, not knowing the strength of the concealed force, and iiaving lost several men, iVeiiueiitly re( raced his stei)s, while Don Tristan would then return to head-quarters, and after reporting to his uncle the strength of the column, describe to his friend the enjoymeut he had had on his sporting expe- dition.

4-4 SPAIN AND THE SPANIAEDS.

There was also no lack of musical entertain- ments, as there are several bands in the Carlist army, and every volunteer sings almost all day long. But if the music of the bands was very fair, the same can by no means be said of the vocal part of the daily concerts. Basque, and especially Navarre songs and singing are some- thing to which it is terrible to listen. In the majority of cases they are of a lamenting character, and both in composition and execution are incomparably worse than such songs as " We've got no work to do ;" while the Navarrese throatis at times capable of giving utteranceto con- siderably more hoarse and horrible sounds than the midnight " All hot" which so shakes the nervous system — if not of Londoners — at all events of foreign visitors of the metropolis.

Now and then, however, we had good sing- ing too, though it seldom came from the rank and file, as it does in Italy. The best things I have heard in that line were serenades which the staff-officers gave to Don Carlos, and one of them I still remember as about the most charming to which it has ever been my good fortune to listen. It was at Durango, in Biscaya. Baron von Waltcrskirchen, or "Don Carlos el Austriaco,"

CAMPO DHL MoXdU. 4')

\vlu)iii I iiK.'iitioiiiil liffDrc. hail j^'iveii a dinner |)arty to aliDiit a coiiiilc of (Id/ami IVieiwls. 'I'lio itk-a dl' uiviiii; a diiimT party sounds straii;;o amidst sucli a life as that we were then loadinp^; but with tlie Carlists a diiiiicr party does not necessarily mean a good dinner. 'J'he meal on ihat occasion was the hrst that the landlady of the Fonda (Hinedal coidd jjrovide, and it was, as usual, shockin^Ldy bad; but there was plenty of wine, and still more good fellowship.

One of the guests, a fn^shly arrivetl Andalusiau ollicer, took ui) a guitar as soon as the coffee was served, and for more than two hours ballad succeeded ballad, triste or gay, warlike or loving, hatty or dreamy — he equally excelled in all. P>y midnight, every one of the party was raised to the highest pitch of gaiety and had ilis- covered singing capacities in himself. Choruses were struck up, and off marched the coni- l)any to the town square in wdiich Don (Jarlos's house was situated, A popular chant, with a kind of thumlering ir/ntut, •• Viva rl Key," awoke everybody in the neigh- bourhood. Doll Carlos, who was occupied with some of his generals, came out on the balcony, and the windows of every house on the jjIuzu

46 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

soon showed a numberless array of liuman beings in the most varied night garments, illu- mined by a splendid moonshine. In a few minutes everyone of these spectators joined in the chorus. The effect of this mass of voices resounding amidst the soft calm of a Southern Summer night, and alternating with the solo melody and the guitar notes of our Andalusian minstrel, really baffles all attempts at description. Don Carlos seemed so charmed that, anxious to prolong the pleasure as long as he could, he allowed a considerable time to pass before he sent the serenaders the usual invitation to step up to his house, where liqueurs, sweets, and cigars were prepared for them, and the whole of the Royal household assembled. As there was a piano in the drawing-room, and one of the chamberlains appeared to be an excellent musician, not only was the singing continued, but dancing was added to it, and it may, perhaps, be of some interest to the British public to know that the palm for national Spanish dancing was on that night carried off by an Englishman. A stout, powerful man, of fully forty years of age, my worthy colleague, had succeeded in mastering the fandango as few Spaniards ever did. And this was not the only point which rendered him quite

CAMPO DKL IIuNuU. -17

a notoriety amoiij^ tlio Carlists. As soon as lio arrived in tlieir canjp, he entered so thoroughly into their ways and manners as to dress, live, and inarch like the connnon V(diniteers, He was frequently to be seen on iot)t, marchin;^ with the cohniuis, in lK'iii|K'n sandals, Carlistcap, and a red woollen scarl", worn as a waist-band (joja). Twenty and thirty miles a day, under a burning sun, were nothing to him, and garlic and rancid oil seemed to have become his greatest luxuries. His natural serenity never abandoned him in the midst of all these fatigues and privations, excei)t, perhaps, when there was a day's rest, which he always intended to spend in the enjoyment of a sound sleep, which, however, was ell'ectually distiu'bed by the constant ringing of the church bells. His invariable remark, on being awakened on such occasions, was: "I wish people were not so con- foundedly religious in this country."

Sometimes we had also entertainments of a somewhat dilleivnt nature, as, for instance, a whohisale couimunion of the Carlist army at the Convent of Loyola. A visit to the Casa Solar, where the founder of the Jesuits was born, and to the si>lendid cathedral, which has been built on the spot, is by itself interesting. To see the old Manjuis Valdespinas rushing about the convent to

48 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

show every one the pLice where himself and a few other Carlist leaders were educated, the dormitory they slept in, the garden in which they took their recreation, and the room where they were punished by the holy brothers of the Order of Jesus, is very curious. But to witness battalion after battalion, headed by a numerous staff, kneeling down to partake of the Holy Sacrament, is quite a sight, to which the spectator's con- viction of the profound religious devotion with which every one of these men was animated, gave quite a touch of solemnity.

Now and then we had also festivities like those by which the arrival in camp of Don Juan, father of the Pretender, and of Don Alphonso and Dona Maria de las Nieves, was celebrated. The recep- tion of Don Carlos' father, who has the reputation of being an old liberal could not, of course, be compared for heartiness with the welcome given to the brother of the Pretender, and especially to his sister-in-la\v. And sure it is that Doila Maria, who has shared now for more than a year her husband's camp life in Catalonia, has fully earned the rather violent demonstrations of sympathy with which she was greeted on her arrival at Estella. How far her campaigning in the moun-

CAMPO DEL HONOR. 4^.)

tains of Ciitiiloiiia is lulviintiij^eous or (It'sirublf, is another quest ion. l>iit the fact thai tiie Trincess has shared all the luinlships of iier husbiiml. in winter as in summer, and that even in the most critieal moments she was always cheering and eneouraj^ing the Volunteers by a smile or a kiml word, was quite enough to render her the idol ol every Carlist, young or old, soldier or general. By her appearance alone she would produce a sensation in any large popular gathering. About twenty-one years of age, a fair little blonde with slightly ciu-Jed hair, dressed in a kind of hussar blue and black riding habit, trimmed with fur. and a gold tasselled white Carlist cap which she coquettishly wears on one side — she looked on her coal black charger quite like one of those little fancy amazons printed on sweatmeat-boxes. And the sight of a little picture of that sort riding out of its frame into real life is certainly one that would make any one stop 'to look at it. So it is not to be wondered at that, not only the Carlist Volunteers, but all the inhabitants of Estella and its neighbourhood, poured out en jnasse on the road to Abarzuza to meet the Princess and Prince, whose presence at the Koyalist head-tjuarters was for two or tlu'ee days the cjiuse of the wildest excitement. Masses, VOL. IL K

50 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

music, dancing, fireworks, did not cease until everybody was perfectly exhausted. Yet what seemed on all such occasions really quite surprising to any man with British notions of popular festivities, Avas the unnatural absence of policemen, drunken people, and fights. This peculiarity did not even escape the attention of the Times correspondent, who, describing similar rejoicings which took place on the occasion of the Carlist victory at Dicastillo, wrote on the 28th of August to his journal :—

" Our last day at Estella was a gala one for the inhabitants. Carlist bands played national tunes in the squares until a late hour, fireworks were let off in honour of the occasion, and every arailable spot was occupied by hundreds of men and women, slowly gyrating to Provincial au's, jotas, and other popular Basque dances. A very good-humoiu'ed crowd it was, too. Nowhere could I hear any sounds of discord, and, notwithstand- ing the unlimited supply of wine freely lavished by the good folks of Dicastillo on the soldiery, not a symptom of drunken- ness displayed itself."

Another kind of amusement at the Campo del Honor, consisted in the opening of the mails — not of ours, of course, for we had never any regular communication with the outer world, but of those of the Republicans. To capture these mails and forward them to the head-quarters was the duty of flying parties.

CAMPO DEL HOXOR. '>^

Somotiines two or three liirj^e trunks were seized on their Wiiy to Pamplona or Franco, and wliile the otlicial correspondence was •^t)ne throiij^h by some of the generals, private letters were distri- buted among the officers of the staff. The reading of the missives on a long tiresome march was quite a treat in its way; some of the letters being so comical as to raise roars of laughter as they passed from hand to hand through the whole of the staff. As a matter of course, the Carlists had frequently to read very unpleasant things that were said about themselves. Military com- munications forwarded by the (lovernnient of Madrid, for safety's sake, in ladies' handwriting and in fashionable little envelopes were also often discovered. Now and then an officer was called out and presented with an order for his arrest issued by the Ministry of War, wliich had been informed of his Carlist tendencies ; but as a matter of course the information had not reached the Minister until the officer had had time to leave his regiment and join the army of Don Carlos, when he could ]»ockrt the order as a jtleasant souvenir. Sometimes gentk-nu-n on the staff re- ceived in that way tradesmen's bills, which, having been sent for payment to their houses at Madritl. were thence forwarded to Bayonue and captured

E 2

52 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

on their way. The handing of such bills to their proper recipient was always a treat to the whole company, who were always intensely amused at the bewildered look with which the bill-running officers contemplated the trick which fate had played on them. More than once, I believe, the secrets of ladies, friends and relatives of one or other of the officers, were thus disclosed to the very persons from whom the ladies were probably most anxious to conceal them. Traces of such reading entertainments were always to be seen for several days on the road we passed, by the bits of torn papers scattered along the ground for two or three miles. Foreign letters were, how- ever, as far as I know, always forwarded to Bayonne, unless they looked particularly suspi- cious. Once, at all events, I remember, on my going for a couple of days to France, being handed a considerable number of them addressed chiefly to London, with a request to post them at St.- Jean-de-Luz. I fancy some of the recipients must have become quite wild on being asked to pay double postage from France for letters apparently prepaid in Spain, and probably bombarded the Postmaster-General with complaints of the shame- ful extortions to which they were subjected. Some of them, perhaps, niyy even have written

CAMPO DEL HONOR. 53

indignant protests to the 'D'lncs, iiistc:i<l of thank- ing both the Carlists and myself for having re- ceived their U'tters at all. I'.ut we forgive them their ingratitude with all the magnanimity of true Castilian cabal leros : '' C—oJo ! making all that noise about a sixpence."

But the greatest relief frou), and reward for, the fatigues and privations to whieh we were exposed was the grandeur and beauty of the scenery we were living amidst. The rugged landscapes, the wild charms of whieh vary every moment, are here the source of endless enjoyments. At noon, at night, at dawn, at sunset— at any minute of the day, every spot of this niagniEcent country has some new savage witchery to unveil. Take the wildest parts of the Tyrol, of the Black Forest, of the Scotch Highlands, and of Northern (Gletscherless) Switzerland, put them together, taking every drop of water out of the landscape, and you will have some faint idea of the scenery prevailing throughout the Vasco-Xavarre pro- vinces. Except during heavy storms, large ex- panses of water, like those of Switzerland and Scotland, considerably soften the harsh grandeur of mountain scenery. But in the Northern pr.)-

54 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

vinces of Spain water is nowhere to be seen, except when yon come across one of those rare streamlets, Avhich rush hurriedly away between the incoherent heaps of stones, as if afraid of being pursued as intruders. This absence of water makes the Vasco-Navarre scenery inde- scribably wild and severe-looking. The valley and lowland men feel themselves everywhere masters and landlords. The earth is their slave. But here everything is brutal and refractory as the wind that blows you down, as the rocky soil that will not yield to any amount of your efforts, and as the gigantic phantoms which seem to arise at every step before you. Hence the incomparably greater amount of superstitions and the incom- parably stronger faith in supernatural agencies in the Highlander than in the Lowlander. In these uninhabitable regions, everything seems to look as wild as on the first day of the Creation, and amidst the grandly rude solitude you realise, perhaps, for the first time in your life, how great is the delusion of men when they call themselves Masters of the World. When, on my first entering Navarre, I reached the top of one of these wild mountains, and wishing to say once more good- bye to France, turned myself towards that fair land, the civilized and carefully cultivated low country

CAMPO PEL HONOR. 00

was lyirii; spread out licneath with its towns, villiiL^es, lioKIs, meadows, and woods lookin;^ like those little bits of varie;.,'ated cloth pasted hy tailors on their pattern card. I understood then all the contempt with which the hoverin.i; ea,i,de looks down on the pitiful ants busily swarming in their nests below.

How often — finding myself early in the morning on the summit of one of these denuded heights, from which absolutely nothing was to be seen around, except an interminable ocean of clouds spreading itself at my feet— did I enjoy on a small scale the same glorious spectacle Noah must have contemplated from the window of his ark ! How often the mountain sylphs, playing tricks upon me, made me mistake trees for men, stones for sheep, horses for dogs, and men for black goats I Once, I am sorry to confess, I actually wished buenas tardes (good afternoon) to a representative of these bearded quadrupeds, who, having sheltered himself from the burning sun in the cavity of a rock, was peeping out from his cool retreat, and looked exactly like a wandering monk, or a hermit. How often, on reaching some large plateau scattered all over with big, loose stones, did I recollect the nursery stories of giants fighting their battles with these ponderous pro-

5Q SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

jectiles, which no one could ever afterwards remove from the battle-fields ! On the walls of the narrow gorges you see quite plainly the work of the axe with Avhich they opened a way for their infernal course. A hitter, piercing wind howls in these passes ever since they raised it in their furious career. There is not a wild flower to be seen, or a singing-bird to be heard anywhere in these regions.* They seem all to have been frightened away, and nothing but birds of prey, and now and then a few stunted, contorted trees have ventured to show themselves since the time when the Cyclopes concluded the gigantic masonry work of these mountains.

In the height of the Summer, the sun's rays fall all day long almost vertically, so that there is not a vestige of shadow to be seen. At mid- day, all the country seems perfectly blazing; your brains are stewed in your skull, and your blood is drying in your veins. You are no longer evaporating in perspiration, but reduced to the condition of an Egyptian mummy. What is called evening in the North, is almost as unknown here as in the East. Night overtakes you all at once, without the in-

* The absence of singing birds is quite stinking almost all throughout Spain.

CA>rro DEL HONOR. f)?

tervcniii^i^ coiijile of hours of (li.it twiliglit men si'iMii always so to dt-liLrlit in. Tliere is Kcarcely any interval here between the lila/.ing day and the pitch-black night. In tiie harvest season you frequently see the slopes of the hills and the valleys illuminated : work is going on under torchlight. 'J'lie heat of the day reiuh'rs field labour slow, and sometimes quite impracticable. Besides, the ajiprehension of a change in the weather, or a raid of the enemy — of a column of los Xe(j)'Os, los JAhendefi — compels the Navarre an<l Basque men to hurry with their harvest. In I'ommon with all Spaniards, they are considered by the world outside to be a wretched, lazy set of people. But if you go among them, you will see what eft'ort they make to recover from the brutal sway of desolation every available jiiece of soil. Patches of gold yellow, and strips of emerald green are sometimes to be traced to the very top of the grey, mournful rocks ; and as they can hardly make animals work on those often upright slopes, the whole labour is literally acc(uuplished by their own hands, and its returns, tied up in large sheets of coarse linen, are carried on the lieads of the men, their wives and children, some- times from heights of a thousand feet down into the vallev.

58 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

But, however attractive may be Spanish moun- tain scener}^ the civilised Northern man does not like Nature au naturel : he prefers it a larnaitre- cVhutel, and so he rather goes to mountains where, by the side of a wild landscape, a good cook can be found, with an amply-supplied pantry at his disposal. And, after all, he is not so very wrong in his predilections on this point, for I must confess that hunger and thirst have more than once poisoned the enjoyment which Vasco Navarre scenery would have otherwise given me. Over and over again did I catch myself in the act of unconsciously humming the refrain of Gil Bias' serenade :

" Sous le beau ciel de I'Espagne, Sans boire ni manger, Voyager. Tra 111 la la la la. N'avoir, helas, pour compagne Que la soif ou la faim, C'est malsain. Tra la la la la la."

And you must by no means think that humming, or even actual singing, under pressure of hunger or thirst, is unnatural. It stifles both. " Quien canta sus males espanta,^' singing frightens one's ills away, say Spaniards ; and, together with the

CAMPO DEL UOXOR. 5!*

ringing:: of littK' hells, iu-ts also as a powrrfiil |ireveiitive ai:;aiiist the apiiroach of thr dcvii. That is why you seldom meet a genuine Spaniard on the high road who is not singing, and whose nudes' bells are not ringing. And the more hungry they both are, the more loudly the man sings and the mule rings.

60

CHAPTER 11.

THE HEVEN YEARS WAR.

rj"^HE now almost forgotten Seven Years' War J. has been so frequently mentioned in these pages, and newspapers had within the last twelve months so often alluded to it, that it may, perhaps, be considered not out of place to give here a short resume of the past Carlist struggle. It will enable the reader better to grasp the pre- sent one.

Ferdinand VII. died on the 29th of September, 1833, after having abrogated the Salic law of suc- cession, in accordance with which, he not having male descendants, the throne was to pass to his brother, the Infante Don Carlos. As this altera- tion in the law of the Kingdom had been before the country for a couple of years past, and as

THE SEVEN' YEARS' WAR. 61

Don Carlos liad, at the outset, (K'c-larc(l tliat he ^voul(J not give up his ri^rhts, he was jurcfd, be- fore even Ferdinand died, to leave Spain and take refuge in Portugal, where a sinnlar alVair was going on between the Pretender, Pom Miguel, and the Infant C^)ueen, I>nnna Maria II. Upon the strength of the (Jnadrni)le Allianee, coneluded between England, Franee, Portugal, and the new Madrid Government, as soon as Christina acquired power in her ca])aeity of Regent. l>on Carlos began to be rather sharply jnirsued bv bnth Portuguese and Christina's trooj)S under Kodil, and after having passed through all sorts of tribulations, and having lost everything that he jiossesscd, even to the linen of his wife and ehildren, he had ti» fly to England. It was (juite in aceordance with the views of the English (iovernnient to help Don Carlos in his escape, lor what the Quadruple Alliance chiefly aimed at, was that the Peninsula should get rid of both Dom Miguel and Don Carlos. Consequently as soon as the latter expressed his desire to go, Admiral Parker, and Mr. (Irant. Secretary to the English Legation at Portugal, readily arranged everything for the safe escape of the Pretender. The English shij), ' Donegal,' Captain F;insl:awe, took the whole of the Pretender's familv on loard

62 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

at Aldea Gallega, on the 1st of June, 1834, and sailed for Portsmouth.

On reaching the English shore, Don Carlos was met by some local authorities, and by Mr. Back- house, Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, who handed him a letter from Lord Palmerston, in which it was stated that any- thing the Under-Secretary should propose, might be considered as emanating from him, Lord Palmerston himself. The proposal made was a thoroughly British one : Don Carlos should give up his claims to the crown, take a round sum in cash, and a handsome life pension from the Spanish Government, guaranteed by England. Don Carlos had always refused proposals of this nature and could certainly not accept it now when risings in his favour had already broken out all over the North of Spain. Zumalacarregui, having taken the command of the forces, was making rapid pro- gress with the organisation of the Carlist army which proved afterwards capable of resisting the united forces of all the allies, and to carry on a desperate war for more than seven years.

On the 22nd of June the family of Don Carlos reached London, and took apparently permanent quarters at Gloucester Lodge, the former resi-

THE SEVEN YEARb' WAK. G3

deuce of Mr. Caiiiiiii^. A niinour was soon juir- j)Osely spread that Don ( !:irli)s was daiigorously ill, and no one was allowed to sue hiui. ^J'liis was, however, but a uianceuvre to enable hiui more easily to leave England, to enter Spain, and to |iiit liiniselt'at the head ol" his tro()i)s. M. Xavier Auguet de St. Sylvaiu (Baron de los Vales) was the only gentleman attending him during this adventurous journey. They provided them- selves with passj)orts in the name of Alphonse Saez and Thomas Saiibot, merchants from Trinidad, and, as in the case of the more recent flight of Serrano, the Prince's moustache was shaved, bis hair was dyed, and be started from a friend's bouse in Wei beck Street to Brighton, I)ieppe, Paris, Bordeaux, and Bayonne, bis wife and family remaining in England. Dona Maria Francisca never saw her husband again, as she soon died at Alverstock, near Portsmouth, while Don Carlos reached Elizondo on the 8tb of July, 1834, not to leave Spain again before the close of the war in Decend»er, lH'MK

In going over these old stories, one is puzzled at the sameness of the manner in which the whole of the Carlist business is carrieil on. Some one is invariably escaping to England, there obtaining

64 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

means to carry on tlie enterprise, and returning to Spain again; there is always an English party that objects to and interferes with the movement, and another that supports it. Even the roads by which communications are kept up are the same: it is always by Bordeaux, Ba- yonne, Doncharinea, Urdax, and Elizondo. The very fields upon which the battles are fought are exactly the same, as are also frequently the posi- tions occupied by the troops of the two con- tending parties.

Before leaving Portugal, Don Carlos wrote to Zumalacarregui that he would be with him on the 9th of June, and so he was. Fully ten months had thus passed between the first out- break of Carlism and the arrival of the Pretender on Spanish territory. The Legitimist move- ments which took place in Madrid itself and in the province of Castile immediately after the death of Ferdinand were soon subdued, the Volunteers having been disarmed and partly shot, partly deported. It was only in Biscaya, Alava, and Navarre, that the Carlists proved capable of making a stand. The ftither of the Marquis "Valdespinas, whom we have often mentioned, and Brigadiers Zavala and Uranga were at the

THE SKVF.N years" WAR. G.5

head of tln^ inovcinoiit in llie two forim r jiro- viuces, while General Santos-Lad roii took com- mand of the first bands that began to form tln-m- selves in Navarre. On the 11th of October, l^'.V/), not fully a fortnight after the death of Ferdi- nand, and when Santos-Ladmn had but eight hundred badly armed volunteers under his com- mand, he was attacked near Estella by lirigadier Lorenzo, was defeated, captured, carried to Pam- plona, and shot in the ravine of the citadel of that town. That was the signal for a war to the death all tliroiigh the North of Spain. ^lajor Ittu'ralde took the temporary command of the bands until Colonel Erase, who was to succeed Santos-Ladron, had returned from France, where he had to ily from the pm'.suits of the Christinos. But Iturralde, for some reason or other, did not suit the Navarrese volunteers, and Colonel Don Tomas Zumalacarregui soon becauM; the man towards whom the Carlists turned their eyes. He had been with Eraso a colonul in th(; regular army ; both enjoyed the reputation of being excellent otficers ; and both were i)laced on the retired list during the last year of Ferdinand's reign on account of their Carlist proclivities. Zumalacarregui had also the advantage of VOL. u. F

6Q SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

being a man de nosotros (of ourselves) to the Volunteers, having- been born in the village of Ormaistegui in the Gnipuzcoa, in 1788. An officer of comniancling appearance and one who knew both how to speak to the Volunteers, and to inspire them with the belief that he could do something, he soon was acclaimed as commander- in-chief, notwithstanding the protestation of Iturralde, who in a few months of his leadership displeased almost everybody, and had not fought a single fight.

Scarcely had Zumalacarregui taken his command, when Eraso succeeded in escaping from France and reached the Carlist camps ; but seeing the new chief already at work, and knowing his abilities, he at once agreed to accept a post under him^ and the two men went on to labour together at the organisation of their army. Their first en- gagement with Brigadier Lorenzo took place in the last days of December, 1833, and was a failure, as were also several more of the subsequent fights. But Zumalacarregui did not despair. In fact, he seems to have rather liked to be partially beaten, for little defeats trained his troops into more thorough guerillas, and, on the other hand, rendered the enemy care- less and conceited, and thus assured the subse-

THE SEVEN YEARS' WMl. 07

quent successes of the Ciirlists. Ileliad on liaiitl an excellent raw li^htinj; material in the si-nii-savage huls of the Northern ]>rovinces, while retin-il soldiers of 1812 and 1S28 fi^ave him an oppor- tunity of forming excellent cadres. What he wanted was arms, and these he could get almost exclusively from the enemy. Consequently he couceivccl the ])lan of allowing himself to he beaten by large forces, provided at the same time some partida volante (Hying party) of his was likely to capture somewhere in the rear of the victorious enemy a transport of guns or annnuni- tion. These partidas volantes wliirh have since been so useful to the Carlists, the raids of which had spread such terror all over Spain and became the source of all the " dreadful Carlist stories '' told abroad, were Zumalaearregui's invention. lie found ready material for them in the pro- vincial aduaneros and contrabiuidhtas* each of

* Here b anotlier rather curious peculiarity to be noticed as cliaraeteristic of the Vasco-NavaiTc provinces. Eacli of these pro- vinces has, in accordance with iXiefueros, its own independent system of custom-house duties. Navarre wine, for instance, is not allowed to pass free into Guipuzcoa or Alava. Tobacco or e/V/a/-- ritoa manufactured at Vitoria have to pay heavy duties before they reach Pamplona, and so on. Consequently, besides the foreign custom-houses on the frontiers of ispaiu, there are pro- vincial ones all along the borders of every province. The

F 2

68 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

whom knew every ambush throughout the country, and who, not being able to carry on their avocation in the provinces where war was going on, will- ingly joined his ranks; while every child and every woman was a natural spy supplying Zuma- lacarregui with the necessary Information. In this wise, while he exposed himself with two or three battalions to an apparently certain defeat, and while the Christines generals sent to Madrid despatch after despatch announcing the complete route of the Carlists, a couple of Zumalacarregui's partidas volantes attacked somewhere in a narrow gorge a small detachment or captured a military train, and supplied him with means for arming fresh troops. By the Spring of the following year he had thus formed quite a little army, and one which

former are in charge of tlie caralineros, the latter of the aduaneros, the distinction being here about the same as that between officers of the douane and those of the octroi in France. But as all custom-houses produce smugglers, the pro- vincial custom-house gave birth to provincial smugglers, inde- pendent of smugglers in foreign wars. In time of peace the aduaneros and the contrahandistas are sworn enemies, carrying sometimes furious war upon each other ; but as soon as a Carhst rising breaks out, and they have to give up their re- spective businesses, they immediately fraternize, enter the same bands and turn into the most desperate sort of guerillas that can be met with.

TIIE SEVEN tears' WAR. 69

was all the iiioro vjiluablo as it not only luol experience of fire, but experience of defeat. It is said that the two battalions of guides lie had formed were practically renewed every four months, all the ollicers and men being usually killed within that period. And these battalions, with their black flags, each with a death's head on it, and their merciless custom of never either making prisoners or surrendering themselves to the enemy, soon obtained them such a reputation that often columns four or times their strength took to flight at the mere news of their ap- proach.

While thus engaged in the work of preliminary organisation, Zumalacarregui managed to obtain twice some little success over the enemy, and to capture the foundry at Orbaiceta, which supi»licd him with a considerable quantity of ammunition, and the village of Zubiri, where he made fifty horsemen prisoners, the majority * of whom he incorporated with his force and shot the rest, at the same time appropriating their horses of which he was just then greatly in want His troops not exceeding at the outset one thousand five hundred men were now nearly doubled, and he was able to begin some more important operations, not abandouing, however,

70 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

his practice of tiring his enemy by long marches and petty skirmishes, of cutting off his provisions, and attacking his rear and flanks when he least expected it. General Valdez, who was then Commander-in-Chief of the Christinos, having been chiefly engaged in pursuing the Carlist bands of Biscaya and Alava, then more numerous than those of Navarre, did not take much notice of Zumalacarregui ; but the Madrid Government soon perceived that the new Carlist chief in Navarre was more dangerous than all the others put together, and consequently, accusing Valdez for his inactivity, dismissed him, and ap- pointed in his place the famous Quesada with some very stringent orders for the extermination of the rebels. The new Commander-in-Chief, by no means a man to whom there was any necessity of repeating twice an order of that sort, inaugurated his campaign in the Vasco- Navarre provinces by a series of most abomin- able massacres, mercilessly putting to death all whom he suspected of Carlist sympathies. Zumala- carregui, on learning that, sent him several mes- sages to say that he would be compelled to deal with the Christinos in the same manner, and from that time the practice of wholesale shooting of prisoners became the general rule in both camps.

THE SEVEN 'iT.ARS' WAR. 71

nnriiii,^ the Sprini; of ls;M, Ziiinal;icrirro;i;ni, while still ^^oiii<; on with the arniaineiit of his forces, was ahle to fi.i^ht several hat ties with Qiicsada ; once, at all events, inflicting npon him a serious defeat, capturing his aid-de-camp, O'Donnell (Count of La Bisbal), and shooting him with the rest of tlie prisoners.* Towards June, however, when the war in I^)rtugal was brought to a close, and Rodll's corps became thus disengaged, the Government of Christina ordered it to march at once against the Carlists, and Zumalacarregui had thus one more army to struggle against. But he had then already fifteen thousand men under arms, and besides that, the arrival of Don Carlos provoked such an enthusiasm throughout the North of Spain that Zimialacarregui had much more means given him for carrying on the contest. The presence of Don Carlos gave also another advantage to the

• Tlioro were not less than five O'Donnells in the field at tlmt time. Tliej were all of Irish origin, and near relations. Two were serving on Christina's side, and three on the Carlist side. All of them, with the exeoption of Leopoldo, subsequent Iv Dulio of Tetuan, were eillior killed in or shot after battle. Even the surviving member of that warlike family, the well- known ifinistor of Isabella, was sliort of one leg, lost at the battle of Argnijas.

72 SPATN AND THE SPANIARDS.

skilful guerilla chief. The Pretender became an excellent dodge for dividing the forces of the enemy and deceiving the generals of Christina. It be- came now the tactics of Zumalacarregui to send Don Carlos with the main bod}^ of the troops in a certain direction, and when the Christinos had rushed after him, to attack them in the rear or flank with a less numerous, but more select force. The terror he thus spread among the Christinos seems to have gone beyond any human control. So important indeed became now the losses of the Christinos, and so great was the number of generals and superior officers — among them several grandees of Spain — killed on the battle-field, or captured and shot, that the Madrid Government was quite alarmed and sent out the famous Mina to replace Rodil in the command of the army. But things did not improve much on that account. One day Vitoria having been left badly protected, Zumalacarregui took advantage of this, attacked, almost under the walls of the town, a column of Brigadier O'Doyle; two thousand five hun- dred men were slaughtered on that occasion, all the cannons and colours falling into the hands of the Carlists. O'Doyle himself, with the whole of his staff", including a younger

THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR. 73

brother of liis, were captured and executed on tlio spot. TIic two brothers O'Doylc stood einbraciug each other when the balls struck tliem.

In this way Zunialacarregui defeated one by one the columns of Amor, Osma, Cordova, Espartero, Iriarte, Quintana, and Jauregui. The cruelty of this warfare by the beginning of 1835 reached its climax, Mina getting more and more enraged through the successes which the skilful Carlist chieftain obtained over him, notwithstanding all the sui)eriority of numbers and the more com- plete armaments of Christina's army. Mina had so completely lost heart that, instead of continuing war against the Carlist volunteers, he simply carried on raids on the country, burning whole villages, and massacring and torturing every man he suspected of being in any way favourable to the Carlists. The, (Jovennnent of ^ladritl, seeing that things did not improve, recalled Mina, and appointed once more (leneral Valdi'Z.

It was about this time (Spring, 183.')), that Lord Mliot came over to Spain to try, if it was possible, to put a stop to the cruelties perpetrated by Spaniards on both sides, which provoked a deep feeling of horror throughout Europe. After

74 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

a good deal of negotiation, Lord Eliot succeeded in making both Valdez and Zumalacarregui sign, in April, 1835, a convention by which a periodical exchange of prisoners was agreed upon, religious respect promised to the sick and wounded, and a declaration made by both parties, who were now recognised as belligerents, that no man should be executed for his opinions without being first tried. But for the intervention of foreign troops, which followed almost immediately the conclusion of this convention, the efforts of Lord Eliot would probably have had most beneficial results ; but as soon as the Carlists learned that English, French, and Portuguese troops were to be brought against them, Don Carlos issued his Durango decree, by which he declared that the convention referring only to Spaniards, no foreigners cap- tured with arms should be considered as coming within its scope. The good work of Lord Eliot was thus practically annihilated, for, besides shooting foreigners, the Carlists refused to extend the convention to newly-invaded provinces, and even in the North itself frequently disregarded it under the pretence that the English and the Christinos were the first to violate good faith by concluding their alliance.

THE SEVEN YEAHS WAR. i ■)

Whilo the foreign legions were thus luivaiicing towiinls SjKvnisli territory, and before they reiiehetl it, Zuiniihicarregui managed to defeat Vaklez at Las Amezcoas, his suhordinatos, lirigadiers Erase and Elio, beating at the same time Espartero and Onia. These new faihn-es of Christina's troops compelled Valdez to concentrate his forces by withdrawing the garrisons of the small fortiBed places establisheil all over the northern provinces. Z<nnalacarregui was thus left almost perfect master of the country, and was enabled to open operations against the large towns. His plan was to capture Vitoria and to pass the Ebro ; but in a war council held uinlcr Don ('arlos it was decided that, for the sake of getting some money which was sadly wanted, Bilbao should be first taken. The siege was accordingly commenced, and a ball hitting Zumalacarregui in the knee, jtut an end to his famous career. He died at Cegama from the effect of this wound on the 24th of June, 1835.

After the death of Zumalacarregui Charles V. appointed to the command of his army Don

76 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

Vicente Gonzalez Moreno.* This appointment did not suit the Navarra and Basque Volunteers as Moreno was a stranger to them. But he had

* During and after the Seven Years' War, a considerable number of books and pamphlets had been written on the struggle, which occupied then the attention of the whole of Europe. But almost all of them, — with, perhaps, the only ex- ception of Mr. W. BoUaert's bulky, but not very complete ■work, published in 1870, — are so partial in favour of the one or the other side, and so contradicting each other as to baffle all attempts to get at the truth, even with reference to such plain things as dates, places and names. I was about to abandon the idea of giving here a resume of this protracted and san- guinary contest, so laborious and unthankful seemed the task. But I made at Bayonne the acquaintance of a gentleman who is now sufficiently old to be impartial, and ■who, at the same time, was owe of the actors of the drama. Vicomte de Barres, a French nobleman by bu-th, a pupil of the military schools of La Fleche and St. Cyr, was in 1829 sub- lieutenant in the 67th Foot, -which was garrisoned at Cherbourg when the July Revolution broke out, and Charles X. had to fly. The young ofllcer rendered the last honors to the king on his embarkation for England, and being a Royalist, resigned the very same day. He went to Spain and entered the service of Ferdinand VII. ; when that king died he sided with Don Carlos, became aid-de-camp of Zumalacarregm, and was by the side of that famous leader throughout the whole of his cam- paign. Subsequently, V^icomtede Barres was staff officer of the Carhst army, and finally head of the staff of Maroto. When the massacre of the generals took place at Estella, and it be- came evident that Maroto was going to betray the Carlist cause,

TllK SKVKN YEARS WAR, 77

obtained in Siuxin a certain celeltrity for having, under tlic reign of Ferdinand VII., captured the lilicral (Jciicnil Torrijos, wlioni lie shot at Mahigawith tlie majority of his partisans. In this way lie might have become popuhir by-and-by with the Carlist troops, if he had not surrounded him- self with a hirge staff of Castilian oflicers, a circum- stance which, in consequence of tlie jealousy existing between the provinces, led to a series of defeats of the Carlists. After having recovered from them, Moreno sent an expedition into Northern Aragon, under the order of Gner- gue, and with a view to divide the forces of the enemy, started himself with a strong de- tachment into Castile. The appearance of Car- lists in that province spread a general terror, and the troops were about penetrating into Burgos, when ]\Ioreno fell from his horse, and being severely hurt, thought that a sufficient

Vicomto de Barr^a retired to France, tind on tlic conclusion of tlio war went out to the Trinidad, where he spent more than a quarter of a century, and returned a coujjIo of years since to settle with his family at llayonnc, wlience ho is now watcliing the new struggle going on upon the fields he knows so well. It is to some notes he kindly favoured nie with, that I am indebted for the information contained in this portion of the chapter.

78 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

rfiason for withdrawing his troops back into Navarre.

It was about this time that the English Legion under General De Lacy Evans reached Spain. On the 22nd of August, 1835, the English general disembarked at San Sebastian, and took the general command of the so-called auxiliary forces, wdiich consisted of twelve battalions estimated at ten thousand men. On the 19th of the same mouth the foreign legion formed in France, and and consisting of four thousand men under the orders of Colonel Bernelle, landed at Tarra- gona ; and Portugal sent out a division under the command of Baron Das Antas.

The position of the Carlists became, conse- quent on this reinforcement of the Madrid troops, most difficult. Moreno was then on the Arga, watching Cordova's movement. Sagastibelza, commander of the Guipuzcoa Volunteers, was left to oppose the forces of General De Lacy Evans, while Maroto was blockading Bilbao. Relying upon the aid of the English, Cordova sent General Espartero to the rescue of the blockaded town, and Maroto had to give up the blockade. As soon as Moreno learned this, he marched into Biscay, and meeting Espartero on his way to Vitoria, attacked him near Arrigoriaga, de-

TIIE SEVEN YEARS WAU. < 'J

leatrtl liiin, aiiil coinpcllcd liiin to r<.'luni \o the cui)ital dl' IJisray. 'I'liat was nearly the only real success of Moreno, luit it hail the (Jisadviin- tage of raising u quarrel between him and Maroto, a quarrel in which Charles V. sided wiih Moreno, and provoked in Maroto tliose feelings of anger which culiiiinaied in his subsequent treason.

Moreno retained his command till the 22nd of October, 1835, when he was replaced by Count De Casa P^quia. When the Count was, under Ferdinand VII.. Captain-General of Galicia, ho received a desjiatch containing some infernal substance, which exploded when he opened it, blowing off his right arm and several fingers of his left hand, an accident which compelled him to have resort to an iron hand, with which he most successfully signed his orders of the day. Not- withstanding this infirmity, he remained a man of great courage and persistency, and, being a native of the Biscaya, was generally popular among the Vasco-Navarre troops. He had beaten Cordova several times in the so-called lines of Arlaban and at Estella, and took several fortified j)laces, all of which siipplied the Carlists with a number of cannon, and a considerable quantity of arms and ammunition.

80 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

In April 1836 the young Brigadier Don Joaquin Elio, who had already distinguished himself under Zumalacarregui, was appointed head of the staff of the Carlist army. During the next month, an important engagement took place near San Sebas- tian, where the troops under General De Lacy Evans attacked the Guipuzcoa Volunteers under Sagastibelza. The Carlists, having only nine companies to oppose to the united Anglo-Spanish forces, were defeated after a very sanguinary fight, in which they lost their chief. In the same month, Cordova, trying to get from Vitoria to San Sebastian, was three times defeated by Eguia, and in one of these fights, General Leo- poldo O'Donnell was severely wounded. Pre- sently, however, the want of provisions began to be felt in the exhausted provinces, and, as a remedy for this, it was suggested that Charles V. should undertake an expedition into the interior of Spain. Count Eguia strongly opposed that plan, and seeing that his king and master was in favour of it, he gave in his resignation (June, 1836), General Don Bruno Villareal being ap- pointed as his successor.

Villareal was a courageous man and a good general of division, but incapable of assuming the responsibility of a commander-in-chief. As

TIFF, SEVKX YEAUS' WAR. 81

soon as he eiit-jivd ollice, tlie court 'mts siir- roumliii!; Charles V. hocaine actual niaiia^rirs of the military (tperations, as Villareal. haviiij^ sel(li)iii any oj)iniun of his own, siibujitted in everything to the orders of Don Carlos and his camarilla. The ex])editions into Astin-ia and Cialieia having been deeidi-tl upon, he at once proceeded to form the Hying corps, which was placed under the order of General Don ^lignel (Jonii/. and started on the 25th of June. 1830.

As soon as Espartero, who was left by Coi- dova at Vitoria, learned of the departure of Gomez, he set out to pursue him. Villarcal had thus a portion of the enen)y taken off his hamls, and, encouraged liy the successes of Gomez, launched. aln)ut a month later, another expedition into Castile, under the orders of General Don Rasilio Garcia. The Government of Queen Christina had, at that time (August. 1880), the greatest difficulty to contend with. The troops showed everywhere great insubordi- nation ; the well-known revolt of La Granja broke out; the constitution of 1812 was proclaimed, and Cordova, not wishing to recognize it, retired from the command and took refuge in France,

VOL. II. 0

82 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

Espai'tero being appointed to the command- in-chief of the Northern ami}-. Taking advan- tage of these circumstances, the Carlists launched a third expedition into the Asturias, under the orders of Don Pablo Sanz, and about the same time began, once more, the siege of Bilbao, which, after the Carlists first siege had been given up, had ample time to fortify itself. Villareal having conducted an attack upon the town for about ten days without any apparent chance of success, Charles V. called back Count de Casa Eguia, and entrusted him with the general command of the operations on Bilbao, while Villareal was sent to watch the movements of Espartero. Eguia in- fused great activity into the siege operations, and for more than a month continual fighting was going on around the town, the Carlists being throughout so successful that its capture seemed to be imminent, when Espartero, who had by that time arrived to the rescue of the besieged, attacked (with the aid of the P]nglish legion, and of their landing boats launched on the river) the Carlists during the night, and routed them, taking the whole of their siege artillery and a consider- able number of prisoners. It is from the spot where the chief massacre of the Carlists took

THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR. 83

phire lliat Kspartero derives his title of Cutint of Lucliaiia.

'J'lie blow iiillieted upon U(jn Carlos was a severe one. lie witluln-w (he command fVinii tlie hands of Villareal, and f;ave it to his nephew, the Inlante Don Sebastian, who had then just de- serted the ranks of Isabella and join(;d the Carl- ists.* Meanwhile (December, ]H:M\), General (xoniez returned to Navarre, after having tra- versed, with his flying colinnn, nearly the whole of Spain, and having knocked at the very doors of Madrid. Defeated in some places, victorious in others, he spread terror everywhere ; but the expedition luul no other result for the Carlists than to reduce the number of their forces operating in the North, and to raise a strong animosity against them throughout the central ])roviuces of Spain, which had to endure the raids of (iomez.f

• In 1858 tlie same Infante re-deserted the Carlist party, and rejoined the ranks of Isabella, at wliose court he filled subse- quently a high position.

t The way in which Gomez treated those who opposed him, i* nicely illustrated by the story of his having once ordered a C'aslilian cure, who professed liberal opinions, to bo shod on hands and feet with donkey shoes, and to be harnessed as a baggage animal. And when the cure proved incapable of per- forming such duties for any length of tiiue, ho had him shot.

u 2

84 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS

Don Sebastian took the command on the 30th of December, and remained during the first two months of 1837 on the defensive, reorganizing the force which had so severely siiifered under the walls of Bilbao. All that time the enemy did not make any attack, suffering as he was from want of provisions and from the discord which arose between Espartero and General De Lacy Evans. On the 10th of March, however, an attack was made on Hernani, but was repulsed. At the same time Saarsfield, who made a sortie Avith a strong force from Pamplona, was stopped on his way and compelled to retreat. Don Sebastian thus occupied a position between Saarsfield's and Evans's forces, preventing their junction. On the 15th General Evans made another attack on Oriamendi, took it out of the hands of the Guipuzcoa men, and marched the next day on Hernani, when Don Sebastian came to the rescue of the Guipuzcoanos, compelled him to abandon Oriamendi, and to seek refuge in San Sebastian. The battle of Oriamendi is considered by the Carlists as one of the most brilliant, and all who took part in it were decorated by Charles V,*

* To quote an Engli&h authority concerning this affaii', here is -wliiit Colonel Ili^mfrcj- -wrote : '■ It Tvas a day which a tliou-

TOE SEVEX years' WAIi. 85

Espartoro was then at Dnraiii;^ awaiting; the result of the conllict, and when ho heard that General Kvans was repulsed, he sotight refuge in Bilbao, whence pressed by the English coni- niander to send reinforcements, he started with the whole of his troops in the hcginning of ^hiy by sea to San Sebastian, and brought thus the army concentrated in that town to thirty thousand men. The Iiifaiitu Don Sebastian, having only a few battalions to oppose to these considerable forces, withdrew from the nciglibourhood of San Sebastian and marched upon Estella, where Don Carlos was with a considerable number of troops. A war-council was licM thi-i'e, an<l it was resolved that Charles V., at the head of sixteen battalions and twelve hundred horsemen, should proceed into the interior of the kingdom, the object of the expedition being Madrid. On the 17th of ^lay the forces of Don Carlos crosseil the Arga near Vidau- reta. The Basque provinces were left under the conmiand of General Uranga, (Jencral Moreno

sand years wouUl not efface from our recollection. Sfortifica- tion, rage, vexation — bitter, bitter, bitter annihiliition to all our

hopes, in the moment of fuHihuent ! Yet, though wo

liad been annihilated by him (tlio Infante's adviser, General Moreno) , lie had done it in such a masterly stylo that wo could have kissed the hand that chastised us."

86 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

being now the chief of the staff of Don Carlos's army.

The direction which Charles V.'s expedition took towards Upper Aragon astonished every- body, as it was then very easy to cross the Ebro, and to march straight upon the capital, Espar- tero and the whole of his troops being at San Sebastian, and consequently at a distance of several days' march. The Guipuzcoa men were, of course, unable to defend themselves from the strong force concentrated under the Count of Luchana and General Evans, who soon took possession of Hernani, Irun, and Fuentarabia. Espartero was also soon enabled to march unopposed to Pamplona, and thence across the Ebro, with a view to watch the movements of Charles V. and to protect Madrid. The only success Uranga (the general left in command of the Northern provinces) was able to obtain during this time was his capture of a fortified place called Lerin, where he took about a thou- sand prisoners and ten cannon.

Charles V., in the meantime, fought a battle with G(!neral Irribaren at Huesca (Upper Ara- gon), defeated the enemy, Irribaren himself and General Don Diego Leon, commanding his cavalry, remaining dead on the field; but the column of Don

THF, SEVEN YEARS WAR. 87

Carlos still did not cross the Khro, and continued its niarcli towards Catalonia. On the 27th May, he cntercil Uarliastro, where, after a lew ilays* stay he was attacked by a strong:; force under General Onia, and a ii,;,dit, which lasted about eight hours, terminated once more in the coni]>lete rout of the troops of Christina, including the French foreign legion, the commanding officer of wliich. Colonel Conrad, was killeil, and the men completely dispersed.

On the Gth of June, Ciiarles V. penetrated into Catalonia, where the organization of the Carlist forces was then very impt-rfect, and where he ex])erienced some reverses, but managed to or- ganize a local corps under the orders of Urbis- toiido, and marched them across the Ebro to effect a junction with Cabrera. The river was crossed near Flix and ^lora on the 28th and 2'.Uh of June, the passage of the troops being protected by the forces of Cabrera.

Charles V. remained then for a consitlerable time in the Lower Aragon and the province of Valencia, being short of ammuiiition. awaiting a sujjjily of it from Cantavieja. In the meantime. General Uranga, who was left in the liasijue |)ro- vinces, prepared another expedition into ('astile

88 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

consisting of ten battalions of infantry and three squadrons of cavaby, under the orders of Zaria- tiegui and Elio. Close to the banks of the Ebro that column was attacked by the Portuguese auxiliary forces, but defeated them and crossed the river near Hircio on the 21st of July. Uranga, at the same time, with a view^ to divert the enemy, began the siege of Penacerrada. Zariatiegui and Elio were thus left at full liberty to march upon Segovia, which they entered, capturing in that ancient city a great booty in money, arms, ammunition, and what not. Then, after having repulsed General Mendez Vigo, who attempted to come to the rescue of Segovia, they marched straight to the royal residence of La Granja (San Ildefonso), the garrison of which incorporated itself with the Carlist division.

The approach of the Carlists to the capital plunged it into perfect consternation ; every one was crying out for Espartero, and the 12th of August, the commander-in-chief of the Christinos, leaving Charles V. to himself, entered Madrid at the head of 13,000 men. But he merely passed through the capital on his way north-east to meet Zariatiegui and Elio. Meanwhile, Charles V.'s forces, united to those of Cabrera, being now left almost unopposed, began to move on again, and

TIIK SF.Vr.N YKAKS' WAK. -^^O

on the ".Uli of Sc'iiteiultLT, Don Gulns iii(;uii|h.h1 in sight t)f Miuhitl. Why hu did not enter the city, ^^•hy he did not take iidvanta-e of the ab- sence ot" Kspartero and his troops, why lie h»st several days in perfect inactivity, no one could ever projterly explain ; all that is known is that the capital was j^-rfectly panic-stricken, and the Qneen's househohl had all the liigj^agc packed ready for lli-ht. The time thus lost by the Carl- ists enabled Ksjtartent to return to the defence of Madrid, and, though his army began to be per- fectly disorganised, it presented still a sutliciently strong force to prevent the Carlists from attacking the city now. ()n the lath of September they began to retreat. A few days later, Cabrera was dispatched with his division back to Aragon, while Charles V. marched towards Valladolid, the head-quarters of Zariatiegui and Klio. The Junc- tion with thest' generals was ellVcted at Aranda d(! Duero.

While this fruitless and blundering cxiieditioQ was going on in the central ]»rovinees of Spain, some important events took placi- in the north. The troops of the (iovcrnment of .Madrid revolted at Miranda, Vitoria, and Pamplona, murdered their (Jenerals, (Jel»allos-Kscalera, Saarslicld, and ^leiidivil. under the jtretenei' of tluir briuLr traitors.

90 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

while the English legion, exhausted, unpaid, and unfed, seeing the turn matters were generally beginning to take, embarked for England again, Don" Leopoldo O'Donnell taking General Evans's place as commander-in-chief at San Sebastian. General Guergue, head of Uranga's staff, taking advantage of this confusion, captured, one after another, several forts in Navarre, and rendered himself master of the whole so-called Zubiri line leading from Pamplona to the French frontier.

Though withdrawing from Madrid, Charles V. did not, however, seem to abandon the project ot resuming his operations against the capital. He pleaded only the necessity of concentrating the war in old Castile until that province was more completely mastered, and with this view he formed two corps, the one consisting exclusively of Castilians, of which he took the command himself, and the other of Navarre and Basque men, which was entrusted to the Infante Don Sebastian. On the 5th of October, these two corps were repulsed in an attack which they made on Espartero, and a few days later they expe- rienced another defeat near Huerta del Rey, Don Carlos himself having narrowly escaped being made prisoner. These defeats must be, to a great

THE SEVEN years' WAR. 01

extent, attributed to the unwillingness of the l?as(iue ani.1 Navarre men to light anywhere ex- cept at home. After a few months of tlnir en- campment in Castile, tluy began to ilesert the ranks, under the pretence that they were volmi- teers enlisted for the purpose of fighting in their own province, not ahroatl ; they would resume arms, they said, as soon as war was brought again to their own j)rovinces. but declined to carry it south of the Ebro. Consequent on that, the Infante Don Sebastian, had very soon to re-cross the river from fear of losing the whole of his forces, and Don Carlos, being left to himself, and with considerable forces employed against him, was once more in the most imminent danger of being captured, and owed his escape solely to the zeal and presence of mind of an old cure of the name of Merino, who managed to disentangle the King and his army out of the trap into wliich they had fallen, and to enable them to reach Arciniega in safety on the 21st of October.

Soon after his reaching the l^ascpie territory, Charles v., anxious to lay the blame of his failure on some one, but not daring to accuse the desert- ing volunteers, and not wishing to avow his own incayKicity, piddished a manifesto, in which lie declared that the failures and misfortunes of the

92 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

campaign were to be accounted for b}" the insub- ordination and treason of some of the generals of his army, against whom proceedings would be taken. This manifesto was the beginning of dis- sensions among the Carlist leaders, and led to the arrest, and trial of a considerable number of them. At the same time, a faction had formed itself in the northern part of Navarre, under the leader- ship of a notar}^ of the name of Muuagorri, who hoisted the banner of " Paz y Fueros " (peace and provincial charters). Under these complicated cir- cumstances, Charles V. appointed General Guergue to the command in chief, as the onl}' general who had lately obtained success, and become sufficiently popular to inspire the troops with confidence.

One of the first acts of Guergue was to resume expeditions into the interior of the country (Sep- tember, 1837), and three columns were formed, with a view to proceed to La Mancha, Castile, and Galicia respectively. Guergue himself ob- tained, during the first months of 1838, some considerable successes in Biscaya, but the decom- position of Carlism had already made too great pro- gress to be stopped. New dissensions and symp- toms of insubordination showed themselves more and more frequently, and a strong party began to

TIIE SEVEN years' WAR. 'X\

give (.•X|iix's.si()ii to (lie iili.';i of ;i 1r;uis;ictioii with the Government of Madrid. Abroad, tliat jiarty was so active, and its inliiicncc so great, that it ]ii-()\c(l strong enongli to induce the Nortliern sovereigns from whom Charles V. received subsidies to stop their allowances. The Carlists began thus to be badly paid, badly clothed, and badly fed, and they fought accordingly. During the month of May, in several ])laces in Navarre, battalions revolted, asking for their pay ; while at Estella, they in- vaded the house of the Junta, who took to flight, leaving the treasurer dead on the floor of the council chand>er. Kspartero, taking advantage of all those internal dissensions in the Carlist camps, soon entered the Northern ]irovinces, and inflicted several defeats on the Carlists, comidetely routing Guergue and his troops at Peuacerrada on the 22nd of .IiHie.

The ''transaction*' part}', meanwhile, was bringing forth the name of ^laroto as the most suitable person for a commander-in-chief. Charles v., who had every reason for distrusting that man, and who had already had a j)ersonal (piarrel with him in the beginning of the campaign in Biscaya, declined for a long time to accept the suggestions of the" transaction" party ; but when Guergue had been defeated, Don Carlos had no

94 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

thing left to him but to appoint Maroto, especially as he was given to understand that, with the appointment of that General, the foreign subsidies and loans would at once flow in again. And so it was in fact. Money, which had been stopped at Bayonne for a long time past, began to come in ; the soldiers began to receive their pay, and Maroto's friends assured the volunteers that it was to the personal wealth and liberalit}'' of the commander-in-chief that the improvement of their condition was due. Maroto had long served in the American colonies, where he distinguished himself by most sanguinary acts. On his return to the Peninsula, he was without occupation, and went to Portugal, where he offered his services to Don Carlos. When subsequently arrested in France and subjected to a long interrogatory by the French authorities, he made statements which proved that as far back as 1836 (the interrogatory was published in that year at Bayonne) he had meditated already the betrayal of the man whom he pretended to support.

The first object of Maroto, on assuming com- mand, was to put aside all the officers whom he knew to be faithful to the cause of Carl ism, and to appoint men upon whom he could rely.

TEE SEVEN YEARS* WAR. 95

(Jeiirrals Tallin Saiiz ami (Jarcia wx-re IImj first wlujiii lie attacUcd in that way. Al tlio sauKj tiiiu' il l»t.'caiiiu evident, iVom the relaxation of activity on the part of Espurtero, that an nnder- standincj had already bej^un between the two coniniandrrs-iii-cjiii't'. 'i'hcy |troiiienadc<l iVoni one province to another without ever eoining to an encounter, and Alaroto was all the more free to do what he pleased, as Charles V., was then enjoying his honeymoon, liaving married his deceased wife's sister, the Princess of ]^)eira, who arrived at the eaiiij» under the escort of the elilest son of Don Carlos.

So powerful, indeed, became ]\Iaroto through the supjtort his i)arty gave him, and the utter incapacity of Charles v., that, after a review of tlie troops by the Pretender in February, 1S;V.), at Vergara, ^laroto caused a rumour to be spread that the King, highly satisfied with liis ser- vices, had just granted him unlimited powers, and on the strength of that rumour he, within the next week, ordered five of the most devoted Carlist Cenerals to be arrested and brought to Estella. Their names were Sanz, CJarcia, fJuergue, Car- mona, and Urriz ; they were all loeke«l up in the dungeons of Estella, and on the night of the 17th and isih of February, shot, without the slightest

9G SPAIX AND THE SPANIARDS.

form of legal procedure. ]\Iaroto in that way got rid of all those men wlio might have op- posed his plans, and although Charles V., on learning of this massacre, declared Maroto, an outlaw, that General did not take the slightest notice of this decree, but marched with the whole of his troops upon the royal resi- dence, and compelled Don Carlos to retract his declaration, and to pronounce him innocent three days later. This second decree was a death-blow to Carlism. Maroto now felt himself full master, and every man that could say a word against him to the Pretender, was imme- diately imprisoned or sent to France.

Espartero soon entered Biscaya, and some foreign pacificators arriving in both camps, Charles V. perceived that he had nothing to do but to fly. On the 2Gth of August, Maroto and Espartero settled the basis of the capitulation, and a few days later (August 29th) embraced each other in the presence of the two armies in the fields close to Yergara.

The Carlist army thus surrendered was com- posed of the Biscaya and Guipuzcoa divisions, and of three battalions of Castile. The troops of Navarre and Alava, operating in another part of the country, remained faithful to Charles V., but

THE SEVKN YEAIIS' WAR. '.>7

could nut long struggle against the nuicli stronger forces of Esj)artero. On the very same clay that Maroto surn'mli'ri'd at Vergara, they dlitainetl, under Elio's coniinand, a victory over the Chris- tinos, but were soon compelled to retreat to the Bastan, and to enter France on the 14th of September, together with Don Carlos.

The Carlists were disarmed by the French authorities, encamped for some time near Bayonne, and afterwards interned in various towns of France, the Government of Loiiis Philippe appointing Bourges as a residence for the Pretender himself.

Cabrera alone remained still struggling till the following year, but had finally also to retire. The career of that chieftain was watched with comparatively greater interest in England. Ills mother having been shot by order of Mina, the fact was mentioned in Parliament, and he had a good deal of popular sympathy at once enlisted on his side, his having shot in retaliation some two dozen women of Christina's party, remaining probably unknown to the general public. His subsequent marriage wilh a rich English hidv rendered him still more known in this countrv. The circumstances of his generally operating

VOL. II. H

98 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

far away from the influence of the idiotic Don Carlos and his " Court,"' gave Don Ramon Cabrera great facilities for showing his guerilla abilities. His name is still a terror to the Liberals of Aragon, Valencia and Catalonia, and an object of worship to the Carlists of these regions. Closely pressed by the greater part of Christina's army, which became disengaged after the surrender of Maroto, Cabrera could, however, not hold out more than for another year, and entered France on the eastern end of the Pyrenees, in June 1840.

As a matter of course, Espartero, who hap- pened to sign the Vergera convention, had all the credit of having brought the Seven Years' War to a close. He was for a couple of years the idol of Spanish Liberals, upset Christina, became Regent, and was subsequently upset in his turn. It was, I believe, under the unconcerned Amadeo that he was rather retrospectively created Prince of Vergara. Maroto, finding that it was not a pleasant thing to be frequently called " the Infamous," went to Chile, and died there. A column, in conmiemoration of the Vergara con- vention, which was erected in that town, embel- lished it for about thirt^'-three years, and was, with some religious solemnities, smashed to

THE SEVEN' years' WAR. 99

pieces on the l;')tli of Aii^Mist List, hy tlie Carlists under Liziirni'M.

Readers who were I'oity years a;;o in tlieir cradles, or had. j)t'rluij)s, not i-vcn so far advaneud ill life, may he iiit< restiMl to kn^w what sort of part England played in this Peninsular struggle. To give iinything like a detailed account of England's jxditical and military doings on that occasion, would l»e a very heavy and unpleasant sort of task ; but to sum up the few leading Aicts is a labour that may probably prove not to exceed the author's very limited powers.

Some of the European Courts acknowledged the new state of things created by Ferdinand's changing the law of succession, and^some did not. The Emperor Nicholas of Russia, for instance, de- clined to recognise Isabella, even when she became of age, was married, and had occu])ied the throne for nearly twenty years. With Hnghind it was dilTerent. King William IV., on ojx-ning Par- liament on February 4ih, 1^;)!, said : —

" Upon till" (Iciilli of the Ititc King of Spain I did not licsi- tnU^ to ri'cognise tlte succe.osion of lii.s infant diuiglitor ; and I Bball watch witli the grcutcst solicitude the progivsti of evtaits

n 2

100 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

which may affect a Government, the peaceable settlement of which is of the first importance to this country, as well as to the general tranquillity of Europe."

And a couple of months later (April 23rd) the English Government signed the so-called Quad- ruple Alliance, to which some additional articles were signed on the 1st of August, and which involved Great Britain in a very useless, expen- sive, and by no means successful war. Yet Lord Pahnerston declared at that time in Parliament that he was "greatly satisfied" with the negotia- tion of this Treaty, and " as far as he had any share in it," was proud of it. The alliance was concluded between England, France, Portugal, and the new Spanish Government, and had for its aim to put down the Legitimist Pretenders — Dom ]\Iiguel of Portugal, and Don Carlos of Spain. The first aim was achieved easily enough, while the second, caused besides an expenditure of several millions, some five thousand English- men to lose their lives in the Basque pro- vinces.

Now, as to the reasons which prompted the Eng- lish Government to entangle the country in the so strictly internal aff'airs of a foreign nation, they were said to be the great desire of the English nation to support a liberal and constitutional

TlIK SFATA' years' WAU. T>1

reijime against the nyiine of absolute and priest- ridden Monarciiy. That Don Carlos represented the latter, there can he no doubt whatever. But there can be as little doubt that the regime whieh England's Government tried to establish in Spain by means of English blood and English money, proved to be neither liberal nor constitutional, and became ultimately the greatest curse of Spain. Truly speaking, however, this apparently platonic love for Liberalism was a mere pretext on the part of the English Government. The real object of the 'Treaty was to get up an alliance which would at least to some extent balance the then growing strength of the Northern Powers, more especially of Russia, to oppose which was an integral part of Lord Palmerston's policy. The fact of the Northern Powers showing preference to Don Carlos was sufficient to make the English Government side with Isabella. Some twenty years later, England sided in the same way with the Turks, though with much greater military success. But none of these efforts arrested the growth of the Northern Colossus. On the con- trary, they rather helped him, for the Crimean defeat showed him his weak points, and caused hira to reorganize his army and administration. and to emancipate his serfs.

102 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

Consequent upon the Quadruple Alliance, British ships were fitted out for the little Isabella ; arms and military stores sent out ; and an Order in Council having suspended the Foreign Enlist- ment Act, on June 9th, 1835, an expedition was formed, and embarked under the orders of Colonel (subsequently General) de Lacy Evans. The whole force enlisted amounted to fifteen thousand men, but there were scarcely ever more than eight thousand infantry, and four hundred cavalry actually in the field at one time. A most awk- ward point of the undertaking was, however, as mentioned on p. 74, that the "Eliot convention" had been concluded without any reference to the possibility of English troops joining the field. As may well be imagined, the British soldiers engaged in the expedition were all the less pleased with the prospects to which they were ex- posed by the Durango decree, as on their enlist- ment they were given to understand that they were included in the cartel. The Duke of Wellington's opinion, expressed with reference to this subject in March, 1836, was that.

Viscount Melbourne, then Prime Minister, " placed him- self and his Government in an awkward position, when he sent to Spain the body of English troops who are at present in that country. By that act the noble Viscount com-

THE SEVF.X years' WAR. ]^K\

monrcd putting nn t-nd to tlio C'omonfinn witli Don Ciirloi wliidi liiid so rofcrilly been ooncliKifd. It was evident that tlio consoqucncc of tliiit net must bo to weaken tliat inlluence which liad with so much dilliculty been ao(juirod over tlie minds of tlmt prince and his councillors. The troops in question were nof inchi(U'd in tlie cartel, &ni\ it is also clear that inconsequence the cartel cannot now bo executed. If any clemency has been offered, then, to any of these troops, they are indebted for it soleltf to the htimanitif of that prince, because they do not belong to the contracting aruiies."

The Marquis of Lontlonderry speaking on Spiinish atrairs in the House of Lords, on June lUth, 18^8, said:-

" We plunged into the contest witliout stopping to inquire into the justice of our conduct, or the probable results of our

interference Previous to this period Don Carlos had

acted up to the Eliot convention, and strictly fulfilled his stipu- lations. Both ho and his generals were in fact desirous that the benefits of this liumane arrangement should extend to the other provinces, in which they were opposed to the Christinus .... But, my Lords, let us take a wider range. Let us see what Ministers have gained by persevering for more than four years in their general ."Spanish policy, during which period four or five thousand British lives have been lost and some million'* of money expended. Our deluded countrymen expected to make short work of Don Carlos ; they thought thoy were going on a summer's camjiaign, and would have lots of profit .... Why, actually he fares better now than wlien our auxiliaries landed to co-operate with tlie l^ueen of Spain's army. . . .

104 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

Your Lordships will recollect tliat when tlie Spanish question was first agitated in this House the greatest total force then allowed to Don Carlos was about thirty or thirty-five thousand men. Some noble Lords would not grant him so many, and yet, besides defeating three armies sent against him, he has made an end of two foreign legions, and a third one thought it expedient to withdraw."

AVith reference to the purely militar}^ operations of the Legion, the Marquis of Londonderry said that though he had endeavoured to master every- thing that had been published on that subject, he did not meet witli any document or statement that placed " the military proceedings of the Legion in a favourable light," and he imploringly exclaimed to their lordships: "In God's name let us withdraw from the contest and involve ourselves no farther in disgrace. The whole history of our intervention, whether we trace it in the deeds of the Legion, or in our diplomatic transactions, exhibits weakness, ignorance, and I must add, wickedness."

Tn fact things seem to have gone so far that soldiers of the British Legion frequently de- serted their ranks, some of them passing even over to the Carlists, and this not one by one, but in numbers. I had been often told of that by Don Carlos and his Generals, but suspected the

TIIK SKVKX YKARS' WAR. 10.5

statomowt to l»e iiincre ial>rio;itiun wliicli, tliroiigli l»ein^ repeated lor ii consiilerable time, began to he believed in. Yet wiu-n I became acquainted with some materials piiblisiied on this subjc.'rt in Eni^dand, I saw that there was a good deal of truth in what I had been told by the contem- porary Carlist chieftains. An order of the day of General Kvans*, issued on June iSth, 18i5G, at St. Sebastian says for instance :

"Having learnt tli:it at tlio oiitix)st8, conversations, ratlicr frequent, were kept up witli tleserters from the Britisli auxiliary force anJ tlie Portuguc!<e auxiliary army, or with individuals expelled from the service for dishonourable acts, the Lieutenant- Genend thinks it best to remind tho troops, that as wo are now actiui; in coTupletc conjunction with the British marine forces, all British subjects found in arms, as aiding, or abetting in any way the insurgents, are in fact rebelfl against the British Sove- reign, and are liable to, and will most probably sufler, if taken, the punishment of death by the British laws."

Another order of the day of July 30th begins with the words : " The Lieutenant-General regrets extremely to find that so considerable a number of the Sixth lu-irinicnt (Scotch (livnadiers) have yesterday siiown a disposition to abandon their colours and comrades in face t)f the enemy." And about a month later the following rather unplea- sant events scum to have occurred.

106 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

" On the 16tli of August one hundred and forty-four deserters from the Legion, sent away by the Carlists, arrived at Bayonne in great distress. They were seen lying down in the marine walks, till, to their great satisfaction, the police conveyed them to prison, where, at least, they were sure of a meal. These poor dejected beings, owing to their nakedness, were not even allowed to enter the town. Their miserable plight subjected them to the contempt and compassion of Frenchmen, who called to mind their proud fanfaronades when they landed in Spain.

"On the 18th Mr. Harvey, His Britannic Majesty's Consul at Bayonne, addressed a letter to the Prefect of that place, re- questing him to make known to the British subjects confined that Lieutenant-General De Lacy Evans promises and gua- rantees a free pardon to all and any of them who may present themselves to him at San Sebastian, when theywiU have an opportunity of explaining to him when and in what manner they were compelled to enter the ranks of Don Carlos.

" Not one of these miserable men, who had escaped from the lash of San Sebastian, accepted the conveyance back to their old quarters proffered by our Consul through the medium of a French functionary, and they were, it will be remembered, marched from Bayonne to Calais, in charge of the gendarmes, begging their way and exposed to the contumely of French spectators."

Notwithstanding all that, and facts like those, that in a single engagement the Legion had some- times eight hundred men and about eighty officers killed and wounded (as was the case under the walls of San Sebastian on the 5th of May, 1836), General de Lacy Evans constantly published

THE SE\T.N years' WAR. 107

olo(HR'iit prof'liiinatioiis in Sj)aiii, and assured liis cunstitiicMits ill Kii;;laiid tlial his " liiiul triiiiiipli was within view." Eventually, hdwevcr, in May, \H'M, he had to resi_^-n his coiiiiiiaiid, a new and Hinaller legion heing then formed nnder the orders of CoUmel O'Connell. lint the non-payment of the troops by the Spanish (Jovernment provoked new mntinies in the Legion, and liy the end of that yrar the expedition eanie to a tinal collapse.

For three years after the conclusion of the Vergara ('(invention (1831»), the Carlists di<l not seem to feel strong enough to attempt any new rising. A few bands tried to call forth a move- ment in Catalonia and in the Maestrazgo in 1842, but were immediately snbdued. In 1843, when Espartero was overthrown and had to fly to England, the Carlists became most sanguine in their hopes, as the moderate party who came then into power seemed to be in favour of a marriage of Isabella with Count de Monteinolin, eldest son of Don Carlos. Though still interned at Bonrges, the Pretender obtained from the French Govern- ment the release of his son, and issued a mani- festo abdicating in his favour. Negotiations con-

108 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

cerning Isabella's marriage lasted for several years, and when the Carlists learned in 1846 that the 3'oung Queen was going to be married to her cousin, Don Francisco D'Assise, they considered themselves deceived, and a rising took place in the Autumn of that year in Catalonia under the leadership of the old Canon Tristany, and lasted for nearly three years*

When the revolution of 1848 broke out and Louis Philippe, one of the greatest enemies of Carlism, was overthrown, a considerable number of representatives of Spanish Legitimacy who were interned in France were set at liberty and re-entered Spain. Amongst them was Julian Joaquin Alzaa, a chief immensely popular in the province of Guipuzcoa, which he at once entered and attempted to raise. But Urbistondo (Maroto's

* It will, perhaps, be remembered that the marriage of Isabella with the Count de Montemoliu did not succeed, not on account of anyone in Spain, or abroad op)50sing the mar- riage, but solely because the conditions of the union were that the son of Don Carlos should give up his claims to the throne, and marry the young Queen as a mere prince, not as a Pre- tender ; while the Carlists insisted upon Count de Montemolin adhering to his claims and to his name of Charles VI., thus virtually claiming that the Queen should abdicate her power and marry him as a mere princess.

THE SKVEX years' WAR. 109

last c-liiff of the stad" who had passed to Isahclla's side) (.-aiittircd Alzaa and shot him on the spot, notwithstanding; their ha\iii,i:: ronnerly been brothers in arms. Risings were cittemi)ted also at the same time in liiseaya and in Navarre, but were not more siiccesslnL It was only in Cata- lonia that the Carlists still held gromid, and were reinforced by the arrival of Cabrera in June, 1848. lie replaced Tristany in the general com- mandment of the Carlist troops in that province and obtained ccjnsiderable successes over Isabella's army, but the (Jovermuent of Madrid managed to corrujit his leailing Lieutenants Pons, \'ila, and Pozas (the latter being the same man that led the Ferrol revolt in the reign of Amadeo). These three chieftains induced a considerable num- ber of Carlist volunleers to pass into the ranks of Isabella, and Cabrera had again to lly to France with the remainder of his force.

For the subsequent ten years the Carlists re- mained quiet, excej)t for some partial risings which took place in May 1855, ami were promptly subdued. But in 18G0 a nun*e serioHs attempt was made with the view of placing Charles VI. (Count de Monleuiolin) on the throne of Sj)ain. This rising has already been alluded to in the hrst volume. It was organised by Don Jaime

1]0 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

Ortega, Captain-General of the Balearic Islands. Having come to an understanding with Count de Montemolin, his brother, Don Fernando, and with General Elio, Ortega landed at San Carlos de la Rapita with five battalions of the troops of his island garrison. These troops were to form the nucleus of the army which was to be or- ganised in the Peninsula, and to march on Madrid. But soon after the landing was effected Ortega's own soldiers rose against him. He was made prisoner by the Government and shot, while Count de Montemolin, his brother Don Fernando, and General Elio, were arrested at Uldecona and banished from Spain.*

The subsequent death of the Count de Monte- molin, his wife, and Don Fernando his brother, all of whom died within one week at Trieste, was the source of considerable discouragement to the Carlist party, which did not place any confidence in the only surviving representative of Charles V., his son Don Juan, as he was sup- posed to be a Liberal, and had during his resi-

* The lives of the two Princes were spared on condition of their renouncing for ever their claims to the throne. They both signed a formal abdication at Tortosa on the 23rd of April. 1860, and both repudiated it as soon as they were in safety abroad.

TJIK SEVEN years' NVAIt. I 1 1

dfiKX' in I'ji;:;!aii(I addressed u letter ul" submis- simi t(i l>aliclla, thus actually |iuttin;4 an <-nil to Carlism. lint all at once, a lew days alter tiic overthrow of the Qneeii in 1808, Don Jniiii j)nl»- llshed a new alulicatiun of his already abdicated pretentions. This time it was in laxour of his son, the ]ireseiit I >un Carlos, who at the same time issued a manilt^to, and the whole (jarlist I)arty at once assembletl around the yoinij^ man. in June of the next year (ISi)!)) (Jar- list risings were organised in several jiro- vhices of Spain, the one led by General Polo in La Mancha giving about the most trouble to Marshal Trim. I>ut for a year or two Prim managed to keep them down, occasionally shoot- ing some of the Carlists and sending others, in- cluding General Polo, to the Philij)pine Islands. The Pretender was then a youth of barely twenty years, and as the councillors assembled around him were constantly quarrelling about prece- dency, things could not be expected to go better, es})ecially as long as Prim was in power. It was, consequently, only in Ajiril, 1^72, that a more serious " general rising " was decided upon. The Pretender who had in the meantime become more of a man, entered Navarre and put himself at the head of the new bands, the

112 SPAIX AND THE SPANIARDS.

armament of which consisted chiefly of home- made hmces and even pkiin sticks. Being fresh to work and without any prudent councilor by his side, Don Carlos advanced so far into the country that he was surprised at Oro- quieta by General Moriones (the same who is now operating against the Carlists), and very nearly captured. It was only thanks to an obscure village cure, Don Francisco Aspiroza, that the Pretender succeeded in escaping to France. Soon afterwards the remainder of the Carlist volunteers sustained another defeat at Lumbier, and the Junta of Biscay a saw itself compelled to con- clude at Amorovieta a treaty with Marshal Ser- rano, by which about ten thousand Carlists laid down their arms. The Basque provinces were thus pacified for a while; but in Catalonia the struggle went on till the close of 1872, when the Carlist chiefs of that province communicated it as their opinion to Don Carlos that unless he organised another rising in the Vasco-Navarre dis- tricts they should be unable to resist the pressure of Amadeo's troops. This declaration forced Don Carlos to try his luck once more, and early in December, 1872, Soroeta and Santa Cruz entered Spain, into which they were soon followed by

THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR. 113

Olio and Iladica. This was tliu bcginniiif; of tlio campaign which has now histed lor fidly lii'teni months, and ot" which it is not very likely wc shall soon sec the end.

VOL. 11.

114

CHAPTER HI.

SPANISH FIGHTING.

AS soldiers, Spaniards have a veiy bad repu- tation in Europe, and to defend them in this respect would probably prove a very un- grateful task. Truly speaking, it would even be difficult to maintain that they are good soldiers, in the sense in which the word is generally under- stood in European armies. But what is quite fair to say— though, perhaps, it may also not be easy to convince people who have made up their mind to the contrary — is that Spaniards are by no means the cowards they are not unfre- quently represented to be. The bad military reputation of Spaniards arose in England, and has been spread through Europe since the time of the Peninsular War, when they were brought side by side with the staunch, thoroughly dis- ciplined British rank and file. Lord Wellington

SPANISH FIOIITIXG. 1 1 •'>

was, from his ])()iiit of viow, pcrfuclly right in constantly coiii])hiinliig of the Spanish troops'.' lie was too much accustomed t<» the English fasliidn of military training to put \\\) with the loose, guerilla nature of the Spaniards. The stern business-like English commander-in-chief could not stand their being always too late, al- ways wanting in something. Describing some ill-success he would, in utter disgust, but as nsual in very homely language, remark in his despatch: "All this would have been avoided, had the Spaniards been anything but Spaniards," or " They have not done anything that they were ordered to do, and have done exactly that against which they werii warned ;" or " I am afraid that the utmost we can hope for is to teach them how to avoid being beaten ; if we can cflVct that object, I hope we may do the rest." Such and similar testimonies against the Spaniards coming from a man of the Duke of Wellington's authority, have naturally caused everyone in this country rashly to conclude that Spaniards were not Avorth anylliing at all as soldiers. Noone re- membered any longer that their armies had con- (juered kingdoms in all parts of the globe, and that their infantry was once the terror and ad- miration of the whole world. Even the Duke's

1 2

116 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

own testimonies made on other occasions, stating "that their conduct was equal to that of any troops I had ever seen engaged" were over- looked. The bad name had been once given, and there was an end to it ; no one would inquire what was the reason that sometimes they fought so well, while in other cases and at other times so badly. No one would take the trouble to look into the Spanish character for the explanation of these evidently contradictory phenomena ; nor was any Englishman disposed to believe that, though England was the ally of Spain, Spaniards on the whole detested the Eng- lish just as much as they detested the French. Only the Duke of Wellington's remarks that " they oppose and render fruitless every mea- sure to set them right or save them " would now and then betray that he, at all events, had some idea of the real feelings of the Spaniards. In fact, one would be inclined to believe that an essentially common-sense man like the Duke must have perceived the whole truth on this subject, for though Spaniards were courteous and polite, as they always are, the manner in which they opposed the English whenever they possibly could do so, and the fact of Spanish soldiers pillaging English baggage-trains just as uncere-

SPAXISII Fir;lTTIXn. 1 1 7

monionsly as lliry did French ones, sliowod plainly cnoii^di tlio real state of aflairs \vllli re- ference to '* fcelinrjs." The Moro-Iberian pridu. the Espanolismo, has always caused, and is still causing the Spaniards equally to detest every foreigner, whether ho be supposed friend or declared foe, as soon as he conies into Spain with anything like power in his hands. Let a foreigner come as a guest, and he is received with open arms, and more hospitably than in any other coun- try. But as soon as he comes for a business pur- pose— be it to fight for a Spanish cause, or simply to work mines or railways " for the benefit of Spaniards," he is sure to be equally detested all over the country. What the Spaniards always wanted, and what they could never obtain, was to be left alone. In the whole of their existence as a nation, scarcely a century passed in which foreigners, either black or white, did not come to interfere with Spanish affairs one way or the other. It must be said also that Spanianls were never so stupid as to believe that the English had come to the Peninsula for the purpose of " saving " them. They understood pretty well that the British interference was sinqdy the result of a strong desire on the part of Englishmen to defend themselves against any possible attack of Napo-

118 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

Icon. It was much cheaper and much more con- venient for England to make war upon the " IMonster " abroad than at home, and it was therefore only natural on the part of the Spaniards that the}' should not be much affected by any feeling of gratitude. By-and-by when English- men begin to look at their past political dealings in an impartial and less ultra-patriotic light, they will perceive the harm they have done Spain. Candid and honest Englishmen acknowledge it already, and the other day I saw in the December Number of Frazers Magazine, an article on the Spanish struggle for liberty in which it was said frankly enough that, " whatever we may think of our Peninsular campaigns, our presence in Spain at that crisis of her history was almost an un- mitigated curse." Had the Spaniards been left alone to deal with Napoleon, they might perhaps have suffered much more, but it would have done them good ; for a spirit of national unity would have been ultimately aroused, the enemy expelled, and Spain rendered much more homogeneous than it now is. As things went, however, for the whole of this century the Peninsula was inundated by foreign troops in whom the oppressed and igno- rant, but intensely proud Spaniard refused to

SPANISH FKillTING. U'J

dlstiii;L;iiish frioiid from foe, whom lie taxe<l wliole- salc with till', to him, opprobrious name of *■./•- tranjero, ami who thoroughly demoralised him hy impressing his miiid witli the idea of his helpless- ness. The constant party-struggles, the origin of which lies, also, mostly ni the constant inter- ference of foreigners, comj)letetl the demoralisa- tion of the Spaniard as a soldier. Almost since the days of the hrst War of the Succession the Spaniard had constantly to fight, without ever exactly knowing for whom or for what he fought. Consequently he got finally tired of it, fought badly, and not unfrecpiently simply absconded from the battle-fields- IJut to conclude from that, that he is incapable of behaving as an honourable soldier, or that he is a coward, is, to say the least, absurd. There is scarcely a country in the whole of Europe where disregard for life is greater, and where lighting is more natural to nien, each of whom handles his knife and his trahuco (blunder- buss) from boyhood. And the best means of persuading oneself whether or not the Spaniard can stand danger, or is disposed to risk his life, is to i)rovoke him on a point he really cares aboiit.

Another point in which the foreign interven- tion, cnuitk'd with the monstrous misgovernment

120 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

which has always prevailed in the unhappy Peninsula, affected the Spanish army, is the financial ruin of the country. When the soldier is neither fed, nor clad, nor paid, he cannot be expected to do his duty, and the very complaints of the Duke of Wellington that the Spaniards fre- quently came to join him barefooted, in rags, and fought badly, far from throwing blame upon them, speak much in their favour, for an English or any other soldier in the same condition would not have fought at all.

Under the Republic, things went still worse than they were nnder Isabella or Amadeo, for the Government cash-box was finally emptied, while the expenses for the war department increased on account of the armament of the National Guards, each of whom was to get tw^o pesetas (about Is. 9d) a day. The National Guards brought into the bargain an additional element of dissolution into the army : the regular soldier became jealous of their pay, and of their being put on an equal footing with himself, who had served for ten, twelve, and, perhaps, fifteen years. To quote only one example of how things really stood, I may adduce here the mutiny which took place at Bilbao in May last. The division quartered there had not been paid for months and months, and as

SPANISH FIOIITIXG. 12 1

the Ciirlists fjrcw very strong in Biscivyji, the Madrid Government insisted upon the liilhiio troops coniinencing operations against Valef«co's corps, lint the regulars, as well as the volunteers, refused Maukly to march out, saying that they were in want of everything, and would not do any service until paid, at least, the arrears. The Government, at its wit's end what to do, sent out General Lagunero to settle matters. On his arrival, lie managed to borrow a million francs from the rich merchants of Bilbao, and to pay at least a part of the troops.*

About ten days later, I reached Bilbao, called upon General Lagunero, and asked permission to follow the corps, as it was announced in ]\Iadrid, before my leaving, that they were about to com- mence important operations. To this Lagunero answered he was perfectly willing to let me go with him, but, at the same time, added, "If you want really to see something you had better go to the Carlists, because I am certain that we shall have very few engagements, unless it be in the town itself. The troops, though they have been

• In the main body of the Northern army tilings stood woi-se still. Last June, when that] force was under General Nourilas, oyer four milliou francs were due to the soldiers.

122 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS

paid, have received very little, and that only on account of the arrears. To be able to march we must give them money again, and we have none. I exhausted all the credit I could possibly have here. If you go to the Carlists, you can all the same witness their attack upon us, if they are going to make any, and, at the same time, will ha^e a chance of seeing their engagements with some other column better provided for. As to my troops, I am almost certain that they won't fight before the town is besieged." And it must be borne in mind that the gentleman who told me all that was a good general, a true republican, and inspired sufficient confidence in the Govern- ment of Madrid to be subsequently entrusted with a high appointment in Castile.

An additional element for weakening the army was also the theories spread by those very same gentlemen who subsequently had so much to de- plore the consequences of their propaganda. All the Eepublicans, Seiior Castelar at the head of them, had always argued against standing armies, and it was natural that, when they came to power, a great number of soldiers should ask to be released from service. But, much to the soldiers' disappointment, the Government did not seem willing to release even those of them who had

SPAXISII FIOIITIXO. 123

concluded tlieir tcriii of service, pretending tl»at the country was in danger, and tliut it was their duty to continue in service. To expect that, under all these circumstances, men should well perform their duty, is to ask more than can reasonably be expected from any human being.

Then, again, provincial jealousies act some- times most unfavourably on the spirit of the army. The various kingdoms which formerly com- posed Spain were easily enough cemented under the intluencc of the common danger to which they were exposed under the Moors, and Spanish unity would probably have grown stronger and stronger had not strangers come over either to pillage or to save her. Willi the turn things took in the present century, Andalusia, Catalonia, Navarre, the liasque provinces, &c., became almost as strange to each other as Ireland is to England, or the Italian provinces were to Austria; and when men taken from these dilTerent provinces are brought together in one regiment, internal discord in such a corps is inevitable, and it is natural that, when insurrec- tions occur, and a corps of that mixed description is sent to fight in the provinces, all the men who happen to belong to the revolted districts are thus actually compelled to fight their friends and rela-

124 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

tives, and consequently cannot be expected to fight well. Very frequently, in passing through the villages of the North, my attention was attracted by some women, or children, whose appearance, full of grief and despair, was really shocking; and it almost invariably turned out, on inquiries, that the father or brother of such an unfortu- nate woman was in the Carlist ranks, while her husband, and the father of her children, was in the Republican ranks, and they had now to come to fight each other in the very same village, perhaps close to the very same house in which they had lived formerly together. What is the moral or legal force on earth that could compel men in such a position to submit to anything like disci- pline, or the performance of what is supposed to be their duty ?

Those who remember the position of the Aus- trian Empire a short time ago, know that the variety of nationalities composing it was the great cause of Austria's weakness, and that the Government of Vienna, when revolts broke out in any part of the Empire, were invariably com- pelled to make a very careful selection of the troops they sent out on such occasions. It was in that way that travellers seldom saw in the Italian parts of the Austrian dominions, anything

SPANISH FIOIITIXO. ll'.'i

but Czcdi, Polish, and Iliingariaii repirnciits, ^vIlilc the Italian n';:ini(,'nts were restoring onlcr in Galicia or Hungary. I distinctly renioinber having more than once seen at Veiuce the band of some Czech regiment playing in the evening in the great Marco Square, "with soldiers of the same force standing all around the orchestra, and having lanterns stuck u})on the bayonets of their guns. They were snpi)osed, of course, merely to give light to the musicians, but the guns were loaded and the bayonets sharpened.

The opinion Europe holds concerning the Carlist army is still worse than that which it holds of the Republican army. In fact, in respect to the Carlists, even now that their number has become 80 imposing, and their organization has so verj'' much improved, there still exists an under-current of belief that they are simply bands of cowardly brigands, and as I am afraid I might be con- sidered as having already said a good deal in their favour — though what I did say was certainly not because I in any way sympathised with tiair cause, but simply because 1 wished to say the truth about what I had seen — I will here leave other peojjle to speak.

Last Spring, one of the "special correspondents" of the Daily News undertook a (lying visit to

126 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

Spain, and wrote some smart letters to liis journal, in one of which lie thus described what he called " the sanguinary combat of Centellas :"

"Just at tlie neck of tlie valley vre came on a large block- house by the wayside, in and around which were abovit a hundred soldiers of the garrison of Centellas. The officer told ns, with some dignity, that he constituted the reserve to the whole of the remainder of the garrison, including tbe Repub- lican Volunteers, who were engaged further on in a desperate eucounter with the Carlists. It seemed that some shots had been fired close to the town early in the morning, and that the commanding officer, being by some chance awake, had deter- mined on sallying forth and punishing the band who were dis- turbing his quietude. The Carlists had fallen back into the pass, and there it was that the sanguinary combat alluded to was raging, and had been raging for the last two hours. No wounded had as yet come to the rear ; the officer seemed to imply that the troops were fighting with too much vigour to care about wounds. A peasant lay asleep at one corner of the block-house, and the valiant reserve seemed by no means imbued with the conviction that their services would be re- quired to secure a victory or to turn the tide of a defeat. Such indications tended to induce in me the notion that the officer was gasconading, and tliat the ' sanguinary combat' existed only in his imagination ; but as I listened I heard beyond question the sound of a dropping musketry fire. So we bade him good day, and drove on down the pass.

" For the first three or four hundred yards we saw nothing, but still continued to hear shots in our front. Presently we reached a pomt where the road, cut into the face of a crag, makes au abrupt turn. Passing this, we found ourselves inside

SPANISH FIGUTING. 127

a little oral cuj) into wliicli tlic rugged edges of the gorges arc bevelled out. AVo fuund ourselves, too, baviuf; driven on about fifty yards, occupving the pleasant position of being substan- tially between two fires — sueh fires as they were. Behind us, both slopes of the little eup were held by tlie garrison of Vich ; before us, also occupying both slopes, were the Curlists. The intervening sjiace had a breadth of some three lunidred yunl.-*, more or less. Any ideas of ' hoUlinfj ground' that may bo pntcrtaiued by persons conversant with warfare on a large scale, and on a legitimate system, must bo summarily abandoned in attempting to realise a notion of the manner in which this eccentric combat was being enacted. Probably the army, con- sisting of the garrison of Vich, numbered some two hundred men, on a widely in-egular and feebly defined front of quite half a mile from the crest of one ridge across the valley to the crest of the other side. The Carlists must have been con- siderably less numerous, and, so far as I could discern, they had no front at all, in the ordinary acceptation of the tei-m, hut were studded miscellaneously among the rocks and broken gi-ound on both slopes. It was, to say truth, uncommonly ditDciJt to make out so much as I have described — little as that is ; for on both sides the tactics seemed to be to lie as close as possible, consistently with an occasional discharge of fire-arms across the interval — a discharge that neither appeared to residt in doing any execution, nor in leading to an attempt on eitlier side to gain ground.

" The municipal ofhcial who had come out with the Kei>ub- lican Volunteer Contingent evidently considered that he Lad done his duty when he had indueeil his fellow -citizens to come on the ground, and he had suspended further active ojjemtions until it shoidd be time to march them home aj^'ain. In point of fact he had got behind a big liunp of rock, where he sat

128 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

serenely smoking a cigarette. Tlie captain commanding the regulars seemed a curious mixture of absolute incompetency and personal intrepidity. He never sought cover, but walked to and fro between the lurking places of his men in the most reckless but most serious way. It is my belief that three parts of the Cai'lists' chiefs shots were fired at this living target, and at it alone. He came down and stood on the road fully exposed, talking with us, who were a little to one side, and naturally in a safer place. When I asked him why he did not advance, he said that in the effort he would inevitably lose a few men, that the Carlists were intangible and would melt away before him, while the loss to his party would be exaggerated, would bring him down a wigging, and would encourage the Carhsts.

" This purposeless popping went on for about an hour. I saw no man touched on either side. One casualty there did occur. A volunteer had come out from his cover on to the rail- way, and was standing near the edge of the containing wall, in rather an exposed position. All at once he seemed to start and stagger, just as if a bullet had gone into him, and then he dropped off the embankment down into the shallow water in the bed of the stream — a fall of some twelve feet. He splashed about considerably, and, making sure that here at last was a wounded man, my companion and myself went down and fished him out. He groaned badly as we carried him up to our place of shelter, and we discussed as we bore him, the wisdom of putting him into the ' teelbury,' and taking him back to the reserve. But fu-st it would be as well to discover where the wound was, and if need be apply a handkerchief as a temporary bandage. We laid him down, still groaning, and proceeded to overhaul him, but could find no wound in him anywhere. He was un- pleasantly damp, there was a big bump on the back of his head

SPANISH FlfJIITINO. 12it

and till' skin was pcoleil oil" one clljow, hut tlioso iiijuric!* wi-ru obviously tlio result of tlio fall. Otiiorwiso ho was, if cxtrcmclv dirtT, yet quite sound. A suck from my llask brought him bark to full consciousness, when it became a difficult matter to per- suade him that ho was not a dead man. I imagine a bullet striking near him, or whistling by him, had scared him, that he had involuntarily recoiled, and so tumbled off tho containing wall into the water. No doubt he will figure in tho despatch as a 'contusion,' and probably will obtain tho cross."

That such comical .skirmishes may have taken place last Sprinj::, when tlie Carlists were just be^innin.ij: to organize themselves, and the Repub- licans had only a lew half- revolted regiments at their command in the North, may be perfectly true. But it is equally true that this description gives a very erroneous idea of Spanish warfare, and that to anyone who knows anything of the manner in which the Seven Years' War was carried on, or saw any actual Carlist engagement last Summer, such letters must naturally appeal- as having been written for the purpose of amusing, rather than of informing the reader. Another correspondent of the same journal, evidently betii-r acquainted with Spain, speaking its language, and one who had followed both Republican and (.arlist operations for .several months, conveys to the reader quite a dillerent idea of tho manner in which civil war is carried on in that coimtry.

VOL. II. K

130 SPAIX AND THE SPANIARDS.

Writi]]g from Tolosa on November the 9tli, lie said : —

" This morning the general quietness of the town of San Sebastian was disturbed before daybreak by bugle sounds in all directions, and General Loma's column of three thousand men with four guns made ready to march to Tolosa, some sixteen miles distant, to convoy thirty bullock waggons of provisions to that beleaguered town. The route taken was by Hernaui and Andoain, places but too well known to the British Legion, and where its heaviest losses were suffered during the Carlist and Christina war. At the latter place we found that the high road to Tolosa had been cut by the Carlists near Villabona. After breakfast the column left the convoy at Andoain, and marched up the movmtains on our left, parallel with the main road, in order to reconnoitre the country, previous to bringing the convoy. First went the Migvielites, then several companies of the regiment of Leon, and then a company of that of Luchana, some three hundred and fifty men who formed the advanced guard. Owing to the steepness of the gromid, their progress was slow ; but on arriving at the top of a plateau, perfectly free from cover excepting a few tufts of vmeven ground, a most teiTible fire was opened upon them from the Carlist rifles, which caused severe loss. The Republicans, nevertheless, succeeded in advancing to the base of the position occupied by their ad- versaries, in which they had entrenched themselves by breast- works of turf hastily thrown up. Although somewhat less exposed for the moment than on the plateau, there was no choice between certain death from the storm of bullets or scrambling up the mountain to the earthworks. The latter alternative a]Tpeared the least hopeless, and up the brave fellows rushed. The Carlists, not a whit behindhand, leaped over the

SPANISH FIGHTING. l?>\

panipet to meet tliem, and for a moment tlie duy was doubtful. A few of tho Kcpublk-aus did not like tholook of tho affair, and bi'gan to turn back ; but their ollicers sot them a good example b}- plaeing themselves in the most dangerous points, and even firing their rifles for them. A few opportune shells helped matters most considerably, causing tlio Curlists to return to tiieir entrenchment. Encourugod by this, the officers shouted, ' Com la batfoneta .'' — words which appcored to operate with magical efloct on botli sides ; or porliaps the fact of the shells being very well aimed, and the Curlit<t3 being entirely without artillery, may have done more. At all events, tho latter retiretl hastily. Inside the breastwork the ground was literally copper- coloured by tlie number of exploded Berdan cartridges, showing only too plainly how severe tho firing was and the number of the defending party. A sadder proof of it soon manifested itself in the number of killed and wounded Republicans, six or seven hundred Curlists must have been in the earthworks. Both sides as usual behaved bravely, but on passing over the ground next day it seemed marvellous that any troops could have succeeded in taking such a position. So strong, indeed, WHS it tliut, if its defenders had been better marksmen, I believe they would have succeeded in holding it against a much more numerous force. The artillery, no doubt, helped greatly, but it certainly did not lire quite as much as, having regard to the ditlieuity fiie advanced guard had to contend with, might have been the case. The breastwork was by no means the only position from which the Carlists were tiring, for a smart sliower of bullets was going on all the time from tlieir right. After the rest of the column had passed up, destroying the entrench- ment, it ascended the mountains still higher, throwing out a strong rear-guard towards the C'arlist right. Here, too, tho lining was hot, but the artillery from the very crest of the

K2

132 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

mountain played heavily, and helped the rear-guard out of a position in which they were conducting themselves very gal- lantly. The descent towards Tolosa was so precipitous that only mountaineers would think of usmg the track by which we slipped and stumbled down. A blinding storm of rain, varied now and then by misty clouds, made the clayey path ahnost impassable and invisible, and, whilst compelled to proceed very slowly, evening came on, and the darkness increased our diffi- culties. The wounded, some of whom were on the horses of the cavalrymen who had dismounted, must have suffered martyrdom, and those on stretchers hardly fared better. Thank- ful indeed was every one to find hunsolf in Tolosa, beleaguei'ed as it was."

On December 9th, the same correspondent de- scribed another revictiialling of the same block- aded town: —

" Greneral Moriones having come up with four brigades, the day's plan was adopted as follows : — The left bank of the Oria was reserved for General Loma's care. Moriones was to follow the road in the Villabona valley with the mass of the army, whilst one brigade was sent to scale the heights of Belabicta and Uzmendi. At eleven Loma slowly crossed and reached the heights above Soravilla and Andoain. We followed him with several other foreigners. A few minutes before twelve a sharp roll of musketry burst all across the valley below and on Bela- bicta. Lizarraga's men now opened in a semicircle around us. General Loma seemed in high glee, and he sent shell after sheU at the heights, from which poured an incessant fire. Then away went the Miguclites, with a cheer, at the entrenchments. From height to height, from house to farm, the Carlists retired

SPANISH riOHTIN'G. 133

bIowIv uiul willi a bold front, that Hurpriscd oven Loinu. How- ever, by four o'eluek one brigiide Imd <leiired idl tlie river side from our starting point to Irura near Tolosa. The other brigade jiroceeded to that stem task of revenge on the peasants, wliich the necessities of war niny justify, but which I cannot admire. From two p.m. till nightfall smoke and (lames rose from more than fifty farmhouses. One entire village and half another were also ilest roved in this way. I actually saw seven- teen instances of peasants turned from their homes on this cold winter's day, and there they sat on a wreck of mattresses and furniture, with their babies and children, perhaps a few pigs and hens, wliilst the flames rose from their homes. The exas- perated troops would have even done more had not many an olReer humanely interfered. What a sight it was, with the fast- falling dusk and the din of the battle, to gaze on those sobbing and miserable victians of civil war ! The whole country was in a blaze, even during part of the night.

" Gonoral Moriones, also down in the valley, had met with a sharp resistance. lie spread his forces out in a semicircle crowniing the plateau of Amusa. Whilst his skirmishers ad- vanced he covered them with the fire of six field-guns. The Carlists, at first from Villabona, and then from the hills across the river, hotly responded. This duel lasted about two hours, and the troops entered Villabona. Here they found the road cut by a trench more than fifteen feet deep. The Engi- neers were put to repair this serious impediment to the advance of a convoy. From the heights above Andoain I watched all these operations in the valley, and I was not a little interested to distinguish pretty clearly the firing of Tolosa. The defenders of that brave town must have been gladdened with the sound of the cannon which told of the relieving column's presence. I had noticed all day that the firing on the left of the army was

134 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

vei'y severe. When the brigade of Catalans advanced on the first plateau it found the flower of the Carlist army, some say not less than seven Navarrese battalions, entrenched in earth- works, defended by two guns. The two thousand five livindred soldiers and irregulars were not a match for such odds. Still, on they went, and they carried the first entrenchment. Before reinforcements could even be called for, at about three o'clock, after an hour's fixsillade, the Navarrese rushed at the troops with a loud cheer. On, on they poured, and retook their entrencliment. The regiment of the Constitution, sorely tried in Puente la Keyna, was very badly treated this aftei'noon. The battalion of Tetuan, the MigueUtes, the gallant brigadier himself, bravely raUied the soldiers, and tried to hold their ground. The Carlists took several soldiers and only retu'ed when a second brigade, with four guns, arrived. The heights of Belabicta remained in the hands of the Kepubhcans after this five hovu's' dearly-bought victory. The brigadier-colonel, twenty-eight officers, and, I am told, nearly two hundred privates, were liors de combat. I have gathered the greater part of these details fi'om the soldiers of the two regiments who bore the briint of the action, and I witnessed the arrival of the womided on stretchers and in bullock-carts. Many wounded Carlists also were brought in ; and about four hundred is supposed to be their loss. The two towns of Villaboua and Andoain are crowded with the vvounded, and the accommodation is worse than wretched. I could not help thinking of those who are still lying ujjon the heights on this cold night.

The Times correspondent, whose authority on military subjects (as that of a captain in the Guards) will scarcely be questioned, gave the

SPANISH FKaiTINt;. 11)5

following account of tlio battlo of l)ii.iistillo, fought on August 2otli : —

" Tlie Roviilist troops consisted of three thousand two hun- dred infiintrv, a handful of cavalry, and two guns. The enemy's column at Sesnia was five thousand strong, comprising six gims, two regiments of horse, besides foot soldiers. Tiie advantage was on their side aa far as numbers were concerned ; but the ground leading to Dicastillo was very diflkult to attack, ami thickly planted with vines and olive-groves, utterly impossible for cavalry evolutions. At six A.M. the enemy could be seen in the misty distance advancing through the dcfdes of the moun- tains in long columns, preceded by a thin line of cavalry, searching the country in their front. General Elio, who com- manded the Carlist force, soon made his dispositions for defence. One battalion was posted in the little Plaza of the Cathedral, which commands a view for miles around, a second on some rising ground to the right front, the third in line with the second on a neighbouring hill, while our extreme right was protected by anotlier battalion in echelon with the tliird, and placed on a position bo steep that at first sight the natural defences would have appeared to the non-military eye sutlicient for its protection. But no ; for it was the key of our formation, as some hours were destined to prove. Nearer and nearer the enemy came, until glasses were no longer necessary, and artil- lery, cavalry, and infantry coidd be plainly discerned traversing the plain towards us. . . . Suddenly the enemy's column ap- peared to detach behind a di^^tant promontary on a new line. But this was only a feint to throw the Carlist general off his guard; and a little later a IVc.-li cliange of position brought the Republican troojis into tlieir origiiud line. Their artillery opened at an absurd range, the shells striking the

136 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

the ground at least a mile from the centre of our defence — a spot where Don Carlos had stationed himself with his suite. Another fire minutes and a second shot fell about two hundred yards from where the King was standing, and in a direct line with him. His Staff entreated their Sovereign to retire a little, as he was only exposing himself unnecessarily, but nothing woidd induce their leader to remove until his presence was required at another point, on which the foe were advancmg ; for the Republican general, Santa Pan, was trying to turn our right. On his men came at the dovible, making every effort to gain the olive-groves and rises which formed a thick network in front of the ground where our fourth battalion stood. Ammu- nition was short. Many men had only ten rounds each in their pouches, and some even less. * Attack with the bayonet,' was the word, and the battahon charged down hill at their Repub- lican assailants, who were thoroughly out of breath from previous exertions. There was no collision. The enemy fled in disorder, and the two guns placed on the Carlist right played with great havoc upon the foe in his disordered flight. At the same time two companies of another battalion charged the Re- publicans from the centre of our position. The combatants were so mixed that it was hard to tell friend from foe, until at last a cheer told us that the Carlists had again succeeded. The Grovernment troops were utterly disorganized, and retiring as fast as their legs could carry them. However, the Repub- lican cavalry then interposed, for at this point horsemen coidd act, and, unsupported as they were by guns, prevented any fm-ther pursuit. But the day was over, and as I write, the dis- comfited Grovernment troops can be seen retiring to their original position at Sesma. If Don Carlos had as much cavalry as his opponents, would they have thus escaped ? Experience teaches us otherwise, and until the Royahsts are provided with

SPANISH FICIITINC. 137

guns and liorsemcu it will be cliilicult for them to convert ii ilefeut into a rout."

It imist l>c ucKIlhI here that I did not select these extracts. I took tlie first sheets tliat fell under my hand in a pile of newspapers. 1 know the ju^cntienien who wrote these letters, I was frequently with them in the field, saw how careful they were ahout their statements, and have not the slightest hesitation in endorsing every word they say here.

With reference to Catalonia, much less infor- mation has been pul dished, and I had myself no opportunity of visiting that part of the country ; but the battles of Vich, Rii)oll, Berga, Alpens, c*cc., in ahiiost all of which there were several hundred men killed and made prisoners, show that in that province, too, "the sanguinary com- bats of Centellas" were rather the exception than the rule.

Since I liavc adduced otlu'r jieople's de- scriptions of Spanish fighting, 1 may as well have recourse to their opinion with reference to the moral condition and the state of organiza- tion of the Legitimist Volimteers. The corres- ])ondfiit of the Stinnlind, with whom 1 had more than once the pleasinv of sharing the laligues

138 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

and privations of campaigning, stated tliat —

" Great things have been accomplished in the teeth of great difficulties ; and I question if there is any instance on record of an insurrectionary force having been got together and trained to present a martial appearance and stand firm in a period so brief."

The Daily Neios correspondent (not the smart, but the business-like one), in a letter dated Sep- tember 1st, expressed the opinion that: —

" It is wonderful how such an army as the Carlist leaders have gathered together can present even such an appearance of disciphne as it does in the face of every possible difficulty, and more especially how, now that it consists of such a formidable body, funds can be found for its payment. Possibly the men may be contented with rations, and live in hopes of receiving tlieir pay aU in a lump after the fall of some large town shall have yielded its coffers as a prize of war. A more cheerful or better behaved set of men I have never seen, and, marvel of marvels, not a single instance of anything like drunlcenness can I recall, notwithstanding that the victory at Dicastillo and the fall of Estella were dovible events which might well have led any member of Tattersall's to bet on the contrary."

While the distinguished officer who represented the leading English journal, wrote, on August 19th and 28th—

" Undoubtedly the Eoyalists are each day becoming more formidable, and, if they had rifles enough, could arm fifty

SPANISH FIOnTINO. 139

thousand men in ii week. Tlio latter seem plentiful enough, and each day the authorities arc pestered by liundreda of volun- teers, eagerly asking permission to enroll themselves

"The Carlist troops do not require much time to turn out in marching order. A man is considered equipped when ho is provided with arms, sixty rounds of ball cartridge, his food for the day, and a spare shirt. As for marching, I have never seen their superiors, four miles an hour in six continuous hours being frequently accomplished by them, the men looking as fresh at the end of their journey as when they started. The rations are good and ample ; in fact, a Carlist receives a quarter of a pound more meat than the British soldier. There is one great drawback, speaking of the RoyaUst soldiery ; for although they are all volunteers, who love fighting for fighting's sake, and are at brave and Jine-Iooking a bodi/ of men as a Oencral could wish to command, they hate the idea of drill, and very little instruction is given them."

As to the Royalist officers, lie makes them the compliment of saying that they " are not the bears they are represented by their enemies to be ; on the contrary, they studiously try to avoid giving offence, and are as gentlemanly a set of men as it has ever been my good fortune to associate wilh."

Though the IJasque and Navarre Provinces are considered to present sometiiing homogeneous, there is a considerable diU'erence in the tempera-

140 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

ment and character of the population of these provinces. I mentioned already that up to the time I left the Carlist camps, the Biscaya men had taken part in scarcely any engagements, and consequently I am not able to judge of their behaviour in the field ; but I saw the Navarre, the Guipuzcoa, and the Alava men fighting on several occasions, and the opinion I formed of their respective merits as soldiers is this. All of them are men of unlimited courage, to all appearance perfectly indifferent to life, and amongst them the Alava men must have the palm given to them. The reputation which they acquired under Zu- malacarregui, who always preferred them to any other men in the North of Spain, is certainly not unmerited. They will stand any amount of fire with the steadiness of the best regular troops of any country, while their dash would, I believe, exceed that of a good many of the latter, on account of the Alaveses being, as a rule, very short and very light men. They came late into the field at the present rising, yet in about a fortnight after three of their battalions had been formed, I saw the men of one of them quietly sitting and smoking their cigarettes under a fire that would be considered, even by very ex- perienced troops, as an unpleasantly heavy one.

SPANISH FIOnTIXG. 1 1 1

They are still more sober tluiii tlie (Juipuzcoa or the Navjirrc men, and remarkalily obedient and true to tluir eliicfs, Tlie-ir jirovince Itciiig com- paratively a small and poor one, they have neither the han^i^htiness of the Navarrcses, nor the exelii- siveness of the Guipuzcoanos.

After the Alava men, the best soldiers seem to be the Guipuzcoa lads ; at least they stand fire better than the Navarre men, and are the most capable of enduring fatigue ; but they are not so plucky as their neighbours, and rather heavy for guerilla warfare. Besides, many of them have the disadvantage of not knowing a single word of Spanish— a circumstance wjiich estranges them to a certain extent from the rest of the Carlist army. Their exclusiveness is, in fact, so great that uj) to the present day they still celebrate the ainiual anniversary of a battle which they fought Avith the Navarre men in 1;j21, when it would appear they beat their neighbours with sticks; and so on the 24th of June of every year, processions are organised in the Guipuzcoa, men, Women, and chiliireii ((iiudiy tukiiig part in them, all ariiii-'d with the lionirly weapon which served their ancestors nearly six centin-ies ago to beat a neighbouring tribe with which they ought

142 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

to be, to judge by the surfece of things, on the best possible terms at present.

If the Guipnzcoanos could be taught to speak English, they would probably become most sym- pathetic to old-fashioned Englishmen, as there is scarcely any other people in the whole of Europe so inclined to stick to their national customs and usages, as the Guipuzcoamen are. They are also remarkably hard-working people, thoroughly vir- tuous, and extravagantly bigoted. A great number of such of them as succeed in picking up Spanish, and feel the want of a larger field for their activity, emigrate to South America, make- fortunes there, and return back to their native villages, with their Guipuzcoanism as intact as is the Scottism of the Scotchman who, after having travelled twenty years all over the world, returns to his native lochs and hills. Contrary to their neighbours, the Navarre men who have once gone to South America, if they return home at all, re- nounce all their old sentiments relating to " Dios, Patria, y Rey," and become the fiercest Liberals and Radicals. A considerable number of those enriched Navarrese peasants, known in their own country under the designation of " Americanos,'' were living last Summer on the French side of

SPANISH ricHTING. 143

the Pyrenees, on account of tlieir opinions chisli- ing with thohc of their anned hindsineii.

As far as military (hish ^oas, the Navarre Vohniteers are ininiitalile. Their bayonet charge is soniethin,^ really worth lookinj^ at, and sur- passes anylliiug the Zouaves were evrr caiiaiilc of performing in the days of their greatest savagery and glory. Truly speaking, the Navarre men do not understand any fighting but that with the bayonet. 'J'he rifle seems to them quite a useless arm, and. being very careless, they frequently lose or forget their pouches, or tear them through neglect, and drop all the cartridges. There is even a belief that sometimes they purposely throw them away, as being too cumbersome an article to be carried. When one has to take a mountain path by which a Navarre battalion has just passed, one is sure to pick up cartridges at almost every step, and when a Navarrese battalion is ordered to fire, it does it so hurriedly and with such an utter disregard to aim, that the spectator becomes con- vinced that all these lads wish is simply to get rid of their annnunition, and to hasten the moment of a bayonet attack. To stand lire they are utterly unable, and as soon as it becomes some- what hot, no human force will retain them: they must either go forward or run away. And this

144 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

runnuig away does not appear to them as any- thing objectionable. You cannot make them under- stand that it is a flight ; in their eyes it is simply an escape, by means of which they get the best of their enemy : " for the enemy's evident intention was to slaughter a number of us," would argue the Navarrese, " and through our escape he got snubbed." This view seems to be implied in their very language, for the process of withdrawing from under the enemy's fire is described neither as huir (to fly), nor as correr (to run), but as escaparse (to escape, a verb neuter).

The general brutality of the Navarre men is beyond anything that can be well imagined in more civilized countries, and the manner in which they treat their horses will be an eternal check upon any attempt to introduce cavalry service amongst them. But this brutality is by no means wicked ; it is purely animal, and does not prevent them in any degree from being, upon the whole, a very good-natured, honest, and even exquisitely polite people, as long as you are polite with them.

The disgust which all the Vasco-Navarre men have for regular military service, from which their fueros (provincial charters) always kept them aloof, is so inveterate that I doubt whe-

SPANISH FIGIITIXG. M')

Iher they will ever be iiidnccd, nn<lcr any r-ir- cumstiinces whatever, to form regular regiments. Anything like discipline is perfectly repugnant to them, and you would not be able to compel tluim to move a step in the name of military duty ; !»nt if you can manage to stimulate their pride, or (d make them believe that their services are wantetl for the defence of what they understand to be the glory of their province, or for the security of their homes or of their hu-al jjvivileges, there is no amount of danger that these men would not undergo.

With all the good qualities of the raw Vasco- Navarre fighting material, one could not easily conceive a more unpleasant position than that oi' a subaltern oflicer of the Carlist army. Unless he is persistently ahead of his men, he is not only disregarded and insidted, but frequently shot at by them during a fight. While if he keeps ahea<l of them, he is often exposed to be killed or wounded through their careless and ignorant way of hand- ling their arms. In almost every Carlist engage- ment one or two officers are killed from behind l-y the blunders of their own men, and at the battle of Udave the Volunteers of a Navarre bat- talion shot in that unintentional way Carlos VOL. II. L

1^6 SPAIX AXD THE SPANIARDS.

Caro, one of tlie bravest and most accomplished officers the Carlist army possessed.

One point more remains to be alhided to in connection with Spanish fighting, and that is Spanish cruelty. Though it ma}^ seem ridiculous to speak of humanity in butcher}^, yet unmistake- able manifestations of the most sublime as well as of the most wicked sides of human nature may be noticed, even in a thoroughly desperate and savage fight. I had some field experience in Turkey, in the Crimea, in France, and in Spain, and 1 found the great mass of all soldiers, as a rule, to be wantonly cruel when excited. If on the one side instances are well known of officers and men having been carried out of the midst of a fierce hand-to-hand struggle In^ some courageous and kind-hearted fellow, cases, on the other hand, of prisoners being butchered, and wounded, friends as well as enemies, finally and brutally despatt-hed to a better world by soldiers unwilling to expose themselves to an additional danger b}' carrying them away, are just as Avell known to everyone who has had to take part in, or closely to watch actual fighting. To expect therefore that semi- bavaii'e mountaineers should be less cruel than

SPANISH FKaiTINti. 1 17

well (liscipliiK'il aniiios arc, would be umvasou- a'ule; but iVuiu what I have seen, I must confess I was astonished at the comparatively small amount of cruelty i-xhibited by them. As a matter of fact, the Kcpuliiican soldiers were in- comparably more brutal and violent than the Carlists, and the explanation of this is ])lain enotigh. While the former were bent on the extermination of their enemy, the latter had strict orders ^iven to them by their leaders to exert every efVort in treating the enemy as kindly as possible, with a view to gain his sympathy, and to make him desert his ranks. In giving the views of old General \\\\>> in the Hrst volume, I had already occasion to mention that this was part of the general Carlist policy; and during the whole of my stay amongst them, 1 knew of only one instance of wholesale extermination viz., a small detachment taken at Cirauqui. Sonie \'oluntarios de la Lihi-rtad were defending that place. The Carlists took it after a couple of hours lighting, and the garrison, reduced to sometliing like thirty-live or forty men, had to surremler. They were all locked up in the village church, and a jnutida cohtnti' was lett in the place to guard them, as the colinun which captured the fort had immediately to nuirch. It would appear,

L 2

148 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

however, that the prisoners who were all ultra- Republicans, had been ver}^ violent with the popu- lation of the place when it Avas in their hands ; consequently, as soon as the first excitement of the fight was over, and the villagers began to return to their homes, they all congregated round the church and demanded the death of the pri- soners. Things went on so far that the peasant men and women assailed the doors of. the church, and the commander of the partida volante lost all control over his force, who joined, of course, the villagers. Finally, the doors and windows were broken open, the church invaded, and all the prisoners slaughtered, except two or three who nianaged to escape more or less severely wounded. I must mention here that Baron von Walters- kirchen, the Austrian gentleman whom I have already frequently mentioned, and who remained on that occasion, somehow or other, behind the departed column, exerted his best efforts to save these fellows ; but his exertions were almost in vain ; all he was able to obtain was that the commander of the partida volante was dis- missed.

But if such moiistrosities are on the whole but rarely perpetrated by Carlists, they are of more frequent occurrence on the Republican side. The

SPANISH rUJHTIXd. H'>

description of the fight near Tolosa, p;ivcn above, sliows how the}' burn farms anil peasants' dwell in-xs for miles around wherever they pass on Carlist territory, ami in Citalonia things seemed to be still worse. At all events, after the battle of Alpens, both in that town and in the village of 8an Quirce there took place a pillage, slaughter, and rapine of a nature to pre- clude description. Old men and woinen were tied by the hands and legs, their daughters violated by the Republicans under the parents* very eyes, and afterwards the ^vhole family sliot or pierced with bayonets, and their houses with the (k'ad bodies in tlicni burnt to the ground. But justice requires to add here that the regular Republican troops are not by any means so bad in this respect as the so-called Miijuelites, Volun- tarios de la Libertad, and similar militia bodies.

As a matter of course, a good dual of uinieces- sary suffering is inflicted here on both sides through ignorance and through want of material means ; but that is not cruelty, properly speaking. I saw, for instance, both Republicans and Carlists severely wounded, lying more tiiaii twenty-fotn- hours in the liild without being attended to. But there were, then, neither ambulances nor sur- geons, and when there were surgeons, some of

150 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS. •

thein dressed the wounds, as it were, on the sahxd principle, with salt and vinegar.* The manner in which the bodies of the dead are buried is perfectly revolting to a man accustomed to see this duty performed with a certain amount of reverence ; but it is well known that nothing is so much disregarded in Spain as a dead man, consequently the custom of a perfectly naked body, being, without further ceremony, shot into a ditch out of coffin which has served the same purpose on a good many occasions, and Avill probably do so on many more, must be looked upon rather as a national custom than anything else.

A good deal has also been wa-itten about the objectionable use which the Carlists make of petroleum, but in a low stage of " scientific war- fare," to set fire to the enemy's camps and en- trenchments was at all times a customary practice. Had the Carlists possessed big guns, they would

* Quite lately matters have improved through the establish- ment of several large ambulances. Tlie Legitimist members of the Paris Ked Cross sent out a couple of gentlemen with about a £1,000 of money and some medical stores, while several rich Spanish ladies began to exert their efforts in organizing the interior service of the two or three hospitals which had thus been brought into existence.

SPANISH FIGHTING ;. 151

))i-(ilialily iKit lia\(' iiiiidc use of (lie Miifj;li.sli "[urden I)innj)s ami llic l)arrfls of i»ftrolciiiii, of uliicli the)' now .soiuetimcs avail tlieinsclvcs ; for, aft(!r all, tin; use of petroloum, as a means of destruction, is neither |iartic'nlarly convenient nor eflicacious. In the wholi' (if my rx|>crieiice with the ( 'arlists, I had an opportunity of seeing the use of petroleum only once, at the siege of Viana. On the 30th of August, two battalions with four cannons, under the coni- inand of General Olio, entered the village situated abt)ut three miles north of the bridges across the Ebro near LogroHo, and began the siege of two churches and an ohi tower, which were fortified and garrisoned by some thirty Hussars of Pavia, and about a hundred and twenty National Guards. For nearly thirty-six hours, four cannons and fifteen hundred rifles were desperately firing upon the thick walls of these ancient edifices, without producing any eff'ect whatever. A Re- publican colunui at last showing itself from across the river, the Carlists saw that the loss of any more time or cartridges would be utterly fatal to them, and, consecpiently, brought up a little pump and a few barrels of petroleum, the Rcpiirting of which had scarcely begini when the garrison hoisted the white flag and expressed

152 SPAIX AND THE SPANIARDS.

its preference to surrender, to the prospect of being burnt alive.

Upon the whole, an unconcerned observer can- not exactly see in what way the use of petroleum is more objectionable in such a case than the use of mines or torpedoes, universally admitted to be a legitimate means of attack and defence. The result of the combat on that occasion was not the worse on account of the use of petroleum, for the garrison was, as usual, disarmed and sent across the Ebro to Logrono, all the fortifications of the churches and the tower destroyed, and the village of Viana transformed into a place garrisoned by a small flying column of Carlists, instead of a similar column of Republicans.

15'6

CHAPTER IV.

ALFOXSISM versus CARLISM,

n^IIE abdiciitiou of Anuulco, \vliHtu\Li' may JL have beeij the view of European politicians upon it, had one great advantage for Spain, be- sides that t>f freeinir the throne from a sovereign about whom people did not care : it reduced the number of persons who thought themselves entitled to govern Spain, and consequently destroyed a cor- responding number of political parties. As long as Amadeo was king, there were, besides him, Don Al- fonso,* the Duke of Montpensier, and Don Carlos,

• The fact of tliiTC buing two Don Alfonsos in the political field of Spain —the one, son of Queen Isabella, the other tlio brother of Don Carlos — seems to confuse a pood many English- men. At all events, the two distinet persons have been mistaken OS one and the some, even in public journals. Wo will, therefore, for the sake of convenience, spell the reactionary Don Aljjhonso

154 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

each of them having a party, and entertaining the hope of coming some day to power. When he abdicated, Montpensier, whose chxims were never based upon any legal right to the throne, saw too clearly how little chance there was for a foreigner to govern Spain, and he wisely gave np all further idea of changing his position of a wealth}^ Seville naranjero (orange-merchant, as he is called), for that of a crowned target for Re- publican marksmen. In February, 1873, Spain got thus at the same time rid of Amadeo and of Montpensier, of the Amadeists and the Montpensierists, and has now to deal only with the young Alfonso and Don Carlos. Let us see here what are the respective rights of the two remaining pretenders to the throne.

In ancient times, the legislation upon the suc- cession to the throne in Spain was as confused as all legislation in an early stage of civilisation must necessarily be, and such laws as existed then remained in the glorious state of non-codi- fication prevailing up to the present time in the

(brotlier of Don Carlos, and commander-in-chief of the Carhst army in Catalonia) with the old-fashioned ph, and the other one (son of Isabella, now a mere school-boy, but expected to be some day a very liberal prince), with the more modern^.

ALFONSISM versus CARLISM. \')'j

otlicrwisc Iti'mitifiil ;iiul \vtll-iv^iilat.c<l IJritisli isles. Ill tliis wiiy anything like a serious re- tV-rc'iice to tlu- Sj)aiiisli law of successiuii must be out of the (jucstiou ; but souie points in connexion •svitli this subject can be stated easily enough.

Tlie ancient monarchy of the (ioths, to wiiich the invasion of the Moors put an end, was an elective one, both male and female sovereigns, being admitted to the tlirone. \\'liile the Moors retained still in their possession the brightest and richest parts of the Peninsula, in its northern and less accessible regions, several independent king- doms sprang u]\ and were known as Asturias, Navarre. Aragon, Catalonia, &c. In all these kingdoms there appears never to have been any settled theory as to succession, but sure it is that women were not excluded from the inheritance to the throne, for we see them frequently occupying it. But as sovereigns were then rather proprietors than managers of their kingdoms, it often hap- pened that two distinct kingdoms were united by the marriage of their sovereigns. So, for instance, the Queen of Castile, Dona ilhira, was married to the King of Navarre, Don Sancho, and the two kingdoms seem to have been amalgamated, lier- muda III., King of Leon, dying without male heirs, his daughter Doua Sancha inherited his

156 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

throne, and having married Ferdinand I., King of Castile, those two kingdoms were also united, and so on. The Cortes, the magnates, and the people of the various kingdoms seldom presented any objection to swearing allegiance to female sovereigns. They at all events accepted Isabel the Catholic, and subsequently her two daughters. In 1475 the Cortes of Castile had even the ques- tion of succession under direct discussion, and declared that, according to the law and usages immemorial, the female heirs had the right of inheritance to the throne in the absence of male heirs. Their declaration concluded with the proclamation that : La Infanta Doha Isabel era la verdadera heredera del trono y que a ella sola correspondia gohernar el Estado.

The Cortes of Aragon seems to have been the only one which has occasionally refused to be governed by a woman ; at all events, when Dona Isabel, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabel the Catholic, was proposed as heir-apparent, they declined to accept her, but on her death they accepted a son of hers, Don Miguel. Yet even this refusal of the Aragon Cortes seems to have been the result of mere inconsistency, for they were undoubtedly governed by a female, Dofia Petronila, who had, by her marriage with the

ALFOXf^ISM versus CAULISM. l.')7

rei^Lcnlnp: Count of I»;ircfloiia, united the thrones uf Cutaloniii Jiiid Aragon. The Aragon Cortes subsequently recognised also Dona Juana la Loca (the mad), daughter of Ferdinainl and Isabel. As to Navarre, it is well known that leniule sovereigns were admitted to that throne, for it was through the marriage of Dona Juana, daugliter of Don En- rique, to Philippe the Handsome, that the crowns of France and Navarre became for a while united.

Thus the Carlist assertion that the Salic law is a fundamental law of ancient Spain is tho- roughly false, and even the denomination of that law in Spanish history as Ley Nmva, proves that there was formerly another law, whicli was neither Nueva nor Salic. In fact, the Salic law was first introduced in Spain by Felipe V. in 1713, and under the following circumstances.

The throne of Spain passed, after the death of Ferdinand and Isabel, to their second daughter Doiia Juana, married to the Ezherzog Philip of Asturia. The succession of Carlos I. (or, accord- ing to the German reckoning, V.), Felipe II., III., and IV., and of Carlos II., presented no ditli- culties, as there was always a son to take the place of the father. But Carlos II. had no chil- dren, and with him terminated the so-called Asturian dynasty in Spain, the throne passing,

158 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

after all sorts of home as well as of foreign disputes, to the second grandson of Maria Theresa, sister of Carlos II., married to Louis XIV. The young Prince, bearing in France the title of the Duke of Anjou, ascended the Spanish throne undijr the name of Felipe V. That was about the greatest curse that could have befallen the unhappy Peninsula, for the accession of the French Prince to the Spanish throne aroused the jealousy of England, while, at the same time, it armed against Spain the Austrian House and the House of Savoy, both of which considered themselves entitled to that throne through mar- riage alliances concluded two or three generations back. This quarrel culminated in what is known as the War of Succession, so much celebrated for a general ruin and slaughter, lasting over twelve years, and concluded by the Treaty of Utrecht,. and the final establishment of Felipe V. as the founder of the dynasty of Spanish Bourbons. At the same time the new king renounced, by that treaty, for himself and his descendants, all rights to the throne of France.

Felipe V., who by that time had become very popular in Spain, was anxious — since he had lost all prospects of the French throne— at least firmly to preserve the possession of the Spanish one in

ALFOXSISM ve)-.'<u,<t CARLISM. l.V.)

the hiiiids (tf liis dynusty, coiicvivcil llic plan of clumgiiij; the law of .sufoessioii, by. if not wholly excliuliii;;' women iVoni the iiihiiitanci;, at all evL-nts ivstiictini; their ri-^hts.* In this way the brothers of the hin«^ had i)referenfe ^iven to them over his danghters. Everybody in Europe, and in England esj)ecially, expressed great delight at this arrangement, as it ecjiisiderably lessened the chances of the Spanish throne falling under the influence of some ioreign power throngh the marriage of a female heir. There were still aj)- jirehensions among European politicians that in two or three generations France might conclude a marriage with a (^)neen of Spain, and the out- side world's ears be once more shocked by the ex- clamation : // HI/ a plus de Ft/t-enees ! (which, after all, was but a snobbish boast.) But one of the most curious ])oints in the whole allair is, that while J-jigland exerted all herelforts to have the Salic law established in Spain in 1713, some hundred and twenty years later (iSo;*)) no end of English lives and English money were wasted for

• The new law seems to liave been roinmkiibly bailly com- posed. An able Simnish lawyer, Senor Montolin, sliows that while some provisions of it gave preference to male over female lieirs in the direct Une of descent, othei*8 iiicreikscd tlie rights uud chances of dialaul femalu relatives iu lutoi-ol lines.

160 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

the sake of having it abolished again, and a female baby two years old put upon the throne in preference to a grown-up man. Another not less amusing circumstance was that Felipe Y., by the introduction of the new order of inherit- ance, abolished those very laws in accordance with which he himself had become king at all ; for it was from his grandmother, a female heir to Carlos II., that he inherited the crown. For our present purpose, however, three other points of this mis- chievous alteration of the law of succession are of importance.

1st. That the Nuevo Reglamento or Ley Nueva, was made in a French, not in the usual Spanish manner. It was first issued and then notified to the (Jortes. It was a mere auto acordado, a decree ' octroy e a la Frimgaise, not a law proposed to, and discussed and passed by, the Cortes in the way usual in Spain.

2nd. That since the right of thus changing the fundamental law of succession is recognised to Felipe V. there is no reason for not recognising it to Carlos IV. and Ferdinand VII., who subse- quently rechanged it again for the old one ; and

3rd. That if the Nuevo Reglamento be accepted, its distinct provision that the heir to the throne should be born and educated in Spain or in

ALFONSISM versus CARLISM. IC.l

Spaiiisli ciuiiiinions sliuuld 1x3 strictly agrocJ tu.

These three points coiiiplctely iiivaliilate all the chiiiiis of the present Pretender, I)nii (Jarlos. lie declares that his rights are based on the fiindaniental laws of the country, while they are based in reality upon a mere decree of Felipe V. He declares the pragniatic sanction of Carlos IV. (of 1789), made public by Ferdinand VII. in 1830, to be illegal, while in fact it was much mure legally issued than the Nuevo Reglainento. And finally, if the law of Felipe V. be accepted, its provision that the heir to the throne should be born anil educated in Spain excludes Don Carlos from succession, for he was born and educated in Austria.

But these are not all the reasons invalidating the rights of Don Carlos. There are some uiurc. The Pretender, known as Charles V., after the close of the Seven Years' War was interned in Bourges, and abdicated his rights in favour of his son, Count de ^lontemolin (Charles VI). IK- had two sons besides that, Don Juan and Don Fernando. When the Carlist attempt took place ill ISGO at San Carlos de la Rapita, Don Carlos and Don Fernando were captured, and were about to be shot, but their lives were spared upon the understanding that they should sign the abdica- tion of their pretensions, which they did on

VOL. II. M

162 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

the 23rd of April of the same year at Tortosa, though, as we have already seen, they after- wards disavowed this abdication. The third brother, Don Juan, who did not take part in that attempt, and who might therefore have some semblance of right to the claims of his father, and his eldest brother, first seemed disposed to assert it, but subsequently, in 1863 renounced his rights, in favour of Isabella. In this way the claims of every one of the Pretenders ought to be considered as having been finally settled, and so matters stood till 1868, when Isabella fled, and Don Juan all at once launched another abdication of the claims he had renounced already. This time it was in favour of Don Carlos, his son, a young man of twenty years of age, and now the Pretender. From whatever point, therefore, we look upon the new Don Carlos, he cannot make good anything like a semblance of rights to the throne. And if there is any person at all entitled to it, it is un- doudtedly the eldest son of Isabella, in whose favour she formally abdicated, in Paris, on the 27th of June, 1870. The only objection to the rights of the young Don Alfonso, which the (Jarlists and the Republicans were at all capable of evex bringing forward, was that the legitimacy

ALFOXSISM versus CARLISM. l»l.'i

of his birth was (loiihtfiil. But this is evidently no argiinu'iit, since Isabelhi's liiisl)an(l never re- pudiated him. and since, aftiT all it was she, and not Don Francisco d'Assise, that Avas the sove- reign; and the fact of tlie young Prince being her son has never been questioned.*

But if it is tlius easy enough to express one's opinion as to the respective rights of the two Pretenders, it is by no means equall}' easy to say which of them (if any) is more likely to come to the Spanish throne. And the reasons for hesitating to give a definite answer on this point are manifold.

To begin with Don Alfonso, the Prince of Asturias, is barely sixteen years old, having been born in November, 1857. He is still at school in Vienna, and in the five or six years which must elapse before he becomes a man, a good many quite unexi)ccteil events may take place, facilitating or preventing his accession to the

• Truly speaking, however, none of the living Spanisli princes have any right wliatever to the tlirone of tliat country, if the succession law of Fehpo Y., who was the head of the whole of this dynasty, were in any way complied with ; for Charles IV. was born and educated in J>aples, and consequently bod no right to reign in Spain ; aiul if ho had no right to reign, so neither Ferdinand VII., nor any of his brothers, nor Isubella. nor the young Alfouao, have ever had any right either.

M 2

164 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

throne. If he were called to his country now, it would in no way improve matters, as a Regency or a Council would be necessary, and the miserable interinidad would thus remain actually prolonged. Besides, his mother is not a woman likely to let him go to Spain without trying to go there herself; and her arrival would be a signal for a new revolution. She persisted in not surrendering her crown for nearly two years after she had been overthrown, and events, as well as friends or foes, were equally clearly demonstrating to her every day that her reign was no longer possible. She yielded only to the advice and remonstrances of Napoleon, and this not before she had seen that Spaniards had made up their minds rather to have a foreign Prince than to run the risk of seeing her and her camarilla back again at Madrid. But her abdication came too late. In June, 1870, the young Alfonso had lost all his chances. And a good job it was both for the Prince and the country, for his subsequent fall would not have been as peaceful as that of Amadeo. It would have been almost impossible to tear away a young Prince of twelve years of age from his mother. If he had been called to the country, his family would have had to be admitted too, and in a few

ALFOXSISM versus CARLISM. 165

days after tlie ceremonies and festivities of a coronation, Madrid would have had the King and his friends ; a Regent, or a Council of Re- gency, with a party to it; Doua Isabel and her party ; Doua Christina and her party ; the Duke of Montpensier and his party; and so on, with the Republicans of various shades in the back- ground. And we know only too well what that would have meant.

When Montpensier, but a short time since a deadly enemy of Isabella, saw that he too had not only no chance of seizing the crown, but that he could not get even as a deputy into the Cortes, having been beaten at the elections in Asturias, he began to try a reconciliation with Isabella with a view to a prospective Regency.

The negotiations were painful and difficult. Had they been carried out more successfully, and peace between the two parties concluded sooner, the Republic would have had much greater difhculty to establish itself, for the Conservatives would have been able to seize the power when Amadeo gave it up. Keeping in view that money can do any- thing in Spanish politics, and that the Conserva- tives arc the only party that have plenty of it, the occasion may be considered as having been a very favourable one at that moment, and if it

166 SPAIN A^D THE SPANIARDS.

was missed, it was so on account of nothing having been agreed upon then between Mont- pensier and Isabella at the right time. It was only just before Amadeo's departure from Spain that they concluded an alliance on the basis of a prospective marriage between Don Alfonso and the youngest daughter of Montpensier. The ex- Queen was to give up all political interference, and the Duke to become the Regent till the ma- jority of his nephew. Measures were at once taken to work the country in this direction ; large amounts of money were prepared for emergencies ; the foreign Courts were influenced through the Orleans Princes and their party, many of the members of which were among the French Am- bassadors in various countries. M. Thiers was worked in the same direction, and apparently secured to the Alfonso cause, while Duke d'Aumale and the Count of Paris showed their disposition to accomplish in the London money-market what their credit was able to do. The postponement of the recognition of the Spanish Republic by the European Powers was to a considerable extent credited by the members of the party to the work they had been doing.

But presently new difficulties arose between Isabella and her brother-in-law. It was under-

ALFOXSISM versus CAULISM. 1^"

Stood, it appears, in the original arraiigenR-iit, that Marfori and all the rest of the entvnraijc of the ex-Qnecn would be put aside. Christina was quite on .Muntpe-nsicr's side in this case; but the bed-chamber annnrHhi <>f Isabrlhi had so in- fluenced her within a few weeks, that this con- dition was completely disregarded. And as Montpensier greatly insisted upon it, and showed a disposition to inquire closely into the ])rivate lite of his sistcr-in-hiw, tlu^ compact was broken be- fore it had time to bear any fruit whatsoever.

While these negotiations went on I happened to be in Paris, and to have now and then some information of what was going on in the Bazilef- sky Hotel, and from what I lieani then, I must con- clude that notwithstanding all the accusations that had been always brought against Queen Christina, she is, upon the whole, a nnich more reasonable and probably a better woman than her daughter. She undoubtedly liked power and money. But who does not? She was at all events sufli- ciently affectionate to sometimes sacrifice ambi- tion to love, and whenever something was de- monstrated to her, she proved capable of under- Standing it and of acting accordingly. In Isabella, little was to be seen of anything of the sort. "While she was said to change her lovers as IVe-

168 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

quently as she changed ministers, and during the whole of her reign certainly never thought of anything hut her purse and her confessor, Christina, even in the Avorst days of her despotism, was sometimes able to forget everything except the feelings of her woman's heart. When the revolt of La Granja broke out, she valiantly resisted all the insults and violence of her own body-guards when, breaking into her bedroom, with arms in their hands, they asked her to sign the Constitution. It w^as only when Sergeant Garcia dragged her out in a chemise into the courtyard, and showed her the man she loved kneeling close to the wall and about to be shot, that she cried out, " Stop ! I sign."

At home as well as abroad Christina was constantly abused for her private life, and "/>wto" was the abominable name by which she was called by her own soldiers. But what did she in reality? She was married at twenty-three to a disgusting man of forty-five, Avho had already had three wives.* She lived friendly with him, bore him two children, and

* The three former wires of Ferdinand VII. were a Princess of Sicily, a Princess of Portugal, and a Princess of Saxony. The latter died under circumstances which created some sensa- tion. He had children by none of them, and married Princess

ALFONSISM v>'rsus CAIlLlhJM. 109

was left a widow at twcnty-scveii. Sliu w;is a Neapolitan woman, with the blood of lier country in her veins, and lell in love with Ferdinand Munoz, one of the most handsome of her guards- men. It has not been j)roved that she ever com- mitted adultery, and her husband would probably not have left her in possession of power after his death if he had had reason to believe that she had done so. A couple of months after Ferdinand's death Christina secretly married Mufioz, and the shortness of the interval between the death of the first husband and the second marriage is the only thing that can be justly objected to. Some ten years later the marriage was publicly sanc- tioned by a royal decree, Munoz became Duke of Kianzares ; the couple had several children, and lived, and live still, as friendly as any married people do. The old lady is now sixty-eight years of age, and is certainly as active, intelligent, ami energetic as her daughter, who is not fully forty- five; and the mother is surely less priest-ridden. It woidd be absurd to say that Christina made a proper use of power when she held it ; but sure it is

Maria Christina, (laughter of tlio King of the Two Sicilies, with- out ever having seen her, simply because tlio Neapolitan houso was reputed to bo very prolific. The marriage took place in Kovember, 1829, and eleven inontlis later Isabollu wua born.

170 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

that had Isabella better listened to her advice after she attained maturity, she might have preserved her crown, and had she followed her mother's counsel during their exile together in Paris, she might at all events have given a better chance to her son, the Prince of Asturias.

But to return to our subject. The difiiculties standing in the way of Don Alfonso's accession to the throne are not restricted to his family affairs onl^^ His chief drawback is that he has no popular party to support him, though he un- doubtedly possesses a powerful political party. Among the people, properly speaking, he has partisans only in the shopkeeping class of some of the large cities, people who will not either move for him, or sacrifice a peseta. The country folks at large are either Kepublicans or Carlists, or perfect indifferents. There is no end to small boroughs of ten and twenty thousand inhabitants, chiefly of the agricultural class, in which all your efforts to ascertain the political colour of the place are met with the invariable reply, " In esta pob- lacion no tenemos opinion ninguna ;" that is to say, that the people there don't care about any- body or any form of government provided they are left in peace, and taxes — especially the con- trihucion de saiigre, the blood-tax or conscription

ALFONSISM versus CARLIf^M. 171

— arc not increased. In this way, Don Alfonso can really reckon only upon a group of poli- ticians (some of them, it must be said, very in- iluential and experienced), and upon a floating mass of enipleados (government ollicials) out or employ. And it remains to be seen whether the |>rogress which Republican ideas have made all throughout the Peninsula will not prove by fiir to exceed all the influence his party possess. To impose him upon the country by forces must be out of the question, for there is no one to fight for him, and any number of Republicans and Carlists to fight against him. The only chance he seems, therefore, to have lies in Serrano's becoming a Mac^Iahon lor five or seven years, and devoting himself to working up the indif- ferents into Alfonsists, a hard task, and one which the Duke dc la Torre is not likely to undertake, knowing as he does that his past relations to Isabella render it almost impossible for him to have anything to do with her son as long as she lives.

Don Carlos, on the other hand, wliilc he has undoubtedly the popular support of at least one million of men in the various provinces, has no political party to back him. lie has also neither the support of the European Courts, nor the

172 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

monej'' which Alfonso could command ; and the men who surround him are not at all likely to possess the statesmanlike abilities the Alfonso party is credited with. The political and religious theories Don Carlos is supposed to represent — though they are somewhat exag- gerated— are certainly not of a nature to win the sympathies either of the majority of the Spaniards or of the world outside. There must, therefore, evidently be a deadly struggle between Alfonsisra and Carlisra before anything is settled in Spain. The most likely result of this struggle is, in my opinion, that both parties will ultimately succumb, making room for a firmly established republic. But I prefer giving on this point the opinion of more competent judges than myself. Here is, as nearly as possible, what Seiior Figueras — undoubtedly one of the most acute and enlightened judges of Spanish politics — told me during one of the conversations I had with him at Madrid.

" For me," said Seiior Figueras, " there is only one Conservative party in Spain — that of Don Alfonso. It is the only one which has some real root in the country and which counts in its ranks really able men. The Carlists look, of course, more active and more dangerous, and so they are,

ALFOXSISM versus CAULISM. 173

perhaps. lUit we know, if straii;:;crs do not, tluit Ciirlisni means in reality Don Alfonso niiicli moro than it iK)es Don Carlos. I slioiiUl not be asto- nislu'il at all if liy-and-liy the leadin^^ Alfousists — almost all of whom are now at and ahoiit liayonnc — would begin to tender aetual help to the C'arlists; and I know for certain that the leadini; men of the Carlist party, if they had been asked to express their innermost thoughts, would all declare themselves for Don Alfonso. Old Elio, for instance, knows better than anyone how far l)(in Carlos is unfit for the throne, and if he still serves the Carlist cause it is simply out of chivalry and old-fashioned loyalty. He served Ferdinand VI 1. and Charles V. and he considers himself bound to serve Charles VII. l)Ut had you asked him frankly to say whom he l)referred to see on the throne of Spain, from the jtoint of view of the country's welfare, he would certainly say Don Alfonso. About the same thing could be said of Dorrcgaray, Lizarraga, Olio, and other Carlist leaders. All of them were ollieers in Dona Isabella's army. All of them joined tlie Carlist party, not because they objected to her as their Queen, but because they did not wish either to serve the Republic or the stranger, Amadeo. They would never have fought against

174 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

Isabella, and would gladly accept her son. In fact, Carlism of our days, is strong with the populations of the Northern provinces, but by no means with its leaders, who know only too well how little the weak-minded Don Carlos is lit to rule Spain, or even likely to be accepted by any portion of the population as soon as he becomes more known. You said Don Carlos spoke kindly of me and my colleagues when you saw him. I am, therefore, sorry to say such rude things of him, but I believe I am saying only what is true."

On my then asking Seiior Figueras whether he meant to say that Carlist generals were purposely concealing their ft^elings at present, and were fighting apparently in the cause of Don Carlos, but in reality for the restoration of Don Alfonso, " No, that I do not mean to say," he answered. " They probably believe they fight for Don Carlos, but in reality they are simply fighting for a Spanish King against a Republic now, as they fought against an Italian King a few months ago. But as they have no objection whatever to the young Don Alfonso, I should not be asto- nished at all if — should they be successful and the Republic overthrown — they were to find them-

ALFONSISM versus CARLISM. 175

selves at tlie head of tn)<ii)S l»riii,i;ii)g to Madrid I>oii Alfonso instead of Don Carlos."

"So that, practically, you admit the possibility of the Kepiiblio being overthrown r asked 1.

"As things are going on now," answered Senor Figneras, "1 must say that I would not deny the jiossibility of such a thing, though I hope it will not happen. At all events there is this much achieved already, that only two forms of govern- ment have lienGoforth become possible in this country — either a Federal Republic or a Con- stitutional monarchy with Don Alfonso. This is a great gain. A short time ago we had about a dozen combinations considered as equally pos- sible. Yet Don Alfonso, though his chances of coming to power are great, cannot last long. Ilis reign wouhl be merely a short adjournment of the Republic. In holding this opinion, I do not lay stress alone on the progress which Republican ideas are daily making in this country, but also on some of the unavoidable consequences of the I'rince's coming to the throne."

^I'he late J'le.sulente del Poilcr Kjecutlvo began hero to exi)lain to me the various com- binations of political parties whicii would necessarily take place in such a case — combina- tions the description of which here would, I auj

176 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

afraid, unnecessarily tire the English reader, so perplexed by the doings of his own parties, as to take little interest in those of foreign countries.

As a counterpoise to this thoroughly Repub- lican view of the subject, I may be allowed to give here the opinion of another gentleman — perhaps the ablest and most experienced member of the Alfonso party, Seuor Comyn, the Spanish Minister in London. In a conversation I had lately with His Excellency, he said :

" The Republic is Impossible with us. Our people are not educated for it, and that is the chief reason why I always sided with Don Alfonso. Castelar and Carvajal, who sent me to represent Spain at the Court of Queen Victoria, know my views. I never made a.nj secret of them, and I firmly believe that, whatever may be our immediate future, a day will come when Don Alfonso will as freely enter the Palace of Madrid, and be as heartily welcomed there, as my son will be in this house when he returns home after having finished his studies. But Don Alfonso must have a moustache w^hen he comes to Spain. Before that, his entry would be very undesirable, and if our party begin to hurry they will spoil everything."

177

CIIAPTKll V.

PRIM A\D AMADEO.

rpIlERE is a Spanish story wliich tells us that _L when Fcrdinaml III. — who turned out to be a saint — reached Paradise, and was introduced to the Virgin Mary, she proposed to him to demand any favour he liked ibr his country. The good Sovereign, always anxious about the welfiire of his loyal subjects, asked for oil, garlic, wine, and corn. " Granted," said the Virgin, "what else ?" •* Handsome women, valiant men, and strong mules." "Certainly; what more?" " Jiright skies, bulls, relics, and cigarritos." " By all means ; anything else ?" " A good government." " Oh, no !" exclaimed the Virgin, " never ! For were it granted to Spain, no angel wutdd any longer remain with us in heaven."

The Si)aniard's boast of his country as well as his complaint of his government, embodied in

VOL. II. N

178 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

this story, are only too well justified. If the first nionarchs of the Austrian dynasty were cruel, they had at all events the merit of being intelligent ; but since the days of Felipe IT. Spain has never seen on her throne anything but idiot- ism, bigotry, prostitution, and corruption. When Isabella started off for Hendaye and Pan with Father Claret, ]\Iarfori, and a heavy load of trea- sures, including jewels and pictures, which were generally considered as belonging to the Crown, the nation breathed freely. The men who came then to power were all popular; they were all supposed to have more or less suffered for the cause of national liberty ; they had certainly fought against oppression and corruption. Prim, Avho was -virtually, though not nominally, at the head of them, was a self-made man of obscure extraction, and could therefore be fairly supposed to know the real wants of the people. He was, besides, a native of Catalonia, and Catalans are, as a rule, supposed to be at least as shrewd and business-like a set of men as the Scotch or the Gascons. But the chief merit of Don Juan Prim seemed to be that he was an excellent political soldijr, exactly the thing wanted just then for the reconstruction of the Spanish Government, and for the defence of Spain i'rom the attack of

TRIM A\D AMADEO. 179

ai)y Prt'tcinler. Tlic revolution lia<l liccii carrif.Ml with the Wiitchwoiil of " Down with the Jioiir- Itoiis !" And for the mass of the [ieoi)le who caretl anythin^^ at all ahoiit jxilitics, this watch- word meant simply " Down with the Monarchy I"' For the Spaniard's national pride, his Ktjxinoles .sobi-e todos, would never have admitted even the idea of any foreign monarch being resorted to. Besides, there was a })rofliimation ciiculated with Prim's signature attached to it, which said, among other beautiful things: ''Let our cry be the Re- public. Let us get rid of the monarchs who have always brought misfortune upon us. Let us show ourselves worthy descendants of the Cid and Riego."

On the 2.Sth of September, 1808, the troops of the Revolution, under Serrano, met those of the Monarchy under Xovaliches at Alcolea, and on the next day the Provisional .Imita of iMadriil received a congratulatory address from the British residents of the city on the subject of the birth of a new nation, and on the splendid manner in which the revolution had been accomplished. 'J'he .lunta answered that they wt-re sti-etching out their hands to the British people, who gained their liberties two centuries ago, and ofl'ering their heartiest thanks to the noble sons of Albion.

N 2

180 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

Serrano and Prim, after a triumphal entry into Madrid, publicly embraced each other, all party differences seemed to have been drowned in that kiss, and an apparently prodigious, bewilder- ing enthusiasm was ignited, as by magic, in some- thing like seventeen millions of Spanish hearths and heads. True, that about a fortnight later Prim was shot at in the street; but that was considered a meaningless case of some personal rancour — in fact, so trifling a matter that Prim himself ordered the intended assassin to go free. Early in November, however, some rather dis- quieting symptoms began to show themselves. The fact that not a single member of the Repub- lican party had been admitted into the Cabinet formed by the Provisional Government naturally provoked suspicion. Republican demonstrations took place at Madrid, and- were followed by actual insurrections at Cadiz and Malaga, of so formid- able a nature as to compel the Ministry to send out the " pacifying" Generals Pavia and Caballero de Rodas with a large number of troops. It became evident that Prim's promises of establish- ing a Republic had been thrown overboard, and that the leaders of the various monarchical parties had used the Democrats and Republicans for the purpose of overthrowing Isabella, Gonzalez Bravo,

PRIM AND AMADEO. 181

and the camarilla, and taking the power Into their own hands, biitb}' no means fvr the purpose of carrying; out the views of their temporary allies. Senor Olozaga soon drew up a programme in the sense of Constitutional Monarchy, and in the first days of the new year (IHOO), the Pro- visional Government addressed the nation in tin; same sense, the manifesto being signed by all the members of the Cabinet, including Prim himself. This manifesto was answered by one from the National Republican Committee, and being signed by men like Orense, Figueras, Castelar, Chao, &c., showed that there was a complete broach between even the most moderate members of the Republican party and the (Jovernmcnt, and that more blood was to be shed before any dcHnitc arrangement could be arrived at.

The subsequent events are, probably, still fresh in the reader's memory. The Constituent Cortes, elected under the strong influence of the leaders of the various anti-Republican parties, declare<l them- selves in favour of the monarchical form of government, appointing Serrano to the Regency until a suitalile ])erson was found to be seated u])on the throiK'. wliijc Prim became President of the Council of Ministers and (Jeneralissimo of the Armv. The two influences and amliitions

182 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

were thus pretty fairly balanced. And though it has been said that Serrano was thus " locked up in a golden cage," the fact is nevertheless undeniable that Prim with his whole army could do nothing against Serrano with the union of nearly all the monarchical parties to back him. If the finances of Spain had not been in such a desperate condition, and if the spread of knowledge in political science was in any way approaching the spread of the art of political intrigues in the country, Prim might have been brought, perhaps, to finally embrace the cause of the Republic, and would have probably become a great man. He had no lack of energy, he was brave, and de- voured by ambition. He was offered a crown, and would have been readily invested with a dictatorship. But he was aware of his utter ignorance of all that constitutes statesmanship, and was under the impression that the Repub- lican party was not in a position to furnish him the necessary assistance in this respect. He knew also that all financial help was sure to be refused to him by the monetary classes, at home as well as abroad the very moment he established a Republic ; and the foreign diplomatists, by con- stantly pointing out to him the isolation in which Spain would bo placed in monarchical Europe,

rUlM AND A.MADKO. l^D

finally discouragetl any attempt being made by bim in tli.it direction. However, it would not be fair to siij)j)ose that be abamloned the Republican cause wiilioiit mi(K'r^oing a series of strn<;gles with himself. If he was not a Republican or a Deniocrat at heart — as his craving for the titles of Conde do Reus and Marques de Castillejos show — he was good-natured enough to be always on the sitle of what could be represented to him as the cause of justice and progress, and gentlemanly enough to keep his word when he once gave it. Even bis love for fighting, which he enjoyed so much at home, and in Turkey and Morocco, did not prevent him from breaking up the Mexican campaign as soon as he understood what it really meant. -'We are sent here to establish a monarchy in a country where there is is not a single monarchist," wrote he to ^bidrid, and gave up the business.* We have, therefore, amjilc reason for believing that if Prim did not

• This plirasc was Biibscquently nckpted to Spain in the form of : " One cannot establish a Republic in a country where tliere are no republicans," and of course attributed to Prim. But he never said anything of the sort, for lie knew that, notwithstand- ing all the mana'uvrcs of the Monarchists during the elections for the Constituent Cortes, there were over 300,000 Ropublicau votes recorded.

184 SP-\IN AND THE SPANIARDS.

keep the promises be ^'ave the Republicans, it Avas solely because he found himself utterly- unable to oA'erpower the influence of Serrano, Topete, Zorrilla, Sagasta, Eivero, and their fol- lowers.

Who does not remember what the spectacle was which Spain presented to Europe in 1869 — 1870 ? The Monarchical Constitution was adopted by something like two hundred and fifteen votes against seventy. In a month's time martial law was proclaimed consequent on Republican risings. Jerez, Zaragoza, Barcelona, Gracia, Murcia, Va- lencia were deluged with blood. And when so much had been done. Prim thought he might as well go a step further, and in October he publicly declared in favour of monarchy. The crown of Spain was now being offered, much as a piece of forged ancient plate, on all the European markets. Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia, Prince George of Saxony, the Duke of Edinburgh, and the Archduke Victor of Austria were about the first thought of, but soon given up as unobtainable. Then came Dom Fernando and Dom Luis of Portugal, and the young Duke of Genoa, all of whom refused. Then a Prince, whose very name no Spaniard could either pro- nounce or spell, the HohenzoUern, with the Franco-

PRIM AND AMADKO. 185

German War as the only resjilt of the proposal. And this lonj:^ catalof^iie does not inelude the candidates got up at home — Alfimso, Mont- ]>cnRier, Espartero. I'riin. and even some ehildrcn of Prim and Serrano, whom it was proposed to wed first and to crown afterwards.

After aconple of years' siMrch, the Monarchists found at last a Prince amiable enough to consent to come to Spain, and to give a trial to the prin- ciple of really ('unstitntioiial Monarchy in that misgovernetl coinitry. But Prim had to pay with his life the apparent success of his long and sad ettorts to satisly the Monarchists of Spain and the diplomatists of Euroj)e. And it will always remain the glory of the IJcpuMican party of Spain that Prim's assassination was not the work of any fanatic belonging to their ranks, but the fruir of the corruption and villainy of the very same men for whose sake he threw the lupiiblicans overboard. His death has thus assumed some- thing of the character of a pimishment from the hand of inexorable fate.

The declaration that the Uukc d'Aosta had consented to ascend the Spanish throne did not in the least set matters right. The RejMib-

186 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

licaris, the Alfonsists, the Montpensierists, the Carlists, all were equally dissatisfied, and the deputation which was to fetch the new soverei^^ii from Florence had to start under the shelter of night lest it should be captured and prevented from going. On Araadeo and his family leaving Genoa, a fearful storm— a bad presage for any man that might be superstitious — caught him, and compelled him to seek shelter upon the Spanish coast. And the first news which reached him here was that Prim, the man who made a king of him, was just assassinated. Those who knew the Prince, who were aware of his having been an admirer of patriots like Garibaldi and Mazzini, could never make out how the Duke d'Aosta could have ever accepted a crown so uncomfortably shaped, and so heavily stained with blood and mud. But the principle of " I do not understand the conduct of that man, show me his woman," holds equally good in the analysis of a prince's actions as well as of those of a pickpocket. At the bottom of the Duke d'Aosta's apparent incon- sistency was his spouse, Maria-Victoria. When quite a child at the Convent of the Sacre Ccenr, her dreams were a crown ; and when a nun told her one day that Mademoiselle de Montijo had *' la plies belle couronne die nionde" put on her head

rUIM AND AMADEO. 187

as a reward for her liavinf:^ been always a ck-vout worsliippor of our Lady tlic Vir^nn, the youn^ rriiicc'ss Pozzo (k'Ua ('istenia adorned her breast with ;i little medal in honour of Notre Dame des Victoires, and be^an daily and nightly jiraying her holy patroness to give a crown to the little Maria-Victoria. There can be little doubt that when the Duke d'Aosta found himself the hus- band of the namesake of Notre Dame des Vic- toires, he must have become aware of the aspira- tion of his young wife, and, a chance to obtain a crown havino: presented itself, ]\Iaria-Victoria pro- bably used all her inlluence that it should not be lost.

The proposal once accepted, Amadeo was too noble and brave to retreat- He saw well that in the reception the land of Figaros and Don JJasilios was suj)posed to have prepared for him, nothing but ofHcial faces came to salute him, nothing but freezing congratulations came to greet him. The country he passed through, the capital he came to live in, looked dumb and stony, and he must have felt at once that the best lie could say of himself was that he was going to be the King of only that portioi] of Madrid which he might assist in making money, eitlier in trade or in oilice; but by no means of the whole of ^ladrid,

188 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

still less of Spain, and less still of todas las Espanas. In the eyes of the religious-minded folk of the country he was not only an intruder, but the son of the blasphemous and excom- municated Italian who trampled under foot the dazzling crown of the holy Peter. He thought a journey through his new dominions would perhaps improve his position. The peasantry would perhaps like him after having seen him, and so he started on a kind of exhibition tour, spending a lot of his private money, and followed by Spanish and English journalists, who were to tell the world that everything was getting right in Spain, and that the Carlists, Isabelinos, Repub- licans, and Internationalists, would be all turning by-and-by into steady, business-like subjects of a Constitutional monarchy. He returned to Madrid perfectly conscious that he had not achieved much by his journey, but still he did not finally lose his hopes. He had done his duty, he had shown himself, and he was now willing to do his best to win the sympathies of the population of Madrid. He was a capital horseman, and he showed himself every day on horseback. His wife and himself drove daily on the Prado, His box at the Opera was seldom empty, and he did all that was in his power to laugh at the national zarzuela as heartily

IMII.M AND AMADi:0. 181'

as any true Casliliiui. Once a week, at loast, there was also a Itanquot. ami a l)allat the Palace. \'>u\ initwithstaiidiii,^ all these elVorts ol" Ik-Iiil^ and looking amiable, the young King iliil not see, except his Ministers, any Spaniard of political iidliieiice showing a desire to approach him, and a <liill, bitter isolation seemed still to remain the only appanage of the thorny crown. The royal banqufts and balls wctc never attendi'(| by any one except diplomatists, present <?.r ojficio, some Spanish liberals ennobled by himself, a few ])oli- ticians looking out for employment, and a few bankers anxious to decide whether they should lie or loosen the strings of their purses.

The Queen fared even worse. In the first place, she did not always share the political views of her husband ; she was often ill, and the scandalous gossi[) of the Palace coulisses said that the Duke d'Aosta, having inherited certain proclivities of his father, was fond of enjoying ladies' society outside of his house. Besides all that, there was no humiliation which the female representatives of Spanish nobility did not iiiliict upon the young t^)iieL'n. One day at the Prado, the Parisian bonnets which had for a considerable lime ftast found their way to Madriil, suddenly disappeared, and the ancient big tortoiseshell

190 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

comb and the national mantilla of olden days were revived as by magic order. The noble ladies wanted to show the Queen that they were genuine blue-blooded Espanolas, and that she was not. On another occasion the insult was still more pointed. The Queen had a baby, and asked the Avife of ]\Iarshal Serrano, as the highest func- tionary of the kingdom, to hold the child at the baptismal font, but met with a refusal under the pretence of the lady's illness ; yet the Duchess de la Torre showed herself in the theatres, and good care was taken that Amadeo should know that the Duchess refused the invitation because, as a Creole, she felt unable to give her support to a Sovereign whose views were obviously calculated to ruin all the Creoles of Cuba,

Amadeo got sick and tired of all that. He felt also that his life was not safe. He was not only shot at by street ruffians, but learned — as he sub- sequently publicly declared at Lisbon — that ex- tensive home and foreign conspiracies were plotted against his life. He saw, on the other hand, from the accounts presented to him by Dragonetti (his private secretary and friend, whose influence as an Italian was so much objected to by the Spaniards), that in the short period of liis reign he had spent a portion of his own and his wife's

rUIM AND AMADEO. IIH

rortunc, tlio civil list not W-lw^ very lar^c, aiul iiuver re^Milarly remitted. In u uoni, tliu Kin^^^'s liiisincss (lid not piiy. He iL;ot out c»l' it iicitlier money, nor honour, nor iilcusmv, nor the satis- liiction of honestly pert'ornnng the dnlies imposed upon him by his cunstitutional outh, and he re- solved to abdicate. But to carry out this reso- lution was not so easy. His wiiV- would not take off the crown, which had been the object of her dreams since her childhood. Domestic troubles came thus in addition to the rest, and the young monarch was anxionsly watching the moment when he could carry out his intentiiui in sueh a manner as not to be stopped half way. When in November and December of the previous year insurrectionary niovements broke out in \'alencia, in Malaga, in Murcia, and several other places, a jirojws on the vote ol" a new levy, and when the Carlists began to make progress in Catalonia and the Basque provinces, he allowed himself to be again persuaded that it was for him a question of duty and honour to remain now in the breach. Hut seeing that even the sprnding of his private money to facilitate the expedition against the insurgents and the Carlists did not in any way improve his position, he took the first occasion which presented itself for carrying out

192 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

his former intention. Opposition was by-and-by brought quite home to him, for his very coun- cillors and ministers plotted measures to which they knew the King objected. They wished to impose upon him, amongst other things, the nomination of General Hidalgo to a high military post. That General was held in abhorrence by the best officers of the army, especially so by the artillery corps. The King objected to this nomination just as much as his officers did, and as they gave in their resignations, so he gave in his, though of course he was personally much less concerned in the appointment of one more objectionable individual to a responsible position. But Amadeo was anxious to take advantage of the moment Avhen his wife, who had been just confined, was unable to interfere in political matters, and on the lOtb of February, at eight o'clock at night, he declared to Senor Ruiz Zorrilla his final reso- lution to abdicate. On the 12th, early in the morning, much before the most pious seiioras had dressed for early mass, several plain carriages were driving the Royal Family from the palace of Madrid to the railway station. The Queen had to be borne on a litter, and the King lifted her himself into the carriage at the entrance of the palace as well as at the station. A few deputies

rUIM AND A.MADEO. ll>3

and a rei^iiuc'iit of inlantry escorted Their Majes- ties and tlioir three children to the frontier of Portugal, and the vast nuijority <>t" the so-called respectable classes throtighont Europe read with feelings of sincere sorrow the declaration of the young monarch : "My good wishes have deceived me, for kSj)ain lives in the midst of a perpetual conflict. If my enemies had been foreigners I would not abandon the task, but they are Spaniards. I wish neither to be King of a party nor to act illegally ; but believing all my efforts to be sterile, I renounce the crown for myself, my sons and heirs." On the 13th the Royal Family reached Lisbon, where they remained till the complete restoration of the Queen's health, anil proceeded then quietly home, and nothing was ever heard more of them in Spain. They hail not yet left the palace ere a Republic was pro- claimed, the Senate and the Congress amalga- mated under the title of "National Assembly," presided over by Seuor Martos, and a new ministry was seated on the blue velvet bench of the Congreso de los Diputado.t.

In fact, abroad the abdication of the King of Spain produced by far a stronger impression than in the country itself. In England, every old maid was lamenting the dangers to which the wretched

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194 SPAIN AXD THE SPANIARDS.

Spaniards had exposed the young Queen " in such a position" — although Spaniards had of course nothing to do either with the " position" or the exposure. The newspapers and politicians could not find words strong enough to express their indignation at a nation that had proved unable to appreciate the merits of a truly liberal and chivalrous Sovereign, and the chances it had of enjoying the blessing of Constitutional govern- ment. In Germany there was no end of nebulous speculations about the old bugbear of a Latin Republican federation as opposed to the Imperial Teutonic and Sclavonic federations. The King of Italy began to be courted still more, " a HohenzoUern Prince" began again to be talked of, and a couple of men-of-war had secret in- structions sent to them. In Paris, where I hap- pened to be at that time, the excitement was still greater. M. Thiers repeated several times that he " deplored" Amadeo's abdication as one of the greatest calamities that could have occurred. He predicted even grave European complications. When the news of the abdication reached the Assembly at Versailles, the efl'ect it produced upon that excitable body was so great that French business with its Committee of Thirty seemed to be quite forgotten for the moment. The Right

riilM AND AMADEO. 1'.'.")

seemed just as (Iclightcd as the Left, for tin- former saw at once a chance of making the (»1<I Royalist agitation common to both countries, while the latter saw another field oi)en for the propagation of the theories of " liberty, equality, and fraternity." Every French Communist re- siding in London or Geneva, and having a chance to borrow somewhere a few sovereigns, as well as every Polish emigrant residing at Paris, rushed at once to Madrid in the anticipation of a n<.'w arena of activity being soon open to them in the country where violence of opinion is surpassed only by ignorance. On the other hand, French priests and old-fashioned French noblen)en, usually creeping out of their houses hardly oftener than once week, were for several days rushing about Paris and Versailles as if they had shaken a quarter of a century oflf their shoulders. Tlw re-establishment of the old Catholic and Legi- timist Monarchy was now for them a question to be simultaneously worked out in both countries, and with greater energy than ever. Funds began at once to be subscribed, if not actually collected, to improve the organisation of Don Carlos' army, and the incognito members of the Brother- hood of Jesus were joyously rubbing their hands in anticipation of the time when polities,

o 2

196 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

education and finances would be in both countries under their care, and when Franco-Spanish money, Franco-Spanish diplomacy, and Franco-Spanish arms would be set at work to restore the temporal power of the Pope at Rome, and to overthrow the father of that young Prince who had just resigned power. The opponents of these clerical desperadoes seemed, on the other hand, to be quite as confident in the results of the Spanish events. I could not better formulate their views than by repeating the words said to me by a Radical deputy, in whose company I was on that day, returning from Versailles. " Well, it is the greatest triumph the Republican cause could ever have had just now. The only thing we want to complete it is, that Don Carlos, Montpensier, Al- fonso, and all that lot should try and get into Amadeo's empty bed for a few nights each. They would be sure to have their throats cut, and our own Bourbon and Orleans questions would be thus settled at once in the most comfortable and the most speedy way, and that for ever, I can assure you."

But to unconcerned observers, who have no business either to lament political events or to embark in risky political speculations, the abdica- tion of Amadeo appeared in a somewhat difi'erent

PRIM AND AMADEO. 197

liirlit. In tiic first place, it was clear that it could not do any liarni to Spain. The reign of "Macaroni I." (as Aniadeo was popularly called) was simply impossible. lie was, perhaps, the best stranger that could be found lor the un- hajjpy throne ; but he was a stranger, and that was bastantc. The mass of the Spanish pcof)le cannot stand even a shopkeeping or travelling i'oreigner on their soil. What force on earth could then make them stand the rule of a foreigner? His call to the throne was an absurd experiment, and the sooner it ended the better it was. A few months later he might, perhaps, not have been able to "retire into private life" as safely as he did then. In the second place, the statement made both by himself and by his admirers, about his having been frustrated in all his attemps to reign in accordance with the constitution, is not quite correct. There was a strong opposition against him — that is true, but is not opposition one of the elements ot consti- tutional government? The Queen of England had, for a good many years, to approve measures which were certainly not in accordance with her personal tastes. Yet she does not abdicate on account of that. She feels a satisfaction in reigning; she sees loyalty and affection; she earns honour ami wealth. Amadeo had nothing

198 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

of that ; he had to stand insults, to spend his own and his wife's fortune, and to run the risk of being murdered some day into the bargain. It is, therefore, fair to conclude that personal considerations had much more influenced his decision than his reluctance "to be the King of a party," or " to act illegally." The believer in hereditary transmission of human and animal peculiarities, might also have discovered in the representatives of the Savoy House a rather general proclivity to get soon tired of the exer- cise of royal prerogative, a considerable number of Princes of that house having abdicated their power, and some of them on very slight pro- vocation. Amadeo VIIL, Emmanuel-Philibert, Victor Emmanuel I., and the grandfather of Amadeo, Charles-Albert, have rendered them- selves quite celebrated in this respect. But be it the result of personal or political considera- tions, be it the manifestation of an inherited tendency or a purely spontaneous act, Amadeo's abdication had, at all events, one most valu- able element in it — the element of progress. Without speaking of times more distant from us, when massacres and bloodshed were the first conditions of every change of dynasty or form of government, in our own times — in

PRIM AND A MA DEO. li'^

1830, for instance— France liad to figlit for three days to overthrow a rotten dynasty. In 1818 a great improvement is already to be noticed ; a few hours' fightinj; of a few hundred men is quite enough to niako a king abdicate and run away. In 1870 the thing is still more conveniently done by a single jump of a gentleman into the tribune, and a vociferous declaration that the dynasty was no longer reigning. In Spain, in 18G8, several thousand people had to be killed before the country could get rid of an unsuitable (^ueen, while four years later a few minutes' conversation with his Minister is suiBcient to make a King put on his travelling costume, lock and book his port- manteau, and take the train as quietly as if he were a newspaper correspondent recalled to London. Thanks to the peaceful nature of the arrangement, there were neither conquerors nor conquered in Spain in February last. Not a single l)arrieade had been erecteil ; not a single pane of glass or lamp smashed. Everything went on incomparably more quietly than an election meeting in England. Yet the question was not one between sending a Conservative Liberal or a Liberal Conservative to St. Stephen's, but one of upsetting the whole governmental labric, esta- blished with such tlinicuity a couple of years

200 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

previous. Is it not an improvement — a progress truly characteristic of the beautiful times we are living in ?

The example which the young King Amadeo has given to his brother-sovereigns is not one likely to be imitated. But the fact that the King of Spain has abdicated instead of sending out troops on the intimation that people did not require him, ought to be a subject for serious meditation to some of his colleagues. It was certainly an act characteristic of a thorough well-bred gen- tleman, almost a chivalrous act, and as such fairly deserving imitation.

The best proof how short were the roots the young Italian Prince planted into Spanish soil and Spanish hearths during his twentj^-five months reign, can be seen from the fact that a few days after his departure his very name seemed to have been forgotten. Madrid, the city where every- body seems to talk at the same time, and to do nothing but talk, had neither a word of gratitude nor a word of blame for Amadeo. If you at- tempted to bring the conversation on him, his reign and his abdication, you heard invariably an abrupt sentence like this : " He w^as a stranger, and could not even properly speak Spanish ;" " He brought a lot of Italians with him ;" " He

PRIM AND AMADEO. 201

was a pretty good fellow, but had uo business to come here;" and soon, according to the individual disposition of the person you talked to. During the first days immediately followiiiL;- his departure the always pleasure-thirsty Madrilenas seemed to get shy and to a])i)rehend street rows. At all events, the most fashionable habituees of the afternoon 7>a.seos and the theatres were not to be seen. But in about a week's time Madrid life took its habitual course, and the Carnival fnlluw- ing close upon the pacific revolution was as jolly as ever. The land which had taught Europe so many excellent lessons in olden times, and which stood once at the head of civilisation, seemed to revive once more, to try and do again something that was worth while imitating. Smoothly, gently, without shedding a drop of blood, it changed the whole of its governmental fabric, and people who had never heard speak of Spain otherwise than as a land uf brigands and assassins, stood amazed at the sight oflered to them. Yet two Governments only — the United States and the Swiss — recognised the new Hepublic, and encou- raged the efi'orts of its leaders and of its people. All the others remained sulk\-, and sent out men- of-war to the coast of the enchanted land, of the ruin of which thev alone had been iruiltv.

202

CHAPTER VI.

SPANISH REPUBLICANISM.

rp HOUGH everybody knows the proverb X "There's nothing new under the sun," people are still inclined to take very old things for quite new ones. When the European public heard of the Federal Republic having been pro- claimed in Spain, they considered it as quite a new calamity brought upon the political world, immediately declared it to be subversive of every vestige of order, and attributed its origin to the propaganda of the International Society. The truth was, however, that Spanish Federalism was neither a new thing, nor had it any connection whatever with the International.

First of all, the International Society is essen- tially a working man's association, and there are hardly any working men at all in Spain, Catalonia

SPANISH REin'DLICANISM. 203

excepted. Spain is totally an agricultural coun- try, and it is well known that the International has not yet had any influence on the agricultural labourers, having been strictly confined to the manufacturing and working classes. On the other hand, any one that knows anything about Spanish history, is well aware that what the Federalists now call the " saving formula of little republics within a great nation" was the original form of government which prevailed all over the Peninsula, up to the time when foreign kings, adventurers, and armies came, under various pretexts, to invade the Peninsula, to rob it of its treasures, and its people of their liberties.

If the various kingdoms which constituted Spain became united, it was chiefly because the country was in need of leaders, and of great unity of effort for getting rid of the invaders. The intermarri- age between the sovereigns, and the nominal union of various kingdoms, did in no way affect their constitution and privileges, and as soon as the Moors were expelled, the separate provinces began at once to claim their ancient rights and the privilege of independent existence.

Karly in the sixteenth century, the provincial procuradorcs, or representatives of the people, rose

204 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

all over the country to oppose the foreign yoke of the young Charles V. and his Flemish councillors, and refused to swear allegiance to him until he himself had sworn to maintain the liberties and privileges of the Spanish provinces and munici- palities. The researches which had been made by the late Mr. Bergenroth, in the Simancas Archives, are sure soon to revive the interest in the sanguinary civil war known as the war of Comunidades, which offers quite an inexhaustible material for romances, dramas, and tragedies, though at present the great struggle and its heroes— Padilla, Maria Pacheco, Vega, Quinta- nilla, Zapata, and Juan Bravo, — are almost for- gotten.

The Comuneros were vanquished and their leaders executed, but the idea which they repre- sented, and for which they struggled, was on that account not eradicated from the minds of the people whom we know under the general de- nomination of Spaniards, and who are in reality Castilians, Aragonese, Catalans, Andalusians, Basques, &c., between all of whom there is cer- tainly more difference in every possible respect than has ever existed between an Irishman and an Englishman, or a Bavarian and a Prussian. To the great majority of the public in this

SPAXISn REPUBLICANISM. 205

country it serins that, since all iSpiiniards profess the Catholic religion and live on the same ])enin- sula, tiiev must be, if not truly homogeneous, at all events very similar people. No nution can he more false than this. Except in cases where religion is purposely brought into connection with politics, so as more to excite popular passions, it has, in the natural course of human affairs, absolutely nothing to do with it. Men have constantly proved to be able to profess the same creed, and pray to the same God, and yet be deadly enemies. The most flourishing time of Italy was that of its municipal organization, and we know that in the hatred which existed at that time between Genoa, Venice, Milan, Florence, «$cc., there was something far exceeding the ani- mosity that ever animated any two different races. The same thing is still to be seen between the various provinces of the now United Germany, and between the various nationalities composing the Austrian and the Russian Empire. If Italy looks now more united, it is simply because there was, for a long time, a general idea animating the people. Vnity became, for the Italians, synonymous with the overthrow of foreign do- minion and of the secular power of the Pope. If, at the time of Napoleon's invasion, Spain had

206 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

been left to herself, she might also, perhaps, have softened down her provincial rivalries, and be- come, at least as far as appearance goes, a more consolidated State.

That the spirit of localism and provincialism does not in any way prevent common action amongst the various component parts of a State, is sufficiently clear to anyone who reads and under- stands the most glorious pages of the history of England, America, and Switzerland, or is able to penetrate the real meaning of the last German success, in which fierce rivals and deadly enemies were cemented into one invincible body. Provided the idea of which the defence is to be undertaken is common to all their provinces and munici- palities, federal States have almost invariably proved to be superior in efficiency of action to centralized States. Seiior (Jastelar points out, with reference to this subject, that "Asturias alone made a treaty with Great Britain, and the treaty was religiously observed by the whole nation. The Alcalde of Mostoles, an insignificant village, first declared war against Napoleon, and his declaration was the declaration of all Spain. The village bell rang with clamour, and awoke in the hearts of the peasantry indignation against the invader ; the defiles were changed into Ther-

SPANISH REPUBLICANISM. 207

mopylius, the hniiter became a guerilla, and the guerilla a general."

The fact that Italy and Germany have been quite lately consolidated, makes the reading classes of the public throughout Europe believe that we have entered an age of Uirge Phnj)ires; but this opinion is very erroneous. Bold as the assertion njight seem, one would be strongly inclined to say that the consolidation of Italy and Clcrmany is a raere historical incident, one great step more to wards a Republican and Federal union of various nationalities, more or less belonging to the same race and speaking the same tongue. To make any progress at all, as great States, Italy and Germany had first of all to get rid of a number of petty sovereigns, all of whom were equally famous for extortions, selfishness, corrup- tion, and utter imbecility. Now that these petty princes have been set aside, the central power, by means of which they w^re overthrown, will naturally hold its sway for some tin)e. but Ity- and-by the period of natural disintegration is sure to set in; and all fiie misapprehensions which exist on that puint arc simply the result of people not quite realizing the dilTerence between disintegration and decom{)Osition in State matters

208 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

— two perfectly different things. Disintegra- tion by no means implies a decrease of strength of the central power, in cases where the activity of that power is needful, as is clearly shewn by the examples of America, England, and even little Switzerland ; while decomposition is the in- variable and inevitable result of nnlimited cen- tralization. With the execution of the Girondists, those intrepid though partly unconscious ad- vocates of Federalism, the French Kepublic itself was executed ; while the principle of self- government embodied in the otherwise very narrow-minded Anglo-Saxon parish and munici- pality has saved the liberties of the nation. The English Georges were in no way preferable to the sundry French Louis, or the Spanish Ferdinands and Charles. At the same time the worship of royalty and aristocracy was always incom- parably stronger in this country than either in France or Spain. Yet, while Great Britain was steadily growing into a free community of free citizens, France and Spain were invariably plunging from savage despotism into savage anarchy, or vice versa. The explanation of this fact is that the history of the progress of national liberty is simply the history of the

SPANISH RKPUBLICAXISM. 2()lt

proj^rcss of municipal ;iml ])r<tvinciiil cliarters and rmiR'liises.

J>iit I am afraiil I am writing hen.' the kind ol' generalities to which the l^n,L;lisli mind lias an invincible abhorrence. Ik'sides, tiki subject of federalism requires volumes of space and numbers of pens, much more able than my poor one. Consequently I had, perhaps, better simply sum up here what I consider to be the chief im- pediments in the way of Spain ever getting constituted as an orderly centralized state, whether Monarchical or Republican.

Foremost of all stand the natural causes. The I'liur kiiiu'doms of Andalusia, the two Castiles. the Vasco-Navarre provinces, ]\Iurcia, Valencia. Catalonia, Aragon, Oalicia, Leon. Estremadura, Asturias, are each and all vastly diflerent in every possible respect— in climate, soil, natural pro- ductions, character of the population, and their habits and pursuits. No uniform legislation is con- ceivable for them, and the cry for home-ride must unavoiilably arise in everyone of these provinces, as soon as the l*eninsula is out nf danger of foreign invasion. Except those of Madrid, all the revo- lutions and revolts, since the last invaders had been got rid of, were — whatever may have been their immediate pretexts — in substance provincial

VOL. II. P

210 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

and municipal risings against the central power. Thus, from natural causes alone, it would be utterly impossible to make a centralized state of the Peninsula. A sort of patriarchal despotism a la Russe would be the only means of keeping the various provinces under a central yoke. But this sort of government is possible only for a limited time, and had the Russian Czars of the present centuries, made themselves as much detested and despised by their subjects as the Spanish Sovereigns did, the Russian Empire would have been by this time engaged in a most ferocious civil war for Federalism, Poles, Germans, Fins, Asiatic tribes, &c., all claiming inde- pendent existence.

The general corruption and demoralization of Madrid, is another obstacle standing in the way of Spanish centralization. The population of the capital consists chiefly of professional politicians, empleados (civil service functionaries), in and out of office, a number of troops accustomed to pro- nuncimnientos, stock exchange and other gamblers, and jobbers, and similar dangerous classes. The provinces justly hold Madrid in utter abhorrence, and know that, whether the form of government be a Monarchy or a Unitarian Republic, the power will practically be in the hands of these

SPANISH IlEPL-nLICANISM. 211

classes, and this is what they won't stand under any consideration. Tiie prestige which I'aris has for every Frenchman, of even the most distant jtrovince, is here unknown. Consequently, whilr the F'rench capital was constantly able to settle or disturb the affairs of the whole of France, in Spain we almost invariably find the provinces satisfied oidy when Madrid is disturbed, and see them rising again as soon as things seem to settle in the capital. The most striking proof of this dilference between the two countries is to be found in the fact that the capture of Paris was invariably an actual conquest of the whole of France, while the entry of the enemy into the Spani.sh caj)ital was a mere incident of the war, the capture of a large town.

Thus the general character of the relations between the capital and the provinces of Spain renders the establishment of a stvotKj central government impossible, and as no centralised state has ever been endurable, or even preserved its equilibrium, unless its central power was un- usually strong, one would be justified in assuming that only two forms of government are possible in the Peninsula, either a Federal Republic or a Federative Monarchy, something similar to what Austria has been tending to for these last few years.

V 2

212 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

Now, the establishment of a Monarchy of even such a decentralised form will still meet all the difficulties we have already mentioned : the minority of Don Alfonso, the popular hatred for his mother, grandmother, and their parties, the wretched yet unavoidable influence of the pro- fessional politicians of Madrid, and the fact of the young Prince not having any popular party to back him. And along with these obstacles will come the constantly growing spread of Re- publican ideas all over the country. But as I have endeavoured all through these volumes to give at least some sort of support to the opinions I have ventured to express, I will quote here a better authority on this subject than any foreign writer on Spain could ever pretend to be. Here is, in substance, what Don Emilio Castelar wrote in 1872, when Araadeo sat on the throne of Spain, when Europe fully believed in the pos- sibility of establishing a Constitutional Monarchy in the Peninsula, and when the idea of " Spanish Federalism" was quite unknown to the European public at large, and considered a silly dream by the few who had heard of its being advocated.

At this day one of the nations most fitted for the federation is our Spain. We do not have the same republican traditions as those possessed by Italy and France. Our people, always

SPAXISn RKITBLICANISM. iMii

at war, hnvc iilwnvs ni'i'dcil a cliiff, and tliis fliiof required ii<if only tlio sword of the soldier to Hf^lit, but the soeptro of the moniireh to rule. Notwithstanding this ancient monarchical character, there arc regions which have been saved from the monareliy, and which have jireserved tlicir democrac}' and their republic. There still exist in the North provinces possessed of an autonomy and an indepeiulenco which give them points of resemblance to the Swiss cantons. The citizens give neitlicr tribute nor blood to tlie kings. Tlicir firesides arc as sacred from the invasion of authority as those of the English or of the Americans. Every town is a republic, or governed by a council elected by the citizens at the summons of the churcb-bell. Wlien the time fixed by their constitution arrives, tlio repre- sentatives of the towns come together in the shade of the secular trees of liberty, vote taxes, draw up or amend the laws, name new oflicers and withdraw the old ones, with tlio calmness and moderation of a people accustomed to govern themselves in the midst of tlie agitations of liberty.

And wo not only have thc.<e living examples of democracy, but wo have also democnitic traditions — traditions which we may call republican. Our Cortes of Castile succeeded frequently in expelling the ecclesiastical and aristocratic estates from their sessions. Our Cortes of Aragon attained such power that they named the government of their kings, and obtained fixed days for tlieir sessions. Navarro was a species of republic moiv or less aristocratic, presided over by a king more or less respected. And the Caatilian municipalities were in the middle ages true democratic republics. All the citizens came to council, they electetl the alcaldes, aud alternated on the jury. They guarded their rights of reality in which the servitude of the tenantry wa** extinguished. They all bore arms in the niilitia, all hold safely guarded the liberties iiidispcnsablu to life, aud they fouudecl

214 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

together the brotherhood which defended these against feudalism, and which was a genuine federation of plebeians.

What is certain is the complete extinction of the monarchical sentiment in the Spanish people. At the beginning of the century monarchical faith had diminished in the popular con- science, and the respect for the monarchy had suffered in our hearts. The scandals of the court taught the people that kings had lost the moral superiority, which is the life and soul of political superiority. An insurrection irreverently attacked the palaces of the kings, and forced them to abdication. The mutiny of Aranjuez really put an end to the absolute monarchy. Afterwards, when the people carried the war of independence, the king was absent, conyerted into a courier of the conqueror, congratulating him on victories gained against his own subjects, and licking his spurs wet with Spanish blood. He (Ferdinand VII.) returned to oppress the patriots who redeemed him, and to call to his aid the foreigners who had captured him. The crowned monster left us his offspring, and intrusted the cradle of his child to the libei-ty which lie had violently persecuted.

The Spanish republican party is distinguished from the re- publican party of France by having been always federal. We cannot understand how the popular sovereignty exists in reality or in force in a country where, as its only means of manifesta- tion, it has the suffrage placed above outraged individual rights, over mutilated municipalities blindly electing in accord- ance with administrative coercion representatives to central assembhes, which, imagining themselves sovereign, become arbitrary. The geographical constitutioii of the Peninsula makes of Spain a southern Switzerland. Its vast Cordilleras mark the boundaries of natural and autonomic states. The Basques and the people of Navarre still preserve their inde- pendence, as if Nature had wished to rebuke with this living

Sr.VXISIl REPUBLICANISM. 21')

example the Tiolcnce of men. Between the Cantnbrian, the Asturiiin, niul the Galiciiin, although they stretch upon one lino and arc mirrored in the waters of the same sea, there are profound difTerenccs of race, of history, of fharactcr, which always give rise, in spite of apoplectic centralisation, to pro- found social and political differences. The two Castiles, sepa- rated by their high mountain range, would form two powerful states. Valencia, Murcia, Andalusia, and Estremadura arc, like Italy, like Greece, the regions of light and inspiration and of beauty, the fruitful mothers of our artists, who have dazzled the world with the splendour of their colouring ; of our poets, immortal through their fire and their melody : of our orators, who preserve in the midst of modern society the ancient Hel- lenic eloquence. The Aragonese retains the type of the ancient Celtiberian in his physique, and preserves in his morale tha independence, the moderation, and the virility which come of his historical liberal institutions. Catalonia is a poetic Provence, inhabited by men as industrious as the English. And these races form the most various and most united nation, and con- sequently the nation most naturally Federal in the world. No one neetl ever think that Spain can be reduced to fragments, and that those fragments shall be, like aerolites, lost and scat- tered through immensity. Spain is one through the consent of all Spaniards, is Federal tlirough the nature of her character, her geography, and her history. And the Federal Kepubliean form is necessary and indispensable to-day if we are to unite with the Portuguese, a people restricted in territory, but great in their history, who wrote the poem of navigation and of labour, who peopled the ocean with legions like the ancient Argonauts, wlio evoked the East Indies from oblivion, and who

divided with us the imraensitvof the New Worlil, lis they ought

* to share with us to-day the vast promise of another world,

216 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

newer and wider, the luminous world of justice and of right. It is certain that aU tliese ideas, all these noble aspirations, have profoundly impressed our country, and have set in motion the irresistible Eepublican current."

If there was any truth at all in this in 1872, there is much more in 1874. The chief question seems to be how a Federal Republic is to be established. The experiment of simply pro- claiming it and creating a newly-organised Fede- ral executive and legislative power has proved a failure. A highly centralised military dictator- ship had to be resorted to, and bold would be he who would attempt to predicate anything as to the issue of the present status in quo. But if Serrano could be converted to the Federal views, and induced, step by step, to advance towards a Federal organisation by a slow but systematic loosening of the centralist and bureaucratic ties between the provinces and Madrid, he would easily make people forget his unattractive past, and probably become a great man in the eyes of future generations. The most important point at present, however, is for Spain first to settle the Carlist business, and then finally to make up her mind whether Alfonso is to be admitted back or not, in the meanwhile carefully impressing upon the people of Europe and on European

SPANISH REPUBLICANISM. 217

courts the fact lliat Spanish Federalisiii <locs not mean anything more dangerous or subversive than what ah'eail}' exists in Switzerland and in the United States of America, and that the United Kingdom itself is, truly speaking, a much looser federation than that j)rojc'cted in Spain, i'or the greater part of JJritish dominions are much less dependent on or connected with the mother- country than any Spanish Federal Council, Senate, or Congress would ever allow any Spanish pntvince to be. As to the apprehensions of Connnunistic or Socialistic theories making any progress under the cover of Federalism, they are utterly void of funndation. Take any cor- respondence of impartial English witnesses of the recent federalist risings of Carthagena, Valencia, Malaga, Barcelona, or any other province, and you will see that no attack was ever made on private property. The letters pub- lished from the Times special correspondents all through the siege of Carthagena will some day form an invaluable material for the defence of the much-abused Spanish Federalists. Even the five hundred released convicts behaved themselves as no mob in any country of Eun)pe ever did in time of peace. I have not seen a single case of theft, or violence, or even drunkenness rec'>rd« d

218 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

all throughout the siege although the correspond- ents of the leading English journal were cer- tainly no sympathisers with either the Intran- sigentes or the released convicts.

That the abstract, theoretical notions of pro- perty will ever reach, among any branch of the Latin race, the extreme point they have reached in this country is more than doubtful. That the idea of " vested interests," for instance, could ever be entertained in any but an Anglo-Saxon head is not very probable. But the respect for individual property Avill, on that account, not be lessened. There are not a few acute judges of human affairs who believe that, if anything subversive of the present theories of property is ever to be brought to bear upon the world, it is sure to come from England, where the blind worship of wealth may finally exasperate millions of suffering and disregarded individuals, and not from the Continent, where property is more safe, simply because it is more largely spread among all classes of society. What concerns us here, however, is, not the prospects of property in Europe, but the plain fact that throughout the whole of the endless civil wars in Spain no reason was ever given to the world for appre- hending that any attempt would be made in that

SrAXIRII REPUBLTCAMSM. 210

country to upset the basis of the ])rcsent social arrangeuionts. This is a very important point, for if Eurt»pe at large becomes convinced of it, she may, y)erhaps, be intluccd not to interfere any longer with tlic form of the guveriiiiieiit S]tain may ultimately select for itself, and Inr diplomats to give up writing threatening despatches to the Government of Madrid, thus increasing its already almost insurmountable difTieulties.

It would be quite useless on my part to give here the theoretical arguments against the Fede- ral form of government. They are too well known, and there are too many people always anxious to repeat them in and out of season, though the majority of such people know nothing at all about Sj)ain, and have hardly ever inquired what sort of thing Federalism really is. Here is a Spanish— conse(piently, a somewhat verbose — definition of it :

Relations bctwocH iiKlividuals create the family, relations between families the miiiiicipality, relations between muniei- palities the state, and between states the nation; and the nation sliould establi.-ih itself in constitutional compacts which should recognise and proclaim the autonomy of the citizens, of the states, andoftlie nation. Tliis is the federal repubUcan

220 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

form. This is the form which leaves all entities in their re- spective centres of gravity, and associates them in harmonious spheres. And when hiiman relations become more intimate, not only through those miracles of industry which annihilate distance, but also by a closer sense of the solidarity which exists among all men, the federation of states, which we call nations, will be succeeded by the federation of nations, which we may call the organism of humanity.

This is the form of government proposed by the republican deputies in the Constituent Assembly, and defended with great tenacity in daily struggles ; and when this form of government is dispassionately examined it must be admitted that it is not possible to invent another more adapted to our national character."

It is quite evident that neitlier life, nor pro- perty, nor order is in any way threatened by this programme. It is just as evident that it is per- fectly immaterial whether on the summit of such a Federal state there be placed a throne or a pre- sidential chair. If the people like to have a royalty at the top of their social fabric, let them have it ; if not, don't impose it upon them. Whether it be Alfonso, or Serrano, or Castelar, or any other person that is going to take np his abode at the Palace of Madrid, it is, after all, quite immaterial, and presents for the country merely a question of a balance between a civil list and a President's salary. But what every well-wisher of Spain should desire for that lovely

SPANISH REPUBLICANISM. 221

l»nt ill-fated ronntry is, that it should p^i't rid as soon as possible of its hurcaucratic and central- isation fetters. Even from the bitterest cneniiea (if Federalism, I never heard in Sjiain itself any valid />mf/tV«/ argument against a Federal con- stitution, except that Castile and Catalonia nnist be ruined and Cuba lost under a Federation.

Castile— not Old, but New only— lives upon Madrid, and Mailrid lives upon people in office, the court, the foreigners, and similar non-working bodies ; that province has neither trade, nor manu- factures, nor agriculture, and must, it is said, become a desert as soon as it is no longer a governmental centre. To this the answer is plain. The advantage of getting rid of the Madrid i)arasites is too great for the country at large not to be bought at the price of New Castile's ruin. Besides, if neither Castile nor Madrid work now, the feeling of self-preservation will compel them to work when they have no other resources.

Catalonia is expected to be ruined because, being the only nianul'acturing province, she has always been strongly*protected by the general tarllV to which a Federal constitution would put an end. The nund)erless ports of the Peninsula would be at once opened to I'ree trade, and the factories of

222 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

Catalonia would have to be shut up. But this is evidently the old question of free trade versus pro- tectionism, and the old answer must be given to it. Catalonia may suffer for a while, but will finally rise to the European standard of workmanship. If she proves unable to do so, it will be only because she is not fit for the work she has undertaken, and in that case it would be unjust to make the whole Peninsula indefinitely pay for the inca- pacity of Catalonia.

As to Cuba, the chances of her getting adrift could by no means be increased by a Federal constitution. On the contrary, many people believe that Cuba is lost already, and that the only means of saving the isle is to emancipate her slaves, and grant her all the privileges she could enjoy either as an independent republic or as a member of the United States.

In addition to these arguments against the establishments of a Federal Republic in Spain, I have never heard any worth while listening to. People who point out the constant disturbances and insurrections, obviously forget that these were more numerous and niore sanguinary under the centralised Monarchy. The political dis- turbances in the Peninsula, are, as everywhere else, the result of bad government on the one

SPANISH REPUBLICANISM. 22:J

hiuicl, luul ol' ;ui undue iulvjincc of " ideas" over " kiiowledi^e" in the mass of tlie people on the other. Provided the form of i^oveniuient suits a nation, peojile remain (he ([uieter the h-ss they "think," and the more they "know." It was always by '* ideas*' and '"generalities" that the (Continent was disturbed, and it was by the utter absence of anythiiii: like " thouglits" that the population of the IJritish Isles was kei)t in peace. The P^nglishman who thinks, is just as turbulent a person as tiie iSpaniard or the Frenchman, while the Spaniard or Frenchman who possesses the knowledge of the average Briton, is generally Just as orderly and jteace-loving an individual as the most respectable of Her Majesty's subjects. If the mass of Spaniards and Frenchmen could be by some sort of contrivance made to think less and to know more, we should never hear of any revolutions in those countries, and, to my mind. the greatest danger for Spain is the utter igno- rance of her population, and its obstinate dislike to acquire any knowledge, whether it be of a theoretical or of a praelieal nature.

224

CHAPTER VII.

CASTELAR AND FIGUERAS.

DON EMILIO CASTELAR will probably remain, for a long time to come, the central figure in the history of Spanish Republicanism. The courage and earnestness with which he served the cause, his unblemished personal repu- tation, and his brilliant eloquence, have rendered him immensely popular in his country, while the comparative moderation of his views gained for him abroad the sympathies of even the political men and parties opposed to Republican principles. They abused him and sneered at his " florid dia- lectics," as long as they still preserved a hope of seeing Monarchy re-established in Spain ; but the moment they became convinced that the chances of Spanish Monarchy were gone, they began to speak of him as of a great man, evidently believ- ing that their compliments will not only flatter

CASTELAR AND FIGIT-RAS. '2'2')

Sefior Castelar and increase the general nioilcra- tion of his views, but cause liini to give up some of tlie principles he lias formerly advocated — the abolition of standing armiL'S, lor instance, of capital punishment, of the separation of State and Church, &c. And it must be said that the hopes entertained by these gentlemen were not deceived. Speaking of socialistic Utopias, Sefior Castelar wrote once: '* But I object to embracing wit hill the programme of the Federation and of the Republic all these vague aspirations, some of them contrary to jirogress, and others to indivi- dual rights, and all dangerous to the peace of democracy; becanftc, if we jwonise the 'uiipo.<sll>le and the absurd^ the daii of the Bepublic, instead of beincj the day of rcdeniption, will be the day of disenchantment f* and the last words of this sen- tence look now as if they had been written with special reference to himself. Almost everything he had fought for din'ing something like tiiirty years he had to disregard, nay, to tramjile unik-r his feet, when he made himself a Dictator in Se}itendier last. No one will ever think of ac- cusing him of liaving bi-fu moved, in that i-ase, by personal consideration, or by ambition. A noble patriotism, and an intense desire of helping his country out of the chaos, were the only motives VOL. U. V

226 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

that prompted him in advocating and enforcing measures which he had formerly attacked as most iniquitous, and from the adoption of which his former colleagues and brothers in arms shrunk. Yet, though his motives were most honourable, the fact, which histor}^ will have to record, will, nevertheless, remain unmitigated : — Castelar had recourse to violent, reactionary measures which he had always condemned, while Figueras, Salmeron, and Pi y Margall resigned power rather than act in disaccordance with the political opinions they professed.

This inconsistency of Sefior Castelar was, how- ever, inevitable. There is a division of labour in the business of the State as in any other. The duties of a leading member of the opposition are quite different from those of a leading statesman in office, not to speak of the truism that the most brilliant orator is not necessarily a good minister or dictator. Senor Castelar was always a theorist, and, as such, had naturally to aim at the ideal, at the impossible, to make people obtain the pos- sible. When he took office, he became at once a sort of dissonant note, something like Mr. Bright sitting in the Cabinet ; only as his official posi- tion was incomparably higher than that of Mr. Bright, and as he had arbitrarily to rule the country, instead of simply giving his opinion in

CASTELAR AND FIOUERAS. 227

Council, the dissonance was also a more loud and screaming one. He had now to defeml and enforce the possible against the claims of the impossible he advocated formerly. The position of his colleagues was incomparably more ad- vantageous ; they were more practical men, had never assumed the standpoint of theorists, and, consequently, the more moderate of them (Figueras and Salmeron), as well as the more violent (Pi y Mari;all), have an e(iiially Hiir chance of escaping at least theoretical criticism, in adili- tion to the practical, for the tiuie they held ofli(;e, while Seiior Castclar will necessarily be open to both.

The names of Castelar and Figueras bear something like a close association in my mind. I saw the two gentlemen at work together, and they always seemed to me to throw light upon each other. They became connected very early in life, having worked hand in hand in Aivour of the Republic since 1840. The only difference was that Figueras, being a Catalan, was doing his work chiclly in (Jatalonia, while (.'astelar was in Madrid, as Professor of History and Rhetoric at the University. The political notoriety of the

W 2

228 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

fallen Dictator began, however, if I am not mis- taken, only in 1856, when he was editor of a paper called La Democracia, a jomnial fiercely at war with another democratic paper, La Discusion, edited by Don Nicolas Rivero. In April, 1856, Castelar published in his journal a violent article against Isabella, under the heading of "■ LI Easgo" (the Gift), and the Government, not satisfied by bringing the author before the tribunals, insisted upon his being dismissed from his professorship. Sefior Montalvan, the Rector of the University, replied that the offences for which the professors could be dismissed were enumerated in the code, and that Seiior Castelar's offence could not be brought under au}^ of the paragraphs. The Government, growing savage, dismissed Mon- talvan himself; the students got up a serenade in his honour, the police interfered, troops were brought out, a general row ensued in Madrid, and several unconcerned people were killed in the streets.

To Englishmen and Americans, Don Emilio Castelar became known chiefly through his writing in the Fortnightly Revieio, and some of the American periodicals, on subjects connected with the Republican movement in Europe. These articles, which I have already largely quoted

CASTELAR AND FIGUERAS. 220

here were written in Spanisli, and translated into English Ity some gentlemen at the American Legation. As a poet of considerable iii)ility, Sefior Castelar was early knuwn throughout his country.

In their physical appearance and habits of life, the two leaders of the Madrid Federalist party are quite different. Castelar is a man of middle height, with broad shoulders and a powerful chest, with a perfectly bald head, somewhat narrow forehead, and a very thick, long, dark moustache. Upon the whole, I think he would look remarkably well in the uniform of a cavalry general. His attitudes are, T am afraid, always studied. He seems always ready to deliver an oration, and I never remember having seen him assuming a " stand-at-ease" attitude. He is in- describably amiable with everybody, and espe- cially so with literary men ; and Senor Figueras, who has much in himself of the critic and satirist, laughed immensely while describing to me an interview himself and Senor Castelar had with an American and an English journalist, who could not speak a single word either of Spanish or even French, while neither Senor Castelar nor Senor Figueras knew English; so that the mu- tual paying of compliments and the "interview-

230 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

iiig " business proceeded through the instrumen- tality of an American dentist, who has long lived in Madrid, and is quite a popular character there. And Seiior Figueras added that Don Emilio was quite delighted with the meeting, during which he (Figueras) had, it appears, the greatest diffi- culty to restrain himself from bursting into a fit of laughter.

Castelar, notwithstanding his numerous occu- pations, finds leisure and disposition to go out into society — at least, he did so when he was Minister for Foreign Affairs — while Figueras goes to bed at nine p.m., and rises at five a.m. The first time I was introduced to him was at half-past six in the morning, at his private resi- dence in Calle de la Salud, At seven a.m. he invariably left his home to go to the Presidency. The simplicity of his manners, as compared with those of Senor Castelar, is quite striking. He is also much taller than his friend, and must have been a very handsome man formerly, but now he looks pale and thin, and his hair is turning grey.

Contrary to the general belief spread in Eng- land that Castelar was the man of the Republican party, I have every reason to believe that he was frequently but the mouth-piece of his friend, Don

CASTELAR AND FIGUERAS. 231

Estanislao Figueras, a man of inooinparahly iiioro kiiowk-dirc more statesmaiiliko cai)acitii!S, and a more practical tiu'ii of mind. I)iit Scfior Kigueras was pcrlcctly aware of the great oratorical gifts of his friend, Don Emilio, and consequently when they sat together as deputies, whenever there was a necessity for mastering the Assembly by means of impassioned eloquence, Figueras pushed Cas- telar forward, tlic speeches often having been prepared in concert on the previous day ; but the extempore retorts of a business-like nature, not necessarily implying much rhetoric, Seiior Fi- gueras as a rule reserved to himself. Unhappily, the late President of the Gohierno de la Republica is a man of weak health; he frequently spits blood when hard pressed by work, and is, besides, a man of that cast of character to which the late Mr. J. S. Mill belonged: personal grief intensely aftects the whole (jf his being, and absorbs, for a long time, all other feelings and thoughts. In April last, a few days before the coup iFetat of the 23rd, Senor Figueras lost his wife, and his grief was so intense that when I saw him about three weeks later he spoke as a man who had perfectly made up his mind to leave his post as soon as it was in any way [>ossil)le, and even to leave the country, lie was quite ill then, and departed

232 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

soon afterwards to a Pyrenean watering-place ; a circumstance which caused his enemies to spread the absurd rumour that he had taken to flight.

The intimate friendship which seems, at all times, to have existed between Seiior Castelar and Senor Figueras, was not in any way affected by the latter withdrawing from power and the former becoming a Dictator. At all events, during the celebrated sitting of September 18th, Seiior Castelar still spoke in the warmest possible terms of his "illustrious and beloved friend, Senor Figueras ;" and, as far as I know, the political opinions of the two friends are — or, at all events w^ere, a short time back — almost iden- tical. There is this difference, however, between the two men, that Senor Figueras was always possessed of considerably greater self-command, while the eloquent Don Emilio was rather apt to whip himself into passion by means of his own rhetoric, as a lion is supposed to do with his own tail.

But, strange to say, though Senor Castelar was always a theorist, had spent the greater portion of his life as professor at the Madrid University, and must naturally have thought himself, and has been thought by other people, to be, at least to a certain extent, a philosopher,

CASTELAU AND FKJUERAS. 2:V.i

he never showed any great respect to j»hilosoj»hy as a science. This is, for instance, ^vllat he said of Hegel and his fuHowcrs :

'* Wlion I contcmpliito tlicsc scientific systems, life in them appears to me a river without source und without issue, roUinj^ its waves etcrnaUj through a purposeless channel. Tlie world of the future needs an ideal. An ideal cannot be willmut ideas, and ideas can only be found in the unconditional, tlie ab- solute."

In fact, the piety of Senor Castelar strongly distinguished him from the vast majority of his colleagues, and ^L-nor Pi y ^largall, among others, went so far as to ])ul»licly sneer at him in the Cortes for having invoked God's help in favour of the Republic. There was nothing new, however, in this display of religious feeling on the part of the Dictator, for long before he asked the Almighty to interfere in fSpani.sh j)olilics, he wrote :

" I have never believed that to dctlirono the kings of tho earth it was necessary to destroy tho idea of God in the con- science, nor the hope of immortality in the soul. 1 have always believed tho contrary — that souls, deprived of these great prin- ciples, fall collapsed in tho luire of the earth to be trudiK-n by the beasts that perish. Give to man a great idea of himself, toll him that ho bears God in his conscience and immortality in his life, and you will see him rise by this fortified soutimout

234 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS

of his dignity to reclaim tliose rights which assure him the noblest independence of his being in society and iu nature."

Of the nature of Sefior Castelar's eloquence, it would be by no means easy to convey here an idea. It is incomparably more bewildering and verbose than anything we know in England or France. Fancy, for instance, a passage like this uttered in a thundering voice and at one breath, as if there had not been in the whole of it neither a stop nor a comma :

" The French democracy has a glorious lineage of ideas — the science of Descartes, the criticisms of Voltaire, the pen of Rousseau, the monumental Encyclopaedia ; and the Anglo-Saxon democracy has for its only lineage a book of a primitive society — the Bible. The French democracy is the product of all modern philosophy, is the brilliaut crystal condensed in the alembic of science ; and the Anglo-Saxon democracy is the product of a severe theology learned by the few Christian fugitives in the gloomy cities of Holland and of Switzerland, where the morose shade of Calvin still wanders. The French democracy comes with its cohort of illustrious tribunes and artists, that bring to mind the days of Grreece and the days of the Renaissance — M irabeau, the tempest of ideas ; Vergniaud, the melody of speech ; Danton, the burning lava of the spirit ; Camille Desmoulins, the immortal Camille, brilliant truant of Athens, with a chisel in place of the pen, a species of animated bas-relief of the Parthenon. And the Anglo-Saxon democracy comes with an array of modest talent — Otis, the unassuming publicist : Jefferson, the practical orator ; Franklin, common

CASTELAU AND FIGUERAS. 235

sense incarnutf — all simple as niituro, patienl ami u ii^uinui ua labour. Tlio Freudi deiiiocnicy iinprovisos fourU-cn amiiesi, gauis epic battles, creates generals like Dumuuriez, the hero uf Jemmapes ; like Massena, the hero of Zurich ; like Bonaparte, general of generals, the liero of heroes. TIio Anglo-Saxon* democracy sustains a war of various fortunes, brings together little armies, makes campaigns of little brilliancy, and has for its only general Washington, wlioso glory is more in the council than in the field, whose name will be enrolled ratlicr among great citizens than among great heroes. Nevertheless, the French democracy, that legion of immortals, has passed like an orgie of the human spirit drunken with ideas, like a Uomeric battle, where all the combatants, crowned with laurel, have died on their chiselled sliields ; while the Anglo-Saxon democracy, that legion of workers, remains serenely in its grandeur. A parallel wliieh reveals the brilliant means and scanty results of the one, and the scanty means and brilliant results of the other — an instructive parallel written in history with indelible cha- racters, to teach us that the French democracy was lost by its worship of the state, by its centralization, by its neglect of the municipality, of the rights of districts, and even the rights of individuals ; while the Anglo-Saxon democracy was saved by having in the first place founded the riglits of man, and after- ward the organised and self-governing municipality, and finally, a scries of counties and states also self-governing, powerfid in- struments by whicli authority was united to liberty, giving us the model of the modern |)ijlity."

This tirade is, pcfhaps, all the more a fair speciiiit'ii of SL-nor CastL-lar's eloquence as ho is evidently himself in love with it, for he delivered it in the Constituent Cortes in 1870, and intro-

236 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

diiced it, subsequently in 1872, in his Fort- nightly Revieiv articles. Two years experience have apparently not been sufficient to show him • the vagueness and inaccuracy of the statements contained in the passage. Although a professor of history, he seems never to have known what impartial, critical, or even simply accurate history was. Events and names of the past seem to interest him only inasmuch as they can serve him in his exquisite but very fantastical work of illustration. Like some of the pictures of Gustave Dore, which are beautiful and full of life, without ever being lifelike in the sense of resembling anything we know in actuality, so is Senor Castelar's history. And he seems to consider such a use of historical materials quite a legitimate one.

" Tlie revolution of 1854 (writes he) had the result of organising the Republican party throughout the Peninsula. The spread of the new ideas at this time was enormous. Journals inspired with the purest faith, written with convuacing eloquence, fighting against the reactionary parties with a tena- cious and skilful propaganda, excited extraordinary interest. Learned,* polished, popular, and literary, they were at once the focus of light and the nucleus of organisation. The chau's in

* To those who know what Spanish journalism is like in matter of learning, this passage must seem j)articularly na'ive.

CASTELAR AND riGlTUAS. 237

the universities, gained hy disciples of the in-w uii-u-i, cuntri- butcd poweiTiilij tu tlie diil'usiun of liglit. Thanks to tlieni, historj oiisunied ii progressive and humanitarian tondenoyi Thoy redeemed the tniditions of the country from their monarchical character, and reinvested them in the light of now sciouco with the democratic cliuracter."

Quite recently, Avhen ropriinandiii^; the iiltni- Republiciins in the Cortes for tiieir want of moderation, he exehiinieil, \vith vehemeuce :

" ' All, gentlemen, how sad tlio spectacle we have presented as a party in Europe ! All that we have initiated, the Con- servatives have realised! Who- struggled for the self-govern- ment of the Hungarian nation? A Republican, Eossuth. Who realised it? A Conservutivo, Dcak. Wiio sustained the idea of the abolition of serfdom in Russia? A Ropublicjin, Hertzen. Who realised it ? An Emperor, Alexander. Wiio sustained the idea of the unity of Italy ? A Republican, Mozzini. Who realised it ? A Conservative, Cavour. Wlio promoted the idea of the Unity of Germany ? The Republicans of Frankfort. Who realised it? An Imperialist, Bismarck. Wlio aroused the thrice-suffocated Republican idea in France, after the first Republic being a tempest, the second a tlream, and the third but a name? A poet, Victor Hugo, a great orator, Jules Favre, and another great orator, Gambetta. Who consolidated il ? A Conservative, Thiers. And wIid.so sharp sword now protects it ? That of a Genenil of tlic Ciesars, ilac- Mabon.' "

It never occm-rcd to liim that the thing lie coni[)lained here of was merely the natural course

238 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

of hnraan affairs. Historical studies liad not taught him that it was invariably, throughout all ages, the duty of the advanced party to " initiate" progress, to spread new notions, as it was the duty of the Conservative party to " realize" inno- vations, when the people became sufficiently pre- pared to receive them. If Kossuth, Hertzen, Mazzini, or Victor Hugo had ever had to put into practice the objects of their advocacy, they would have certainly experienced the same failures Sefior Castelar had so patriotically ex- posed himself to.

How very different from his illustrious friend is the quiet, practical, non-generalizing Figueras ! Not a word w^ould you ever hear from him that is not to the point ; not a statement that has not a direct bearing on the actual condition of his country. Willingly though he speaks, you in- variably feel you are conversing, not listening to a prepared speech. In the beginning of May, he foretold me, for instance, in one of those conver- sations I shall always remember with the greatest pleasure, almost everything that has happened since, through the obstinacy of men like Serrano and those who sided with him. He foresaw then

CASTp:LAIt AND FIUUEUAS. 239

tliat tlic Inlnm.si^entos would rise all over the country, and that a new couj)-i['etat, and a fierce reaction, W(»idd he the conclusion of several months' bloodshed.

" The representatives of Conservative opinions," said he, "are acting in the most foolish ami unpatriotic njanner. They seem to have learned nothing from ]nist experience. It was at all times the strategy of the Conservative opposition in this country to create a vacuum around the existing Liberal power, and the invariable result was, that when this power fell it was not to make room for those who created the vacuum, but for the party still more advanced than that which ■was overthrown. By creating, now, a vacuum around us they will not open a road to them- selves, but first to the demagogues only ; wlnle, by accepting the existing fact of a Spanish Republic, and by setting at work on the oppt»- sition benches, they would have balanced the forces, and have done certainly more good to the country than they could, perhaps, theujselves believe. The}' are almost sure to cause blood to be shell now, while tlaii they would have been almost as sure to lead the country to order and national regeneration, had they courageously accepted the Uepublic.""

240 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

On my asking hira whether he considered that the anti-Republican party had many members whose services could be rendered available by the Republic? " Certainly," answered he, "though it is not particularly pleasant for a Republican to make such an avowal ; but I cannot deny the- fact that the ablest statesmen Spain possesses are in the ranks of the Conservatives and Mon- archists. Our party has still to try its forces and to show its abilities. We have not been as yet organized, nor have we even known each other. I know, for instance, the Republicans of my province, Catalonia, and they know me, for we were the first to begin the Republican agita- tion some thirty years ago : but we know scarcely anything about the Republicans of other pro- vinces, nor they about us. Consequently, we have to make each other's acquaintance yet, and to try each other's abilities, for scarcely any one of us had occasion to show them— practically, I mean, for in the sphere of theory our party has done something already. The best contemporary Spanish writers belong to our party, but the most experienced and skilful statesmen must be as yet acknowledged to be in the opposite camp.

" The Conservatives call me a demagogue ;

CASTELAR ANlJ FIOUERAS. J 1 I

but I can asrsiiiv voti thiit 1 am no more a di-iiia- gogue tluui iM. Thiers or i'\Ir. (Iladstdiic, I differ from them only in my lirni belief that a Federal Republic is the best form of ;^^i>verrimfiii for Spain, lint I believe just as firmly that a Federal Republic can be established without any wild socialistic theories being brought forward. So far, indeed, am 1 ami my colleagues from being demagogues, that it was our sincere wish to bring a hundred or so Conservative Deputies into the Assend)ly, to form a sensible and power- ful opposition. The question was deliberateil in the Council of ]\Iinisters whether we should be right in encouraging some of the Conservatives to come forward, and in giving them such sup- port as we could. And if we resolved not to ilo so, it was onlv because of the unmanai^eablv hostile attitude of the Conservatives.

'* The foreign Powers are ncjw exchanging diplo- matic despatches in reference to the Republic. They are, of course, anxious to see a Monarchy re-established in this country, because they don't know anything about the real state of our parties and the condition of iSjiain. Insisting still on a Monarchy, they do not, however, object as strongly as they did formerly to a Republic, pro- vided this Republic is called " Conservativf."' VOL. 11. H

242 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

and is copied from what M. Thiers has estab- lished on the other side of the Pyrenees. The old gentleman has managed to reconcile the European potentates with this form of govern- ment, and has made them understand that a Republic is not necessarily anarchy, and that an uncrowned chief of the Executive can be as despotic as any crowned monarch has ever been. But what they cannot make up their minds about is the word ' Federal.' They think it must mean something very unde- sirable. They don't take the slightest notice when they are told that America and Switzerland are Republican Federations. They simply an- swer you, ' The cases are quite different there,' and they think they have said everything and refuted all the arguments you may adduce.

" The other day the two Emperors paying each other compliments at St. Petersburg, did our Minister at that Court the honour of talking to him. They said they greatly desired that safety and order should be restored in Spain, and bloodshed ended. The Minister answered them that the Spanish Government was doing its best to achieve these ends. But I said to my friend, Sonor Castelar, on receiving the report of this conversation, that if I had been in the place of

CASTELAR AND FIOUERAS. 213

the Spanish Ambassador, I would have answered their Majesties that we had as much safety and order as ever, and tliat till now we have had no bloodshed at all, even not so uineh as there was the other d;iy in Frankfort in connection with some beer, or as there is always in Russia, whenever a dozen j)eoi)le assemble to discuss any public grievance, and whole regiments are sent out to ' restore order.'

"My poor iVieiid Sefior Castelar. who is very impressionable, as yon know, is getting quite nervous under the inlluence of the information he gets from our ^linisters abroad. It looks as if we were going to receive some strong worded notes one of these days on the subject of the word ' Fetleral' as compared with * Conserva- tive,' and I am very glad that the Assembly will probably meet by the time we receive these documents/'

Truly speaking, 1 seldom saw a man less subject to illusions than the late President of the Executive power, notwithstaning his having spent the whole of his life in the delence of a cause which at times seemed very illusory indeed. To him, for instance, belongs the lionimr of liaving first published the Spanish Budget, disregarding the advice of a good many of his friends not to do

li2

244 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

SO until the Republic had been more firml}'' esta- blished. " What is the use of deceiving our- selves and other people f was his answer, and a few days later the Gaceta de Madrid con- tained the avowal of a debt of something like ^350,000,000. He said to me that he became quite frightened for the life of the Republic Avhen he first saw the true accounts of the Treasury. " This is," said he, " our weakest point ; and, assuming that I speak to you, not as the President of the Spanish Republic, but simply as Senor Figueras, I would say that, though our financial position can certainly be improved by ourselves, a complete financial regeneration of Spain is possible only with the aid of America. But do not suppose that, when I say that American enterprise and American gold can alone regene- rate the finances of Spain, I mean in any way to allude to Cuba. That island must be left quite out of the question at the present moment. As both Carlist and Alfonsist leaders told you, so must I tell you too, that no Government will dare, at the present moment, to propose any arrangement affecting in any way the extent of the Spanish dominions; and this was one of the reasons for my having put so much ' territorial integrity,' as you said, in my official answer to

CASTELAR AND FIGUERAS. "2 la

the congratulations of General Sickles the other day. Our enemies were spreading rumours that we were arranging the sale of Cuba in an under- hand manner, and I had to answer them. My private conviction is that Cuba is lost for us, and that in a quarter of a century every Spaniard will believe that Cuba's joining the States was quite a natural thing, as he now believes it to be the most unpatriotic and criminal idea ever con- ceived."

If the Spanish Republic is to last, Castelar and Figueras are sure to be restored to power, the public may thus again become interested in them, and, perhaps, excuse me then for my having allotted so much space to men who are at present only two fallen stars.

246

CHAPTER VIII.

MARSHAL SERRANO, DUQUE DE LA TORRE.

THE kindness with which I was received by the Duke and Duchess de la Torre at their Biarritz villa, almost precludes me from the possibility of speaking of the present ruler of Spain. His political opinions and the whole of his early career were such as to deserve but little sympathy, yet the charms of his personal inter- course are so great as to captivate even his bit- terest enemies when they approach him. Hand- some, exquisitely elegant, and of an ease of manners almost bordering on plainness, he bribes you in his favour from the very first words you exchange with him. His habit of unceremo- niously receiving the stranger in the family drawing-room, with his fascinating lady painting or embroidering, and his children playing and rushing in and out, makes the visitor not only

MAIiSlIAL SKIIKANO. 247

forget, but iilinost disbelicvo all that is Biiid oi' tlie Miirsliars past. k5i)ai)isli jiulitical careers are, as a rule, rather excitiiij^, and that of the Marslial was ({iiite a roiiiaiiee, which is still to be written. The j»olitical and jicrsdiial eirennistances of the hero of this romance will no doubt justify his past conduct, but at present too little is known of them, and consequently the less is said of the subject the better.

Marshal Serrano is now nearly sixty-five years of age, having been born near Cadiz in 1810. His father was a distinguished general, and held a high command during the War of Independence. The young Don Francisco Serrano entered mili- tary service as a cadet at the early age of twelve, soon became a lieutenant, and at the death of Ferdimmd VII, declared himself for the regency of Queen Christina, and joined the army ope- rating against Don Carlos in Aragon. lie went all through that campaign, occupying various ]tositions on the staff, and gaining rank and dis- tinction with quite an amazing celerity. lie was colonel before he reached his twenty-fifth year, and when the Carlist war was brought to a close and he returned to Madrid, his handsome face, the elegance of his manners, anil his reputation tor bravery made him soon the beau iJt'ul of all the

248 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

Madrid ladies, whose favours he freely enjoyed for about a year, and turned up in 1840 at Bar- celona as Brigadier-General and Commander-in- Chief of the troops of Catalonia. He was then supposed to he an intimate friend of Espartero, declared himself in favour of his Regencj^ and thus greatly contributed to the overthrow of Christina. Three years later, however, we see him taking flight in disguise to the same Bar- celona, seizing there the command and overthrow- ing Espartero. That was his first great and unceremonious step towards power. He became now a lieutenant-general, and soon gained the heart of the young lady who was sitting upon the throne, and married, thanks to Anglo- French rivalries, to the only man she could never stand. The young and brilliant general, it is said, readily undertook the task of consoling his Sovereign for her matrimonial unhappiness, and distinction and wealth began to pour npon him more amply than ever.

He had received from the hand of Isabella everything it was in her power to give. He was General of Division at thirty-two years of age. A couple of years later he was Senator. When his personal relations with the young Queen had been broken off, he was gently sent as Captain-

:^r\RS[I.VL SERRAN'O. 240

General to riniiiaila, iiistujvl of being simply niunlcrt'd di- I mi li. shed, hotli of which woiiM iiavc been extreiiicly easy thiii,i;s to do. Siibsc(ineiitly, every year brought upon him some new dis- tinctions. He was Captain-General of the Ar- tillery, Caiitaiii-( !rii( lal of Castile. Ambassador at Paris, Captain-Cicncral of Cid)a ; in 1862 he was created Dn<p)(.' de la Torre, in iStJo he was President of the Senate— all this without reckon- ing sundry other important posts he occupied. Trut!, that in l^M, when Lsabclla had lo.st all control over the atVairs of the State, Xarvaez arrested Serrano among other leaders of the opposition, and had him sent to Port Mahon. But Marshal Serrano knew perfectly well how little Isaltella was capable of opposing the will of Narvaez, and how great was the dislike of that rider of Sjtain to the fortunate and handsome Marshal.

There is a story that when Narvaez was dying, ami his confessor, })raying by his be<l.sidc, ad- vised him to for.i^Mve his enemies, the expiring proconstd of Isabella whispered. " My enemies ? I have none. I shot them all. Serrano only has escaped." If the story is an invention, it, at all events, gives a good idea of the feelings which existed between Xarvaez and the leader of the

250 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

so-callecl Liberal Union party. The scene might be still remembered by many newspaper readers, when in 1866 Narvaez had suspended the con- stitutional guarantees, and the Senate and the House of Deputies issued their protests. Isabella asked that Marshal Serrano, as President of the Senate, should call upon her. They had not spoken to each other for a long time, and it was now supposed some better understanding might result from the interview. The Marshal wanted evi- dently to take power into his own hands, or, at all events, to preserve it in the hands of his friend O'Donnell, and probably spoke frankly in that sense. But Narvaez, who was hidden behind a curtain, and listened to the conversation, did not mean to yield, and the Marshal had scarcely returned home from the Palace when he was invited to proceed to the Balearic Islands. If I rightly remember he never reached them, and had simply to spend a couple of weeks in the military prison of Alicante. Yet the fact of his having been treated in that way seemed quite sufficient to the Marshal for his finally breaking with the Queen, bringing about a coalition of his own party with the Progressists and the Demo- crats, concluding an alliance with Prim and Topete, beating Isabella's troops at Alcolea, and

MARSHAL SERRANO. 251

causing lior to take liii^'lit to France almost as precipitately as lie luul ddne liiiiisclf in April last.

In any other country, and under any other circumstances, Marshal v^errano would probably never have reached the position he occupies once more. I>ut tiie misconduct of the ex-Queen Isabella, and the misgovernment to which she exposed })oor Spain, caused Spaniards to forgive the Marshal what they seldom forgive any man — the want of gallantry to a woman. The Marshal has married since the time he enjoyed the favours of Isabella. He has several children, he is getting old, and is supposed to be an able man, and the Spaniards obey him in the hope that he will give them peace and order. IIow far they are right is another question. But sure it is that, of all living Spanish statesmen, the Duke de la Torre has the most pliable and acconnno- dating political conscience, and that may prove a great advantage just now. AW- all know liim to have been Conservative, moderate-Liberal, ultra- Liberal, and must not lose the hope of seeing him a Republican, provided power is left in his hands.

The Marshal's career since September, 18G8. is still fresh in everybody's memory. Trim and

252 SPAIX AND THE SPANIARDS.

himself held unlimited power until a specially- elected Cortes resolved upon the maintenance of monarchy, and the Duke of Aosta was finally asked to come and plant in Spanish soil the root of a new dynasty. Marshal Serrano served for some time the new King, but his notions of con- stitutional liberties were vastly different from those of Amadeo. His asking for the sus- pension of constitutional guarantees (a thing against which he fought formerly), was the first step towards the "inoffensive Italian's" getting disgusted with Spain. The Duque de la Torre retired, and the Radicals, Sagasta and Zorrilla, were alternately called to power. The Marshal would, under no circumstances, take ofifice with them at that time, but he seems to have changed his mind since, for they are work- ing together at the present moment.

When I had the pleasure of seeing the Duke in his Biarritz retreat, a couple of months after his escape from Madrid, he looked quite serene again, his moustachios were resuming their usual position, and himself his usual political activity. He said he was sure his party would come to power within three months (it was in June), but he was not sure whether it would be with or

MAUSIIAL «EUUAXO. 253

without bloodshed. A Unituriiin Ilejxihhc wouhl tlieii he ostahlislied, and the sword hccoinc for some time tlie ruHng machinery. It was the oidy way to save Spain, and tlie Marshal was afraid the country had heavy and sanguinary days in store for her. The re-establishment of a mon- archy was not to be thought of at present, and as the majority of the Conservative and Radical parties were perfectly willing to support a mode- rate republic, he did not see any reason why the question of monarchy should be brought forward at all.

It is well known that, if the Marshal was ever willing to give power to any one except himself, it was to the Duke of Moutpensier. 'i'o j(jin the ranks of the young Alfonso was never and will hardly ever be possible for him as long as Isabella lives; consequently, the most likely thing, as we have already hinted, is that he will become a Dictator for a more or less considerable number of years. The moderate Republicans will tolerate, and, perhaps, even support him in this capacity, for the sake of preserving the Republic ; while the rich Conservatives and the nobility, almost all of whom arc largely inte- rested in Cuba, will abide by hiui, because they

254 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

have now learned, by experience, that the Con- stitutional Monarchy is much more likely to be injurions to the slaveholders' interest than they know Marshal Serrano will ever be. I firmly believe that the Duke's views on this question are much less advanced than even those of Don Carlos, and if he is ever compelled to abolish slavery, he is sure to do it in such a way that the slaveholders will rather benefit than lose by the reform.

The leading members of Marshal Serrano's administration are all pretty well known to the general reader. They were frequently in office formerly, with, perhaps, the sole exception of the now so famous Captain-General of Madrid, who was but a short time ago little known outside military circles, even in Spain itself. He seems to belong to that class of characters in whom few suspect any abilities, and who even themselves are not cognisant of what they are capable of performing under certain favourable circum- stances. If an}'' one had told General Pavia, three or four years ago, that he would be what he now is, he would certainly not have believed it ;

MARSHAL SKUIIAXO. 255

and evon as late as February last, on his liein;? appointed for a few days Commander of the Army of the North, he issued a proclamation which was hy no means in accordance with what he did subsequently in Andalusia, or the other day in the Palace of the Cortes.

This is the kind of manifesto he launched when, in the befj^innini; of the Carlist rising he had to relieve Mnrjones in the command of the Army of tlie North : —

" Basques iiiul Xaviirre men ! The Ooveriimcnt of the Re- pubhc hus nominated me us Commander-in-Chief of tlie Army of the North, and sends me here with open arms to cmbraee you as brotliers. The Government have commanded me to assure you all, without distinction of political creeds, that Republic means tolerance for all opinions, all riglits and con- sciences, and that it will receive all of you as brothers without humiliations and conventions, without treason or treaties. Its intentions concerning the Basque provinces and Navarre can be summed up in the words of ' Paz y Fuoros' (Peace and pro- vincial charters). Return to your homes, brave Basques and Navarre men, to fraternise with the valiant army of the Re- public and tlie country ! Forgive and forget ! The greatest glory of my life would be my being able to say some day that not a shot had been fired between us, and tiiat you had opened your arms to me in order that I might throw myself into them.

" Your brother and gonenil Commander-in-Chief of the Army of the North,

" Pavia."

250 SPAIX AND THE SPANIARDS.

An embracing proclamation of this description looks somewhat different from what the energetic General has subsequently shown himself to be capable of doing. His frequent intimations to the Madrid Government that he would hold his command onl}' upon the distinct understanding that he had the unlimited right of shooting his own soldiers; his dealings in Andalusia, and, finally, his cavalier kickhig the deputies out of their own council hall, evidently clash with the fraternising assurances he made eleven months ago in the North. And how he came so promptly to change his views remains at present perfectly obscure.

General Pavia belongs to an old Spanish family. His father was an admiral of some distinction, and the son entered early the service of his country in the artillery. About 18G5, he was Lieutenant-Colonul under Prim, and was supposed to belong, by his political opinions, to the Conservative party ; but, somehow or other, Prim caused him to join the well known mili- tary insurrection which broke out on the 3rd of January, 18GG, at Aranjuez. It must be said, however, that General Pavia observed some sort of legal forms in doing so, for he first gave in

MARSHAL SERRANO. ' 257

liis rc'sij,'iiatlon to Isalielhi, and llicii liccatnc a rebel cliiel".

It will be remembered tiiat tiic insurgents, consisting, on the wiiok-, of some eight hundreti horsemen, had no successes, and that I'rini liad to fly to Portugal, where Pavia followed him in the character of chief of his staff. Subsequently, they both lived in exile in London and in Brussels, Prim managing from afar the insur- rectionary party.

On the 22nd ^of June in the same year, when the great revolt broke out almost all over Spain, and while, in the barracks of San Gil alone, some six hundred men were killed, neither General Pavia nor Prim was in Madrid, though it is well known that the movement was organised by Prim, and that it was crushed solely on account of its bad management, there being scarcely auv chief to the business ; for men like Contreras and Pierrard, of whom we have lately heard so much — the latter alone received something like a dozen wounds on that occasion— brave as they arc, were never capable of directing any military movement. The Government, having at its dis- posal the abilities of O'Donnell, Narvaez, Serrano, the two brothers Concha, Kos de Olano, and

VOL. IL S

258 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

several other experienced oflficers, naturally got the better of the insurgents.

The main political events after 1866 ought still to be fresh in the reader's memory. O'Donnell, notwithstanding his having van- quished the insurrection, had to retire to make room for Narvaez, assisted by Gonzalez Bravo and Marfori, all of them equally anxious to re- establish what they called the system of autho- rity, and what was in reality about the most arbitrary and corrupt sort of power that ever ruled Spain. They were but a few months in. power when a new insurrection broke out in Aragon and Catalonia in August, 1867, threaten- ing to spread all over Spain. It was again Contreras and Pierrard, who fought, this time under the more direct instructions of Prim and his Jefe del Estado Mayor, Pavia. The revolt was once more subdued, but its immediate result was that the Democratic party, until then opposed to Prim, joined him, while the absence of men like Serrano in the Government camp — for they were all driven into opposition, or exiled by Narvaez — prepared the way for the famous revolt of 1868. Narvaez died on the 23rd of April, and Gonzalez Bravo lived to enjoy power only for a very few months. On the 28th

MARSHAL SEUUAN'O. 259

of September tlic great insurrection bn»ko out in Cadiz. I*avia, to whom Prim had already given the rank of Colonel, became now Urigadier- Gcncral ; and just lour years hiter, on the morrow of Castelar's taking the 1 'irtatorship in September last, the rank of Lieutenant-General was Pavia's reward for the "pacilication" of Andalusia. The work Pavia had done in the beautiful southern jirovinces of Sjjain is too recent to be mentioned here ; Cordova, Seville, Cadiz, (iranada, saw him entering as the sup- pressor of the Intransigentes, and received him with all the enthusiasm the Andalusians are capable of. That (ieiK-rai Pavia has now dis- covered in himself all the capacities wanted for crushing rebellion, there can be no doubt; but whether he has real military abilities is quite another question, which will have to be decided when he has fought in open field against an organised army.

A circumstance which must seem particularly curious to the English mind, is the constantly changing position which all the men mentioned here have occupieil within iIil- very short juriod of the last five years. Thus Prim, I'avia, ( on- treras, and Pierrard were, in 18t)7, fellow-work- iiuii in one camp; and, though they were insur-

S 2

260 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

gents, they always belonged then to the moderate party. On the other hand, Serrano, the two brothers Concha, Ros de Olano, were in the opposite camp, and fought them, invariably de- feating them. In 1868, we find nearly the whole of both parties united to fight, side by side, the government of Isabella, and, four years later, we see Pierrard and Contreras amongst the Intran- sigentes, of the extermination of whom Marshal Serrano and General Pavia — their former com- rades—will probably soon begin to boast. But these are again cosas de Espaiia — Spanish things — not easily understood in other and less peculiar countries.

261

CHAPTER IX.

A DIGS !

A PERFECT fri<;lit. not to say a terror, seized ine, at tlic conclusion of the preceding chapter, when I noticed that I was speedily ap- proaching the orthodox limits of the two volumes, and had scarcely said a word on what I wished to speak of when I set to work. Instead of writing something "nicely descriptive" of Spain and the Spaniards, I find myself to have written a series of dull recollections of Spain, and of still duller essays on Spanish subjf'cts. But, as rhahit ne fait pas Ic inohu\ so the title does not make the book, and jirovitlrtl these hunilile pages are fotmd readable, and containing something which has not been already too frequently said, I shall feel jtist as happy as if I had written something really good and in harmony with the title.

262 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

In a country with sucli a prolific literature as the English, scarcely any author can consider himself as writing anything new. However great his pretensions and his efforts to be original or novel, he is always a mere supple- ment to an endless number of other writers on the same topic ; and Spanish subjects are in no way an exception to this rule, for there are, at least, five or six works published every year on that country, not to mention the endless maga- zine and newspaper articles. Yet, though much studied, Spain does not seem to gain in the affections of Englishmen. With a very few exceptions, the great majority of writers upon Spain delight in describing the charms of the Spanish climate, the beauties of Spanish scenery, and the treasures in arts and monu- ments which the country has preserved ; but few have anything good to say of the Spanish people.

The fiiults which British writers find with Spain and the Spaniards are manifold and various. Some of them, like the usually so sparkling and exhilarating Mr. George Augustus Sala, for instance, would, all at once, turn acid and get equally displeased with everything Spanish, and emphatically exclaim, " I wouldn't

ADIOS ! 2tJ3

bring ray inaulen aunt, I woultl not brin^^ my spinster cousin, I woukl not \)r\\\'j; any lady, (unless she were anotiier Ida PiciU'cr, or Lady Hester Stanhope), to the town, or the inn, or tlie room in which I am now dwelling." Others, like the somewhat dreamy l)ut amiable Mr. Ib.-nry Bhickburn, abhor the innnoderate use the Spa- niards make of their cigarettes, and cannot stand the practical joke played by some of them upon foreigners inquiring for directions, and being, in the Irish fashion, sent the wrong way. It would appear that Mr. Sala, as well as Mr. Blackburn and party, underwent the same disagreeable jn-o- cess of being sent to Alicante when they wanted to go to Cordova, and this causes Mr. Blackburn bitterly to complain that no "ABC" Guide, or Time Table exists in Spain, — a fact which simply shows that the Spaniards travel little, and care about foreigners travelling in their country still less.

Another writer, Miss Mary Eyre, is still more merciless towards the Spaniards. This lady seems to have undertaken an expedition into Spain with no better companion than " Keeper," her little ilog. She travelled third class, ]m^- bably in one of those fearfully shaped travelling costumes which are considered very comfortable

264 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

in England, but which immensely puzzle con- tinental eyes, and, apparently, without any considerable knowledge of the language of the country. It is well known that no Spanish lady is ever to be seen alone, even on a walk, still less on a journey, and less still with " a nice little dog." Miss Eyre was, consequently, mistaken for "una loca," and sometimes followed by a batch of street-boys. This greatly annoying her, she would stop and try to deliver to them a speech, declaring that she was a writer, and that she would tell all the world what savages the Spaniards were ; and the boys would, of course, laugh still more, and annoy her still more. Miss Eyre, on her return to England, would write a voluminous manuscript abusive of the Spaniard, and spread, through the channel of circulating libraries, the most absurd accusations against the nation, of which even the beggar is a gentleman, if you knoAv how to approach him.

If English ladies could only imagine what a fearful impression is produced upon the Spaniard when he sees, under his radiant sky, an English home-made dress, a pair of big, " com- fortable, solid leather boots," and a mushroom- like, black straw sun-hat, they would forgive him all the incivilities he might have proved capable

ADIOS ! 205

of, in a moment when his sense of beauty was so severely hurt.

But if there arc thus many writers invariably, and for niajiy reasons, abusing Spain, there are happily plenty of others who make you love that sad but lovely country. If you read, f(jr instance, the now almost classical book of Mr. Ford, and throw out of it the blind worship of " the great Duke," the ultra-patriotic reverence for every- thing English, and the blunders which are the inevitable result of the work being a very old one now, you arc sure to like Spain, and you will do so still more if you read the inimitable book of !Mr. George Borrow, or the more recent work of ^Ir. Augustus Hare; while the sublime chapter in the second volume of Buckle's " History of Civilization," will make you appreciate all that is so highly dramatic in the existence of that nation. Your sympathy for Spain and the Spaniards will be increased, to the extent of com- pelling you to go to the Peninsula, to study it, to enjoy its beauties, to live among its genial and generous population — I was almost going to say, to ask their pardon for all the wrongs which strangers have done to that delightful coinitry.

Without going back to the times of the

26Q SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

Goths or the Moors, or to the invasion' of the Austrian dynasty, or the Bourbons, take only the present century, and look how long it is since Spain has been left alone. The Peninsular war had scarcely terminated, when the army of the Holy Alliance, forty thousand strong, came to "re-establish order" in Spain, and to remain there for several years. Scarcely had they left when the Seven Years' War broke out, and an Anglo-Franco-Portuguese invasion took place. Christina and Isabella ruled almost exclusively with the aid of foreign diplomatists, and foreign adventurers, and Madrid became quite an arena of tournaments between Sir Henry Bulwer and the Comte de Bresson. The endless political parties which have been bred since can be all clearly traced to the foreign intrigues and interferences in the beginning of Isabella's reign; and the sufferings which are now inflicted on Spain are the immediate and exclusive result of the existence of these parties. How long is it since the English bombarded refractory Spanish towns ? I know a good many old Spaniards who ^ expressed the greatest astonishment that this year the same thing had not taken place again, and the seizure of Spanish ships by Captain Werner has only so far surprised them, as he was not an

ADios ! 267

English captain, but a (Jcniian one— that is to say, belonging to a nation which Spaniards were not formerly accnstomed to see interfering in their all'airs, and which to their minds had been brought into existence only since the time ol" the UohenzoUern candidature.

And, after all that, there are still both in Eng- land and France no end of people abusing the Spaniards, and " calling them all sorts of names" for everything they hear of them— to begin with, their inability to adapt themselves to the Parlia- mentary form of government, and to end with the fact of Madrid ladies giving up the mantilla and taking to Parisian bonnets. But who Hrst brouglit in, and without ever being asked to do so, both the modern Parliamentary forms and the bonnets t And who is guilty that that encharited land has neither remained what it was, nor become what strangers wished her to be, losing herself half way between Europe and Africa, and breeding the miseries and vices of both without the merits of either ?

The first point upon which every Englishman nnist needs abiiso Spaniards after he has done so from his political point of view, are the bull-

268 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

fights, and it must be avowed that some of its features, at least, are perfectly abominable, not only to an English eye, from which the police and the Society for the Protection of Animals conceal every visible suffering, but to every more or less civilized eye. For the Spaniards, however, they are only natural features of the spectacle to which they have been accustomed from their early child- hood. There are plenty of students of medicine who, on first entering a theatre of anatomy, feel something very nearly approaching to faintness, yet in a few months or years, as the case may be, they find certain niceties in the art of chopping human bodies. Something similar is to be seen in the kitchen of every house, where nervous young girls, who have formerly cried bitterly at seeing a chicken's throat cut, are subsequently almost ready to cut it themselves, and, at all events, do cut raw meat with almost as firm a hand as a butcher. All these are matters of habit, and until the Spaniard has so changed as to become no Spaniard any longer, he will never be made to look, for instance, at the sufferings of horses in the arena of the bull-ring with the same horror an Englishman looks at them. Besides, there is very little real difference between this sort of cruelty and those which are inflicted on the hare, the fox,

ADios! 209

the birds, or even the dogs, in the sjyorts of all countries.

The sight of a horse trotting into its own bowels hanging down to liie ground, is perfectly revolting. The intestines being put back again, the skin stitched, and the poor animal carried once more into the arena, under sufl'crings which ])rovoke evident contortion in all the four legs, or the sight of the expiring animal lying on the ground, and being charged over and over again by an infuriated bull, is horrible. Being un- accustomed to hear the horse shriek with pain, we shudder when we hear, for the first time, actual screams extorted iVoin these noble and patient animals by the insm-mountable pain they are subjected to. I shall never forget how, the first time I saw a fight, I actually ran out of the bull-ring at the sight of the struggle •-> between a bull and ahorse. An old haek. with i broken leg and open entrails, was lying in the middle of the arena, when a furious black bull, foaming with blood and ploughing the earth, rushed at him, rolled with him, and in the assault got his horn into the mouth of th(^ {tour animal, and seemed, ai)parently, quite unable to dis- entangle himself. The circus thundered with applause; but a new-comer, however strong his

270 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

nervous system, has certainly the ""greatest difficulty in bringing his eyes to rest upon the horrible spectacle. Yet these and many other revolting details, so well known through being constantly described to the English public, are merely Incidents of a thoroughly national, and, at present, quite indispensable entertainment of Spain. There are writers who say that bull- fights are the result of national Spanish cruelty ; others, that they are the cause of it. My belief is that they are, in the first place, an historical necessity ; and, in the second, a most wholesome preventive against the natural bloodthirstiness of the Moro -Iberian man. As the brutality of the Anglo-Saxon race is ventilated through their field and athletic sports, so the bloodthirstiness of the Spaniards is ventilated in the bull-fight. With- out the boat-races, horse-races, and the endless forms of sport, the brutality and muscularity of the average Britons would have caused them to smash each others' jaws and cleave each others' skulls much more frequently than they now do. And so is it with the Spaniard, who, without the sight of warm, steaming blood offered to him at least once a week, would draw it himself, and from a still less suitable source perhaps, for he must have it at any price, and centuries must pass

ADIOSi 271

before he can be expectetl to change in tliis respect.

Alongside with this, so to say, i)hy Biological significance of the bull-ri'j:;ht, there is a practical one. As the sports in iMigland liave improved the breed of man and beast, so the bull-figlits in ISjiain have preserved the African agility in the inhabitants of the reiiiiisuhi, and promoted tlie raising of cattle, not to speak of the fact tliat the cnstom gives the means of living to thousands of people, directly and indirectly connected with it, and that the i)roceeds of the bull-fights are devoted, all through the Peninstila, to charitable purposes. Strange as sueh an association of means and ends may seem, it must not be for- gotten that bull-fights are the remnants of ancient religious sacrifice, and that in the detail of them yon can still pretty clearly trace certain features to the ancient holocaust, others to the gladiators. The very name of fight, which muscle -wor- shipping Englishmen give to these national Spanisli entertainments, is incorrect, for in Spanish they are called Fii\stafi, festivities, not lights.

Then let ns be frank. We all like grand sights, without nnich troubling oin-selves with their real meaning. And if you had ever been

272 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

to the Plaza de Toros, if you had seen a motley crowd of some twelve or fifteen thousand men andw-omen assembled under the dazzling dome of a southern sky, and excited to their highest pitch, yet thoroughly sober, exquisitely polite and gentlemanly ; sometimes inclined to use the knife, but capable neither of bearing nor of inflicting an insult ; if you had seen that crowd w^ith every nerve strained to its fullest extent, and yet without a single policeman to cool them down ; if you had admired the athletic, finely-built bull-fighters, dressed in gorgeous attire, so tight as to show every muscle and vein of their handsome bodies ; if you had become convinced that nothing is further from the mind of either the fighters or the public than betting, " doctoring," or anything of that sort ; that admiration of the thing in itself,— the agility, courage, dexterity, and skill of the man in the presence of an infuriated beast ; and if at dusk, when the fight is over, you had seen that mass of people igniting their penny fans, throwing them up in the air like so many petty rockets, and joyously turning home as good and kindly a set of human beings as when they came to witness the revolting sight, you would, like myself, forget all the cruelties which their national and traditional entertainment contains.

ADIOS! 273

After all, we are not horses, have jirobubly a much more sensitive nervous system than any quadruped, yet some of us endure suil'erings which no other animal would stand without revolting against. And it remains still an open question whether it is not better to die like these old, worn-out steeds do, after a few minutes' suffering and under the thundering apjilausc of thousands of people, than to finish one's career, as a good many men do, after a long life of labour, in the street, from hunger, in the workhouse, despised by everybody, and cursed by the tax- payers, or in a prison, locked up like a wild beast in a solitary cage, for having stolen a loaf of liread when urged by the pangs of hunger.

As a matter of course, the bull-fights open an inexhaustible field for moralising. There is scarcely an p]nglishman, even among such as have never visited the Peninsula, wlio has not something to say not only on the cruelty of the entertainments, but on the great improi)riety of various practices connected with it. The custom of taking children to these Fiestas was at all times violently attacked as one which wuuld naturally breed cruelty in the young generation.

VOL. II. T

274 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

But, as Mr. Ford justly remarks, " They return to their homes unchanged, playful, timid, or serious as before ; their kindly social feelings are uninjured ; and where is the filial or parental bond more affectionately cherished than in Spain ? Where are the noble courtesies of life, the kind, considerate, self-respecting demeanour, so exemplified as in Spanish society ?" Until the children get accustomed to the cruel details of the spectacle, they turn away their eyes as any grown Englishman does when he first attends the Fiesta ; but the painful, revolting details of the sight are soon lost " in the poetical ferocity of the whole, for the interest of the tragedy of real death is undeniable, irresistible, and all- absorbing." To say that these sights render the children more cruel or hard-hearted is simply absurd. If it had been so, what should we then have to say of the custom so prevalent in another country, of sending little children to the nearest corner public-house to fetch some beer or spirits for the already half-drunken father or mother, and to lap with their tongue the froth of the malt liquor at an age when they ought to have tasted nothing but their mother s milk ? Is there any moralising humbug on earth that would venture to assert that this latter practice is more

ADIOS! 27')

edifving or more elevating tluin the former ( The common Spanish wonum takes her ehihl to the bull-fight fiimply as a common English woman takes hers to the Crystal Palace on Good Friday, or to Epping Forest on a Summer Sunday : she does so sinj})ly because she cannot leave it at home. Among the children of the educated classes the bull-fights do uot produce any more ravage than the sight of the Derby or the Uni- versity boat-race does. You can safely carry a Spanish boy every week to the J^laza de Torus, without running the risk of his ever becoming a betting man, losing every farthing he could lay his hand on, and finishing his career on the tread- mill. The worst thing you can expect is that h<- will go luad over the niceties of Jaiiromac/iUi, and, if he has much property, will breed bulls, or else become an amateur Et^pada.

The Spaniards are certainly a very ignorant set of people, and anything approaching to a system of education or training is perfectly un- known to them. l>ut they fully make up for that by the natural aftections and sympathies which animate every Spanish family, and of which no idea can be formed by foreigners, unless they had opportunities to enter the Spanish home on intimate terms. Englishmen are justly proud of

T 2

276 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

some of the aspects of their family life, but, as is only too often the case, they are apt to exagge- rate their own merits. We all know that too frequently a "happy family" means simply a pandemonium, and that a friendly family circle has become an exception instead of being a rule in this country ; while in Spain it is still a rule with exceptions to it, presented only in Madrid, where the foreigners and the political jobbers have exercised their wretched influence. With oranges, figs, and dates growing wild, starvation is not easy, consequently, actual want is but little known, and the family has a thousand facilities for living together without breaking up for busi- ness reasons. A boy leaving home, at twelve or thirteen years of age, to learn a trade, as in England, or a girl being sent off', for economy's sake, to a " select boarding school," is almost a thing unknown in Spain.

The English are proud of the amount of work they are capable of performing, but the Spaniards are of opinion that the English cannot help working: if they did not, they would all have to hang themselves, so dull is their country, while Spain is known to be Paradise, and the man has no need to work in Paradise. An old Castilian saying tells us that, if God had not been God, He would have been

ADios! 277

King of all the Spains, and would have taken the French King as a cook to himself: "Si Dius no fuese Dios, seria Rey de las Esfianas, y el dc Francia su cocinero." And this apparently ridi- culous boasting of the Spaniard has some raison d'etre. Fancy, for instance, what a havoc th" chronic Spanish disturbances would have pro- duced in any other country ! The people of the Peninsula have been, for these last years, supposed to be in an "awful state," but go to their country, look at their life, and you will see absolutely nothing "awful" in it. The national existence is proceeding in its usual course, everybody has something to eat, a house, a more or less hand- some wife, a lot of children, and would not, exchange his existence for a much more comfort- able one in the best-regulated community in the world. If some one feels in himself au exuberance of activity, he goes to Cuba to make money, or to some of the South American Re- jniblics ; a few, perhaps, will go to the city of London. Uut the vast majority of Spaniards are perfectly satisfied with what they have at home. The disturbances they have are mere old stories to them, and have never prevented then) from enjoying their delightful climate, their bright scenery, and such amusements as tradition and

278 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

habits have rendered indispensable to them. All over the countrj^ both poor and rich walk quietly about, enjoying life, smoking their ciga- rettes, gossiping at their tertulias, and the more eagerly discussing political topics, the less they know about the subject. To get excited, to run or rush about even in a moment of actual danger, still less for the sake of business, would never occur to the mind of a Spaniard. There is an amount of Mahommedan fatalism in him which precludes him from ever attempting to overcome circumstances. The thorough absence of any chance of making money in the English or American fashion, makes everybody indifferent and quiet, and the natural fertility of the soil and the Spanish climate do the rest.

A good many English visitors to Spain com- plain of the Spanish shopkeeper apparently not caring at all about selling his goods : he does it in such a lazy sort of way, as if he were obliging the customer and not pleasing him- self. And so it is; the majority of the Spaniards do not care at all about doing busi- ness for business' sake. He is still under the impression that to gain one's bread by the sweat of one's brow was inflicted as a punishment, and does not, by any means, constitute an intrinsic

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part of life. Catalonia, which is tlie most hanl- workiiig province, an'l which works, after all, by no means hard, is disliked by thu rest of Spain, and towns like Cadiz are held in utter disregard by Seville and Granada, as being the homes of shopkeeping com muni tics,

A short time ago, I was told by the manager of one of the largest London wine-merchants that the senior partner of the firm, anxious to discover some new stocks of wine, went himself to Spain, bought some horses, and started into the interior of the country, for the purpose of buying up all he could possibly find during his rambles. One day he arrived upon the estate of a wealthy Spanish grandee, and, on entering his house, said, in a half British, half Spanish dialect that he wanted some wine. " You want some wine, Caballero F answered the Andalusian magnate; "I shall be most happy to oblige you. I will give orders to my steward to give yoii as much as you like of it." The Englishman tried to explain to his host that he did not mean he wanted to drink, but to buy some. " Oh, I won't sell anything, I am not a wine-merchant! Take as much as you please and carry it off," was the Spaniard's answer. I greatly regret I was not able to ascertain how the matter was finally settled, but

280 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

I have every reason to believe that a compromise — the sacred British machinery for settling differ- ences by give and take— was arrived at, and that the English merchant finally consented to pay much less than he was prepared to do, while the Spaniard accepted much more than his national pundonor would strictly permit.

But if the soil, the climate, the tradition, and the general conditions of the country, equally contribute to strengthen the ties of Spanish family life, much is also done towards it by the Spanish woman, that abused and charming being against whom " every puny scribbler shoots his petty barbed arrow." What calumnies have not been written or said against the Spanish woman, and what are the merits and the virtues — educa- tion excepted — that she does not possess ? True, that she frequently learas what love is before she knows what the alphabet is, but this ignorance is not her fault, nor is it any way out of proportion with the general ignorance of the men of her country. If j^ou are philosophical enough to take this as a circumstance which cannot be helped at present, and are able to look at people, not from the exclusive point of view of your own country, but from a genial and human point

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of view, you would soon discover, on stiidy- infj the Spanish woman, that yon must take all the virtne of the most virtuous iMi^lishwoman, all the grace and wit of the most graceful and witty Frenchwoman, and all the beauty of the most handsome Italian woman, to make some- thing approaching to a perfect Spanish lady.

l)Ut she has her dark sides, of course. You cannot talk to her seriously, her conversation is always a mere gossip; she is also often bigoted and superstitious; but her natural charms, both moral ami j)hysical, the kindness of her heart, and the truthfidness ol" her love, when she once loves, fully compensate for all her defects. One would be inclined to say that their very virtues are almost too great for the welfare of the country, for a married Si)anish woman is a per- fect mistress in everything that relates to the education of her children; her husband is, as a rule, too much of a politician, of a cafe-talker, and of a man of the world, to attend to these matters; and as even a good many Spanish women of high society do not possess half the knowledge of an average middle-class woman of England or Germany, (however little that may be), their indueni-e in jK-rpetuating general Spanish ignorance is alarmingly strong. One

282 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

would almost desire they were less domesticated and virtuovs, and would send their children to school instead of constantly keeping them by their side.

Yet it must not be supposed that the Spanish women are incapable of any serious occupation, or of acquiring knowledge. It is not impossible, though, still by' the way of rare exceptions, to meet, both at Madrid and in some of the pro- vinces, amongst the richer classes, as accom- plished young ladies as one could possibly wish te be acquainted with. In some of the ports of Andalusia, in Madrid, and in Barcelona, a good many of them speak excellent English. French is more or less spread through all classes except the very lowest. The literature of their own country begins to be studied by even very young Spanish girls, and painting and music have become, now-a-days, quite a common accomplish- ment in every family whose means permit them to think of anything beyond the troubles of every-day life.

The free-and-easy manner shown by the fair sex throughout all classes of Spanish society, causes a good many foreigners to form a rather imfavoiirable opinion of the morals of Spanish ladies. The tacit belief which we all have that

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physical beauty is an aiMitioii.il temptation to illicit love, causes a good many of us to assume that tlio morals of Spanish ladies cannot be very strict, and their bold nuiinier of looking at men, their " o/Var," wliich, to an English mind, has something impudent about it, strengthens still more this belief. " Xa sal" the salt, the piquancy of a Spanish girl or woman, the thing of which her sweetheart or husband is so proud, seems, to Britisji tourists, quite shocking. But when you come to know tliese women, you will not only admire them, but you will actually experience the contagion of their virtue. At all events, I must confess that in no country in Europe— and I have seen them all— have I found such pure enjoyment in intercourse with ladies as in Spain.

Of course you must not attempt to talk philo- sophy or politics with them, for they would turn their back to you, or would still more unceremo- niously request you to " shut up." Bui if you have sense enough to admire what is beautiful, graceful, and witty; if, however serious and dull your occupation, you are capable of enjoying tho gossip of a being as bright and j)ure as a child, the society of Spanish girls and women will givo you no end of the brightest enjoyment. Whether

284 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

all this would do in the long run, and as some- thing permanent, I am unable to tell. But, for a while, the sight of their lovely features, the pro- fusion of their hair, their hands almost as small as those of a baby, their miniature feet, some- times quite bare, and scarcely slipped into little satin shoes, their everlasting warbling, seem all the more captivating to you because of your pro- found consciousness that you cannot buy these charms. Such a thing as a young girl marrying for money, or for any social consideration, is almost unknown in Spain. You must win or conquer her heart. A young girl marrying an old man, would be thrown out of the society of all her friends, and reaching the country seat of her old, and, perhaps, invalid husband, would be soon made to feel by every farmer's wife and daughter that they are more pure and honest than she.

A Spanish girl may sometimes change her sweethearts, she might have had half-a-dozen of them before she married one ; but when she has done so, I believe she is, as a rule, the most truthful and loving woman on earth ; and should her life prove an unhappy one, no one will ever know that, for she will never carry her com- plaints either to a divorce court or to the apart-

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ments of a paramour. " So yon mean to say that there is neitlior immorality nor adultery in Spain?" may ask the reader. No, that is not what I mean to say. ]3ut '.vhat I do mean to say is that the comparative percentage of profes- sional vice, and of general looseness of morals, is much lower in Spain than any other country of Europe. The best proof of this is that the so-called demi-monde, or the kept women, are unknown, even in Madrid itself. There are fallen women in the cajjital of Spain, and in a couple of the large towns of the Peninsula, but the total of prostitutes throughout the country is, I believe, much under the number we can daily meet in one leading street of Paris, London, or Berlin. As to conjugal unfaithfulness, it will ahvavs exist, as long as married women and unmarried men meet together, and as long as mistakes in the selection of a partner, and mis- apprehension in the afTuiities, cannot be avoided; but it preserves still, among the Moro-Iberian race, the character of a very rare and exceptional occurrence, and is almost ex(dusively confined to Madrid, the city of which the Spaniards themselves say, "lie who wants thee does not know thee; he who knows thee does not want thee."

286 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

" Quien te quiere, no te sabe ; Quien te sabe, uo te quiere."

An abject form of immorality, which is rather largely spread over the Italian peninsula, and which the empire of Napoleon III. has freely bred in Paris, is not unfrequently met with in the capital of Spain. The Civil Service clerks and the officers of the army who get out of employ with the fall of a Ministry, who have, at the same time, neither a profession nor abilities to -earn their livelihood, and are accustomed to live much beyond their means, sell their wives. She becomes the mistress of some rich foreigner, of a banker or a man in office, and the husband makes a living out of her ignominy. But such scamps, who deserve the lash of Newgate, are few, their names are all known and stamped with the abject epithet they fully de- serve, and out of the capital of Spain you will never find an instance of that sort.

It is well known that Madrid is in every respect the curse of Spain, in its government, in its moral influence, and even in its very climate, which is said to be so subtle that it would kill a man, while apparently it cannot even put out a caudle. " El aire de Madrid es tan sutil que

ADios ! 287

matii :i un liombre, y no apii^a ii iiii caiidil." AikI the truth is that, except the Picture Gallery and the Prado, there is nothing to be seen in the capital of Spain. The traveller who goes to Spain for the purpose of studying it will certainly learn niiu'li more during a slay of a couple of weeks in any })rovincial town tiian in the capital. Even the natiuiuil S]ninish customs have there almost disappeared, and the classical cure, Avith his extravagant hat, is almost never to be met with. Since the departure of the last royalty there is not even an'orded the sight of luxury which is so attractive to many sight-seers, and for which Madrid was once so celebrated. The beautiful horses and mules which were but a couple of years ago daily to be seen on the Prado have disappeared ; a fine carriage or a fine steed has become quite a rarity, and if the Republic is going to last, even the few that may still be seen will disa])pear, for the}' all belong to the aristocracy, and not to financial or businessmen, who may per- haps remain in Madrid notwithslanding the form of government, while the aristocrats will all gt>, or are gone already, preferring as they do Paris, Vienna, Home, and Florence to their own capital, of which the Palace is unoccupied. Tiiey live much in the fashion of the Irish landlords.

288 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

Always absent from the place where they ought to be present, they are to be seen only at the court of Madrid or abroad, and call at their estates only when they get short of money. They come then to their ancient seats for a couple of weeks, for the sale of some property, or for the more or less forcible collection of arrears from their farmers.

But this daily increasing exodus from the capital still does not prevent Madrid from being full of handsome men and handsome women. You can sit for hours on the Prado, looking as they are passing by, gossiping on the events of the day ; and at night all the theatres are crowded, and to a stranger the Spanish audience presents always a much more interesting sight than the Spanish performance. I shall never forget a charitable concert I once attended in the afternoon at the great Circo de Madrid. It was a very swell affair; I believe the cheapest places were forty reals (about nine shillings). An orchestra of over a hundred and fifty musicians, under the leadership of Senor Monasterio, was giving a performance quite worthy of Covent Garden. The house crammed to excess, the hot rays of the sun passing through the coloured glass windows, playing on the motley and rich attires, and on faces varying in all imaginable

ADIOS! 2H9

shades, from tliu dark olive to ihc brii^litest Mond, presented a si^dit whicli can lie scrii in no other city ol" Kurojie. Ever\lio(ly was jolly, tidkini; loudly, and, in the southern i'ashion, apparently not listening at all to the splendid music of the orchestra. But as soon as the holero of the over- ture of " Mignon" resoundeil, all e(»nver.sation was suddenly stopped, the audience heing evidently caught by the sort of wild tunes which are rooted in their hearts and heads, and they thus at once betrayed how artilieial is tiie dislike tiiey ]»retend to show to their national dancing airs and ballads, which are almost given up for French quadrilles, German valses, and Italian operatic selections. Truly speaking, if you want to see now-a-days something of real Spain, you must go far south from the capital to those regions where even in the midst of the Winter months the July sun of London would seem a mere dozing lamp. It is there that you still find the national costumes, the national usages, and those ancient edifices which remind you of the days of Spain's greatness and glory. It is there that you see also the classical Spanish beggars and gipsies, and the national Spanish dancing, not that sort of European dancing which consists in the sliow of a kind of notched sticks supposed to be human legs, but that VOL. II. U

290 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

dancing in which the ribs, the fall of the back, the arms, and the head all join in a long, voluptuous, series of unseizable movements. It is also to these regions you must go if you Avant to see real Spanish beauties, those little dark ones with large eyes, long eyelashes, and all the charms which the painters have rendered us so familiar with. In Madrid you find only a few of them, and that only at the height of the season. The infusion of European blood and the blood of the northern provinces of Spain has been too great in the capital for her population to preserve the characteristic type of the Moro-Iberian race, and I am not quite sure that in the streets of Madrid one does not meet a larger number of fair and red women than of dark ones.

The promptitude with which Madrid gets de- nationalised is something amazing. You will hardly ever see, now-a-days, except in the theatres, the mantilla, over which, thanks to the unbearable climate of the capital, the Madrid ladies take good care, to tajyarse Men (to muffle them- selves well), with all sorts of British and French shawls, plaids, and kindred things. At dinners you will but seldom see a lady eating fish with a knife, or carrying a toothpick stuck in her mouth. A few of them will perhaps take a glass of wine

ADIOS! 21)1

(luring the ineal, and one in a liundri'd may, un the quiet, snrokc u cigarette. Many Englishmen believe, of course, that every Spanish W(jman smokes, but that is nonsense ; except the cigarreva (the working woman at the cigar factory), and a few ladies from Cuha, no Spanish woman ever smokes. In Andalusia they also scarcely know the taste of wine, pure water, and perhaps a sweet cool summer drink, being all their beverage. But the toothpick is here carried all day long in their mouth, and the fish is eaten not only with a knife, but sometimes with the minia- ture fingers adorned with rosy nails. Such little savageries may, perhaps, seem shocking to Euro- pean routine, but they are done in such a natural and graceful way that you cannot help admiring them.

Should these volumes ever fall into the hands of some fair readers, they may possibly exclaim : " Why, with all the grace and beauty you find in the Spanish woman, her love is on that account not sweeter, or her feelings not purer, than those of other women." To this I would not answer either in the affirmative or the negative. My age and the hard toil of my life no longer allow

292 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

me to flirt. During my stay in Spain I was, therefore, unavoidably prevented from making any experience of my own in that way. But from what I have observed, and heard from my friends and acquaintances, I have every reason to believe that the love of a Spanish woman differs from that of women of other nations in this respect, that no practical consideration ever enters into it. Matrimony, as a project, seems seldom to be entertained by the Spanish girl. She loves for love's sake; she would never inquire, either directly or indirectly, into the position or pecuniary means of her sweetheart, and when marriage is proposed, she takes it only as one of the incidents of the romance which is " to be continued in our next"— that is to say, through a series of years, until she bears about half a dozen children, and becomes a matron just as deeply interested in the love affairs of her sons and daughters as she is now interested in her own.

The intercourse between sweethearts in Spain is also greatly different from what we see either in England or France. The girl is neither subjected to the French seclusion, nor does she enjoy the freedom considered so natural in the eyes of the English people. But she is not deprived of this

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freedom as in Franco, tliroufjh the despotic aii- thorit}' of the parents. She siin})ly does not take it, partly because she feels an instinctive mistrust lor the passion which animates her, and partly because the fiimily ties in Spain are so soft and pleasant that she has no reason for ever havin^^ a desire to enjoy her love outside of her homr. The whole romance is going on under the family roof or in the family ])atio, under the dazzling sky, and amidst the atmosphere of orange trees and aromatic hothouse plants growing wild. With the kissing business (I must beg pardon for not finding a better expression), both herself and her young man are rather frightened. They feel they might lose their heads if they indulged in it, and that which we see in certain other coiintries, where a girl kisses her lover for three or four years, and afterwards brings an action for damages against him, is quite an unknown thing in Spain. The young Spanish lovers kiss each other on meeting and on parting in the presence of their parents or friends, perhaps a furtive kiss sometimes may be deposited on the girl's hand or her ibot somewhere on the staircase, or at the fall of night at the house-gate. But anything in the shape of long solitary walks, or excursions, of a pair of young sweethearts, would be quite

294 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

out of the question in Spain, for the blood running in the veins of the young girl and the young man would cause them to lose all control over themselves.

To those who know Spain only from reading Spanish stories, the love affairs in that country appear also as necessarily connected with sere- nades and knife struggles of the rivals. This is greatly exaggerated. The serenading of one's beloved is occasionally still to be met with in Andalusia, where the climate and all the habits of life greatly encourage it; but in the other parts of Spain the business is gone through in the usual European in-door way. As to knives, if they are used between two men who happen to fall in love with the same woman, their indis- criminate manipulation in such cases begins to be regarded as a romantic extravagance provided for in the penal code. Sometimes, I am sorry to say, Spanish love romances assume even a very prosaic aspect. For instance, during my resi- dence at Madrid 1 used to watch a happy pair who were living in the same house with me. The families of the sweethearts were not on very good terms. That of the girl occupied the second floor, that of the man the first, and as the man belonged to a much richer family, there

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was some olijoction raised to the iiiarria;^^'. 'I'lu- youii;^ people had, therefore, to earry on their iove-iiiakiiiLT elaiidcstiiicly. and thr window <»(' my hack room ()])i'nin,:; into the conrt-yard. I saw them (hiily corresponding by means ol" strings throngh the littk- railed windows of certain retired spots, whieh are not only unfit for this jiurpose, hilt i-aiinot evt.-n he properly mentioned in j)i-int, all the more so as they are in Spain l»y no means so comfortable as in England.

The break np of courtship is performed also in a manner somewhat peculiar to Spain. It is, as a rule, done very (piietly, without the slightest exposure and aiiiioyanee to anyone, except the party immediately concerned. When the girl breaks off with her sweethearc, her parents seldom even ask her why she has done so, and her friends would take it as the greatest indiscretion to put any question, were it oidy that of asking why the young man is no more to be seen in the house. The girl exerts all her efl'orts to conceal from those around her the circumstancs which have led to tin- termination of their courtship. A young lady whose family belonged to the Alfonso party, and whose house I used fre- quently to visit at -Madrid, was greatly in love with a youth of strong Republican proclivities.

296 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

Whether politics had anything to do with their quarrels I don't know, but three or four months later I was one day quietly writing in my room at St. Jean-de-Luz, when the servant came to tell me that a lady was asking for me, and much to my astonishment, I saw the young girl whose parents had since taken their Summer quarters at Biarritz. "I come to ask you a favour," said she, cordially shaking hands with me ; " it is but a trifling matter. I bring you a little parcel which 1 want you to address to Eduardo. I have broken off with him : he has turned quite a Fede- ralist, and a fearfully violent one. He is now at Barcelona, and I want to send him all his letters back. As I do not wish any of my friends to know what I am doing, neither that his friends should recognise my handwriting when he re- ceives the letters, I thought you would be about the best person I could apply to. You will pro- bably soon leave here and forget all about us ;" and she handed me a packet of fully six or seven pounds weight, which a professional novel-writer would probably have paid very dear for, as its con- tents would have given him an invaluable material for writing a most lifelike Spanish love-story.

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I JiiM atVaiil, however, that my praise of the Spanish women may bo interpreted in the sense of my having been so allured by their physical charms as to overlook their dcd'eets. lint I don't believe that such a supposition would be correct. The ])rofound admiration which I feel for the Spanish woman does not limit itself to her ap- pearance and features; it is her kindness, the tenderness of her heart, whieh is clearly [>cr- ceptible in every act of her lile, that I admire, much more still than her beauty, her natural wit, or any other external attractions. In the lowest classes you see almost the same merits as you meet with in the highest circle. The wife of a peasant is just as loving to her iiusband, just as careful about her children, and just as kind to everybody surrounding her as the wife of a grandee. She is even, perhaps, more so. ^\'he- ther you knock at the door of an inn, or of an isolated faru), all the women of the house come to receive you, and there is not a thing that will be refused to you. If you fall ill, whether it be at an hotel, a lodging-house, or the residence of a friend, you may be perfectly sure of having such kindness and attention paid to you as you could scarcely find in your own home. All day long, the ladies, old and young, as well as all the

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servant girls of the house, will not leave you alone for a moment ; they will surround your bed and really enervate you through the minute attentions they show to one.

With a view not to be accused of partiality, I will again adduce other people's observations on the work of mercy which the Spanish women are doing all through the Peninsula. A writer in Macmillan's Magazine, publishing his impressions of life in the interior of Spain, speaks thus on the subject of Spanish charity : —

" But there was one sight in Cadiz that I had long yearned to see ; a sight that, once seen, will never be by me forgotten, and one that should make the name of Cadiz dear to every true and loving English heart. I mean the Casa de Misericordia ; or, as it is now called, El Rosplcio de Cadiz. Thither, on the first day possible to me, I turned my steps. The exterior of this institution, one of the most benevolent in the world, has notliing to recommend it. It is simply, as ' Murray' says, a huge yellow Doric pile fronting the sea.

" The first thing that struck me as I waited for a moment while the porter went to ask the Rectora to show us over, were the bright faces and the ringing laughter of some fifty children, who were playing in the capacious quadrangle and the beau- tifully-kept garden within the walls, where the hehotrope, dahUa, geranium, and many tropical flowers were in full bloom. Air, light, and cleanliness seemed characteristics of the place at a first glance.

" The Hospicio, perhaps, may be best described as an English

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workhouse, stripped of its bittcrnoss, niul invested, if I may use the expression, witli many privileges. It is a real rest, a real lionic for the poor who urc decenlen (respectable) ; a refuge for the voung women who arc homeless or out of place ; a school and home for cliildrcn ; and an asylum f(jr the aged of both sexes. The prison look, the prison restrictions, the re- fractory ward, and the tramps' ward — all these arc unknown at the Ilospicio. Accordingly, it is looked upon as a homo by the hundreds of both sexes who (lock to its shelter.

" The Home is supported by a yearly vohnitary grant from the town government, the nearest estimate that I could obtain of the actual cost of keeping it up being £5,000 per annum. The actual number of inmates at the time was 8t2. The place is generally much fuller, the number of beds made up, or capable of being made up, being close upon a thousand.

" The place is open to all who need assistance, on their pre- senting at the door an order from the town government testify- ing that they are decentes.

" The aged poor come in, and live and die here, surrounded by all the little comforts that old age stands in need of; if they like they can go out for a while to visit their friends, and return lo their home again. On all the feast-days (and their name in 8i)ain is legion), their friends and relatives have free access to them, as well aa on Sundays. The friends may bring them whatever they like in the shape of food, or wine, or, if they have money, they can send out and buy it for themselves. The men can have their smoke as at their own house — a luxury denied, and how needlessly ! in some Knglish workhouses.

"As regards the children's department, any child is qualified to enter the Home, until it caJi oi)tnin its own living, who is either an oq)han or one of a large and poor family. They are all divided into classes. Any pan.*nt can comu to the Homo

300 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

and obtain leave of the Eectora to take her child home for the day, from nine o'clock until the set of sun. The children are first taught to read, wi-ite, cipher, and sing; they then are taught any trade that they or their parents desire

" Thence, to see the convalescents (of a House of Mercy) dining. In a long, cheerful room, there they were, looking over the bright blue sea, and eating heartily, and trying to talk. For they could only try. They were men from every clime and of many tongues, for this institution takes in all alike ; an EngUsh sailor, who had fallen from the mast, and whose captain paid for him ; one or two Finlanders, in the same case ; an American, from ' Philadelphy,' as he said ; one or two Moors, and several Spaniards, made up this strange but cheerful dinner-party. The American told me ' they were very com- fortable quarters,' with a genuine new-country twang.

" The whole work is done by seven superintending Sisters of Mercy, whose smiling faces are a medicine in themselves. They wear a simple black dress, plain black cross, and white starched cape or collar ; and if they have any pride, it seems to me it is to do good."

Mr. Augustus Hare, in his " Wanderings in Spain," gives the same testimony in favour of the natural kindness of the Spanish nation, and I insist here so much on this point because, thanks to Mr. Ford, an opinion has been spread abroad that nothing was more horrible than the cruelty and disregard with which the sick and the poor w^ere treated in the public institutions of Spain. Justly enraged against the Spanish doctors, " the

ADIOS I 301

base, brutal, and bloody Sajigrados^'' ]\Ir. Ford went on attacking everything with which they were connected. But in this, as in many other things, the Spanish nation is greatly abused.

" Wc have quite laid aside (says Mr. Ilaro) all thought of the mistrust which is a necessary habit in Italy. . . . Even the poorest peasant who has sliown us our way, and who had walked a considerable distance to do so, has invariably refused to receive anytliing for his services ; yet all are most willing

and anxious to help strangers The temporal works of

mercy — to give bread to tlie hungrj-, and drink to the thirsty, to take care of the sick, to visit the captive, and to bury the dead, these are the common duties wliicii none shrink from."

W'luit Mr. Hare says here obviously refers to the kindly feelings not only of the Spanish women, but of the men as well, and the affectionate nature of the Spaniards in general is scarcely better illustrated in anything than in the relations between master and servant. Of course, if you would judge by the state of these relations in Madrid, yuu would never come tu any favourable conclusiun, for,tel maitre tel valet, and the corrupted Madrid politicians and empkados have duly spread their wretched,influence throughout all classes; but outside of the capital, wherever you go^provided you are capable at all of treating a poorer human being than yourself as one morally equal to you

302 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

— you will never have the slightest reason for complaining of the Spaniard of even the very lowest class. Mr. Ford says, for instance, with reference to the Spanish servant : —

" To secure a real good servant is of the utmost cousequence to all who make out-of-the-way excursions in the Peninsula ; for, as in the East, he becomes not only cook, but interpreter and companion to his master. It is, therefore, of great import- ance to get a person with whom a man can ramble over those wild scenes. The so doing ends, on the part of the attendant, in an almost canine friendship ; and the Spaniard, when the tour is done, is broken-hearted, and ready to leaye his home, horse, ass, and wife to follow his master, like a dog, to the world's end."

This was written long ago, and things have not changed since. One day last July, whilst riding along the high-road near Alsasua, I noticed by the roadside a poor little chap of about fourteen or fifteen years of age, almost bare-footed, for the remnant of hempen sandals could certainly not be counted for much, a pair of cotton trousers, a cotton shirt, and a cotton handkerchief tied round his head, forming his costume. He was crying bitterly, and this caused me to stop and ask him what was the matter. "Nothing," he said, in a rude, harsh voice, evidently displeased by my interrogatory ;

ADIOS I ■ 303

but us I went on talkinjj: ho soon told me that lio had come all thi' way IVoin Lcrin, with ii view to enlist in one of the (Jarlist battalions, and that the chiefs refused to accept him on account of his youth and short stature. " They would not take me oven asu truinj)etor," said he, still crying bitterly, "and 1 Inive now nowhere to go, for I left my master, in whcise service I was engaged as a mule-driver." 1 then asked him if he knew anything about horses ? " Why, 1 loll you." answered ho, in an almost coarse tone, " that I have always served as a mulo-drivor. I don't think there is a great dilference between a horse and a mule." The rough but honest look of the boy caused me to take him into my service, and in about a fortnight he was so accustomed to the work he had to do that I could easily dispense with two perfectly unpolishuble orderlies, granted to me from the staff of Don Carlos, and the little Cipriano Solano became my valet, my cook, my groom, and everything else.

When once, during our rambles, we reached a village within about three miles of his native place, he suddenly disappeared for several hours, and came back with his mother and three sisters, all of whom he introduced to me in the most friendly manner. The women shook hands with

304 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

me, presented me with a lot of apples, grapes, and eggs, and began at onee to treat me in the way they would have treated a member of their own family. The mother, during the con- versation, took me apart, and anxiously asked me not only to be kind towards the cidco (little one), but especially to watch over his morals. " Do not leave him alone with that disreputable lot of volunteers," said she. " They are all very brave and nice fellows, but they are so very, very fast, and Cipriano is quite a child yet," added she, and two big drops of tears appeared on her long eye- lashes, and rolled down her old, parchment-like face.

The little boy was so short that when he had to groom my big chestnut mare he was compelled to stand upon a chair, or upon the stump of a tree, yet he did the work always thoroughly. It was sometimes difficult to bring him to under- stand how you wanted a thing to be done, but, once he had learned a thing, he would not only not neglect doing, it, but become quite proud of his accomplishment, and frequently give instruc- tion to his comrades. Two or three times I took him over to F'rance, and though he did not know a word of Basque, still less of French, he got on remarkably well. For the sake of fun, a party of

ADios ! 305

friends and myself made him once ride behind us wlien \vv. were going to some races at Biarritz. We had tickets for the committee's enclosure, but Cipriano having none, was stopped by a gen- darme, who began to argue with him. We left liini |iuri>()srly I)i'hiii(l, watching the result of the discussion, and in a minute or two saw the boy give a kick to his horse, and almost jump over the gendarme's head, swearing most unceremo- niously at the puzzled guardian of order. When the races were over, Cipriano handed me a couple of francs in small coin, and, on my inquiring what the money was, he explained that he had been paid for the horses he held during the race. He understood, that since he was in my service, any- thing he earned was my property. As to take any interest in the race when there were horses to be attended to, that was out of the question.

At St. Jean-de-Luz, the boy gave me some trouble once. He had taken his after-dinner siesta in an empty omnibus standing close by his stable, and went to sleep. A batch of urchins, discovering him there, proceeded to take away his sandals and his cap, as a practical joke, when he woke up and began to fight the whole party, furiously crying out, in Spanish fashion, for their tripas (bowels). A policeman just passing

VOL. u. X

306 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

by captured him, and locked him up for having fought, as well as for being " a Spaniard without a passport properly vise" and I had some difiB- culty in rescuing the little savage. But apart from these little extravagances, the boy's attachment to myself, and still more, I be- lieve, to his horses, had really no limits. When I had to return to England, and first told him of it, he became fearfully cross, did not answer a single word, but left the room before I had time to tell him what I wanted, and dis- appeared for the rest of the day. When I in- quired of the servant of the house where he was, I learned that he had locked himself up in the stable, was crying all day, and had not taken any food whatever. All attempts on my part to persuade him that I would probably soon come back again, were of no avail. He became some- what less morose only when he learned that a colleague of mine, a gentleman he knew well, had bought two of my horses, and was willing to take him into his service. I am, however, afraid the boy will never forgive me my having abandoned him. On the day I started from St.-Jean-de-Luz I sent several times for him, wishing to bid him good-bye, and to make him a little present. But he never came, and after having answered to the last messenger I sent for him, that he did not

ADIOS ! 307

wish to .si'c me, disappeared fi-Din liis stahlo, so that I had to take the train withuiit even shaking liands with him.

But however high an opinion one may have ot the natural merits of tlie Spaniards, their igno- rance never fails to shock the strani2:cr. In hiich as in low classes it is equally amazing— and the more so as it is certainly not through a want of capacities or intelligence that the Si)anish nation is kept so far behind those very nations of which it was formerly, in many respects, the teacher. Whether you take a Spaniard of the lower class and instruct and train him in something, or one of the upper classes, whose education has been specially favoured by circumstances, they are both equally sure to turn out as able men as you could find anywhere, ftlen like Seuor Chao, the late Minister of Fomento ; like Luis Maria Pastor, the economist, deceased a short time since; like Brigadier Ibanez, Director of the Geographical Institute of Madrid, and a number of others, would do, by their learning, honour to any country. The acquirements of the latter of these gentlemen had a Kur(>|Man homage paid to tlK-m by his having been unanimously eh-ctcd President

X 2

308 RPAIX AND THE SPANIARDS.

of the Internati(3nal Metre Commission, to which every European country has appointed men highly respected for their scientific knowledge. But, un- happily, such cases are but rare, very rare exceptions. The ignorance of the great mass of the people, exceeds anything that can be seen anyiohere in Europe, the Danubian Prin- cipalities and Turkey excepted. And one of the immediate results of this ignorance is, of course, a childish credulity on the one hand, and a childish inaccuracy in statements on the other. We constantly hear Englishmen complaining of the impossibility of getting from a Spaniard a straightforward answer to a straightforward question, and Spanish newspapers are frequently accused of simply telling lies. All these accu- sations have a great deal of truth in them, but they are certainly not the result of a deliberate desire on the part of Spaniards to tell lies, but simply the result chiefly of their ignorance, and partl}^ of their temperament. Fancies, ideas, and beliefs have always played too prominent a part in the Spaniard's life to allow him to be a precise, matter of fact man ; and in making a false statement — a statement in which he would himself not believe if he had thought for a

Auiosl 300

moment— the Spaiiiartl does so simply because his imagination embellishes and ornaments, or disfigures, as the case may be, the plain, eonnnon fiict, of which he has never been made to under- stand eitlier tiie abstract or even the practical meaning.

It is surprising sometimes to watch how the simplest bit of news, which you may have com- municated to a Spanish friend, will, within a few hours, be embellished, exaggerated, and rendered almost unrecognisable. I may just adduce one or two instances, out of -a great many others which came under my notice, of the intense pro- clivity of the Spaniards in this way to disfigure and Ilomerise the most simple things.

One day, a couple of my colleagues and myself were chatting on a rather interesting subject to ourselves, but a perfectly indifferent one to other people — namely, " remittances." As a matter of course, everyone of us accused all the others of getting much more money than himself, and one of ray fellow-workmen went so fi\r as to express the belief that I received in a month probably enough to buy Cuba on the llendiVs account. A few Carlist officers being present at this pru- fessional gossip, the English language was put aside; and how great was my astonishment

310 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

when, about a week later, I learnt that a firm belief had been spread all through the head- quarters of Don Carlos that I was an agent sent by the United States to look out for the means of purchasing Cuba. This information was given out at Don Carlos's dining-table as being perfectly certain; the Pretender, his generals and aid-de-camps firmly believed in it; and a couple of them, who were less ceremonious, even made me some not very friendly allusion on the subject, saying that my efforts were perfectly useless, and that Don Carlos would never sell the island. Yet, to the credit of all these gentle- men, I must say that, though they were thus made to believe my intentions to be very wrong ones, they never put the slightest difiiculty in my way, and never showed to me anything but courtesy.

Another case was still more characteristic, and perhaps, to a great extent, mitigated the prejudice which must have arisen against me in consequence of these Cuban suspicions. One of my talented colleagues was uncommonly short- sighted, wrote an abominably bad hand (as all great men are said to do), and was capable of writing at all only with a particular pen, which he usually carried in his pocket quite as if it were

ADIOS! 311

a treasure. One day, when I noticed, during tho siege of Tolosa, some steps he had taken to outdo me in communicating news to the Bayonne Tele- graph Bnrrau, 1 chattingly told hiui that il" ho continued the practice I would rob him of his spectacles and liis jxmi, and thus at once disable him. As on the former occasion, Carlist officers who were present laughed at my menace, and probably repeated the story to some of their comrades ; for a few days later, when I came back to the Royalist head-quarters, and met Don Carlos, he thanked me most cordially, and in the presence of his staff, for the great devotion I had shown to the Carlist cause. Being quite puzzled to know what he meant, I asked him for what his thanks were offered. "■ Why," he said, '• I was told you met at Tolosa another correspondent of the Herald who was on the Republican side, and had rendered him incapable of working by taking his spectacles and pen away, so that he should not be able to serve the cause of our enemies."

Insignificant as these iacts are, they show how utterly iniable Spaniards are plainly to look at plain things, or accurately to report the most common occurrence. It requires really a great effort on the part of a stranger to get accustomed to this peculiarity of the Spaniards, and not to

312 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

feel indignant at tlie Cafe and Puerta del Sol politicians in Madrid all day long exaggerating everything, spreading nonsense, bringing it into the papers, and making thus all the country lie as unconsciously as they are telling lies themselves. This want of precision and correctness in state- ments and information is, however, not peculiar to the Spaniards only. The more a man is ignorant or a nation backward, the more they are sure to be credulous and unreliable. Look at the information the travellers get from savages about things they have actually seen, and com- pare them with those one gets from a well- informed Englishman or German, on events which neither have actually witnessed. Between these two poles of ignorance and knowledge, of loose fancy and strict matter-of-fact criticism, range the various nations of the world, as well as the individual human beings, according to the comparative degree of precision of their minds and of their faculties of observation. And, as a matter of course, the more the religion of a nation or of a man tends to paralyze the spirit of free inquiry, the more they must necessarily be liable to remain behind in this respect. This is one of the chief reasons why people belonging to the Catholic Church, notwithstanding their

ADIUSi 313

high culturo in every otlicr respect, iiivuriahly proved more ignonmt ami less precise in what tiiey knew, than those belonging to the I'ro- testani CIumvIi; and Spaniards, constantly ac- cused (if tcllini:; lies, do so by no means more deliberately than the French or the Italians. The general nnreliableness of the Latin race is but one of the natural restdts of the whole of their historical development, and the degree it is capable of reaching even in our days has been only too strikingly illustrated during the last French war, when all communications from French sources were, with scarcely any excep- tion, utterly destitute of foundation. 1 made tiie sad exiierieiiee of never having been able to arrive at anything like the truth all the time I was with the French army ; and everyone knows that, not only when the disasters began, but at the very outset of the campaign, the French military authorities gathered their information about their own troops from English papers. At Metz, generals and stalV-ofUcers were con- stantly asking the numerous English correspond- ents for information of this sort, and at Chrdons the oilieers of MacMahon's staft' came several times a day to me to inquire whether I had not received the English papers, and whether I could

314 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

not communicate to them what was going on under the walls of Metz. The French disasters had been attributed to French heedlessness, and to the general mismanagement of the Empire. But a considerable portion of them could be clearly traced to the incapacity of the French of either carefully collecting information, or of transmitting it without disfiguring it. And if such is the case with France, what cannot be expected from Spain, a country in every respect much more susceptible of developing men's fancy at the expense of men's capacity of calm obser- vation and inquiry ?

But however great is still the ignorance of Spaniards as a nation, some improvement is already beginning to be perceptible at least in their governing classes. Spanish statesmen of our days are men of quite the average amount of knowledge spread throughout the same class of men abroad. While barely forty years ago the Government of the unlucky country was virtually in the hands of persons like the milliner Teresita, the all-powerful friend and counsellor of Chris- tina ; of Ronchi, the dentist of the Dey, a man who had to fly from Tangiers on account of his breaking a tooth of one of the Dey's wives ; of the Marquis of Ceralbo who, when sent out to

ADios! 315

find a luurtli wifi' for Ferdiiiiiiid VII., oflicially askcil the haiul of the King of Sardinia'H daughter, already married several years before ; or of Cafranga, whom Metteniich rendered so celebrated by preserving and showing everywhere a visiting card, ln'aring under Cafranga's name, and in his own handwriting, the inscription of "chef de bourreau (hangman, instead of bureau) du ministere de grace et justice." These fearful times are gone, and let us hope for ever. The improvement of the Spanish State machinery may be slow, but it has at all events some chance of success now, provided foreigners do not interfere once more, and home Statesmen do not too much insist upon ruling by means of some mixed system, of a kind of juste milieu, which is sure never to take in a country where " hatred and sympathies are alike strong, acute, and unalter- able, and submit to no conciliation for reasons of interest.''

But I must deciiU'dly close. The patience ol' my readers is probably exhausted, and so are the time and space which were allowed to me. The National steam-ship ' Egypt,' lying in all her Transatlantic grandeur in the river Mersey is

316 SPAIN AND THE SPANIARDS.

getting up steam, and will in a few hours take me on board, and carry me away to another and quite different land. I shall certainly have much to learn in the new and marvellous world created by the efforts of Anglo-Saxon genius. But amid all the splendours and miracles of industry, the reminiscences of semi-savage Spain will, I am sure, frequently return to my mind as so many delightful dreams of the past.

Adieu, eharmante et noble Espague, Adieu, peut-etre pour toujours. Mais je garderai pour tes vieux bourgs. Ton ciel ardent, tes belles montagnes, Ta race altiere, ta riante eampagne; Tes femmes, surtout, ma cliere Espague, Un eternel, profond amour.

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