What sudden blaze spreads through the crimson skies,
And still in loftier volumes seems to rise?
What meteor gleams, that from the fiery north,
In savage grandeur fast are bursting forth,
And light your very walls? Tell me, ye Towers--
'Tis Smithfield revelling in his festal hours,
Fed with your captives: shrieks that wildly pierce
The roaring flames now undulating fierce,
And gasping struggles, mingled groans, proclaim
The power of torture o'er the writhing frame.
Dark are your dens, and deep your secret cells,
Whose silent gloom your tale of horrors tells.
Saw ye how Cranmer dared--yet fear'd to die,
Trembling 'mid hopes of immortality?
He stood alone;--a brighter band appears
Unaw'd by threats--impregnable to fears;
Who suffer'd glad the sacred truth to spread,
In mild obedience to its fountain-head.
And when at length our popish James would see
Cold superstition bend th' unhallow'd knee,
The mystic tapers on our altars burn,
And clouds of incense shade the fragrant urn,
Shone England's prelates faithful to their call,
In bonds of truth within thy massive wall.
See grace divine--see Heaven in mercy pour,
The balm of peace on Albion's boasted shore.
Once wrought by captive fingers on thy wall,
The hero's home and prison, grave and pall,
What dark lines meet the startled stranger's gaze,
Thoughts that ennoble--sentiments that raise
The iron'd captive from captivity,
How high above the power of tyranny!--
And ye that wander by the evening tide,
Where mountains swell or mossy streamlets glide;
That on fresh hills can hail morn's orient ray,
And chant with birds your grateful hymns to day;
Or seek at noon, beneath some pleasant shade,
To feel the sunbeams cool'd by leafy glade--
That free as air, morn, noon, and eve, can roam,
Where'er you list, and nature call your home;
Learn from a hopeless prisoner's words and fate,
"Virtue is valour--to be patient, great!"
When traced on prison walls, such words as these
Arrest the eye--appall e'en while they please--
"Ah! hapless he who cannot bear the weight,
With patient heart of a too partial fate,
For adverse times and fortunes do not kill,
But rash impatience of impending ill."
Yes, still they speak to bosoms that are free
Within the girdle of captivity;
Of spirits dauntless, who could spurn the chain
Of human punishment or mortal pain;
That e'en amid these precincts of despair,
Dared free themselves from thraldom's jealous care--
Bound but by ties of faith and virtue, be
Heirs of bright hopes and immortality.
Oh! great mind's proud inscriptions! Who shall tell
What hand engraved those lines within that cell?
What heart yet steadfast while around him stood
Phantoms of death to chill his curdling blood,
Could battle with despair on reason's throne,
And conquer where the fiend would reign alone?
Ah! who can tell what sorrows pierced his breast--
Ran through each vein, usurp'd his hours of rest?
What struggle nerved his trembling hand to trace
With moral courage words he dared to face
With acts that ask'd new efforts while he wrote
To man his soul and fix his every thought!
Tremble, thou tyrant! proud ambition, blush!
Hearts such as these thy power can never crush.
Are they forgotten? no, the rugged stone,
The lap of earth on which they rested lone;
The very implements of torture there--
The axe, the rack, the tyrant's jealous care;
Each mark that meets successive ages' eyes
Speaks, trumpet-tongued, a fame that never dies;
And tells the thoughtful stranger, while the tear
Unbidden starts, that freedom triumph'd here--
Plumed her immortal wings for nobler flight,
And bore her martyr'd brave to realms of light.
Nor false their faith, nor like the fleeting wind,
Their spirits fled! for theirs the unprison'd mind,
No tyrant-chains, no bonds of earth and time,
Could hold from truth and freedom's heights sublime--
From that bright heaven of science, whence they shed
Fresh glory o'er man's cause for which they bled.
Ask what is left? their names forgotten now?
Their birth, their fortune? not a trace to show
Where sleeps their dust? Go, seek the blest abode,
Their mind's pure joy, the bosom of their God!
Then tell if in the dull cold prison's air,
And wasted to a living shadow there,
Earth scarcely knew them! if they were alone
Where they were cast, to pine away unknown?
Friends, had they none? nor beam'd a wish to share
Love, friendship, and to breathe the common air.
Lost, lost to all! like some lone desert flower,
Felt they unseen Time's slow consuming power,
And hail'd each parting day with fond delight,
As the tired pilgrim greets the waning light?
No! glad bright spirits, guardians of the mind,
Were with them; as the demon-powers unbind
And lash their furies on the conscious breast
Of earth's fell tyrants who ne'er dream of rest.
Theirs, too, joy's harbinger, the thoughts aye fed
With brighter objects than of earth, that shed
A light within their narrow home, and gave
A triumph's lustre to the yawning grave.
And in that hour when the proud heart's o'erthrown,
And self all-powerless, self is truly known;
When pride no more could darken the free mind,
But all to God in firm faith was resign'd--
Then drank their souls the stream of love divine,
More richly flowing than the Eastern mine;
Felt heaven expanding in the heart renew'd,
And more than friends in desert solitude.
Peace to thy martyrs! thou art frowning now
With all the array of bold and martial show;
The same thy battlements with trophies dress'd,
Present defiance to the hostile breast;
Around thy walls the soldier keeps his ward,
Scared with war's sights no more thy peaceful guard.
Long may ye stand, the voice of other years,
And ope, in future times, no fount of tears
And sorrows like the past, such as have brought
A mournful gloom and shadow o'er the thought;
And if the eye one pitying drop has shed,
That drop is sacred, it embalms the dead.
What though a thousand years have roll'd away
Since thy dread walls entomb'd their noble prey;
To us they speak, ask the warm tear to flow
For ills now pressing and for present woe;
Bid us to succour fellow-men who haste
Along the thorny road of life, and taste
The bitterness of poverty, endure
All that befalls the too neglected poor;
And with no friend, no bounty to assist,
Steal from the world unwept for and unmiss'd.
What though no dungeon wrap the wasting clay,
Or from the eye exclude the cheering ray;
What though no tortures visibly may tear
The writhing limbs, and leave their signet there;
Has not chill penury a poison'd dart,
Inflicting deeper wounds upon the heart?
All the decrees the sternest fate may bind,
To weigh the courage or display the mind--
All man could bear, with heart unflinching bear,
Did not a dearer part his sufferings share--
Worse than the captive's fate--wife, child, his all,
The husband, and the father's name, appall
His very soul, and bid him thrilling feel
Distraction, as he makes the vain appeal.
Upon his brow, where manhood's hand had seal'd
Its perfect dignity, is now reveal'd
A haggard wanness; from his livid eye
The manly fire has faded; cold and dry,
No more it glistens to the light. His thought,
To the last pitch of frantic memory wrought,
Turns to the partner of his heart and woe,
Who, weigh'd with grief, no lesser love can know;
Despair soon haunts the hope that fills his breast,
And passion's flood in tumult is express'd.
Amid the plains where ample plenty spreads
Her copious stores and decks the yellow meads,
The outcast turns a ghastly look to heaven;
Oh, not for him is Nature's plenty given;
Robb'd of the birthright nature freely gave,
Save that last portion freely left--a grave!
Oh, that another power would rule man's heart,
Uncramp its free-born will in every part;
Mercy more swift, justice more just, more slow,
Grandeur less prone to deal the cruel blow,
To bind men's hands with fetters than with alms,
And spurn the only boon that soothes and calms.
England! thou dearest child of liberty;
Free as thine ocean home for ever be;
Thy commerce thrive; may thy deserted poor
No more the pangs of poverty endure.
Then shall thy Towers, proud monument! display
The thousand trophies of a happier day;
And genial climes, from earth's remotest shore,
Their richest tributes to her genius pour,
With wealth from Ind, with treasures from the West,
Thy homes, thy hamlets--cities still be blest;
Till virtue, truth, and justice, shall combine,
And heavenly hope o'er many a bosom shine;
Auspicious days hail thy fair Sovereign's reign,
And happy subjects throng their golden train.
POEMS AND BALLADS OF GOETHE.
No. III.
Goethe, though fertile in poems of the amatory and contemplative class,
was somewhat chary of putting forth his strength in the ballad. We have
already selected almost every specimen of this most popular and
fascinating description of poetry which is at all worthy of his
genius;--at least all of them which we thought likely, after making
every allowance for variety of taste, to fulfil the main object of our
task--to please and not offend. It would have been quite easy for us to
spin out the series by translating the whole section of ballads which
relate to the loves of "the Maid of the Mill," the "Gipsy's Song"--which
somewhat unaccountably has found favour in the eyes of Mrs Austin--and a
few more ditties of a similar nature, all of which we bequeath, with our
best wishes, as a legacy to any intrepid _redacteur_ who may wish to
follow in our footsteps. For ourselves, we shall rigidly adhere to the
rule with which we set out, and separate the wheat from the chaff,
according to the best of our ability.
The first specimen of our present selection is not properly German, nor
is it the unsuggested and original product of Goethe's muse. We believe
that it is an old ballad of Denmark; a country which possesses, next to
Scotland, the richest and most interesting store of ancient ballad
poetry in Europe. However, although originally Danish, it has received
some touches in passing through the alembic of translation, which may
warrant us in giving it a prominent place, and we are sure that no lover
of hoar tradition will blame us for its insertion.
THE WATER-MAN.
"Oh, mother! rede me well, I pray;
How shall I woo me yon winsome May?"
She has built him a horse of the water clear,
The saddle and bridle of sea-sand were.
He has donn'd the garb of knight so gay,
And to Mary's Kirk he has ridden away.
He tied his steed to the chancel door,
And he stepp'd round the Kirk three times and four.
He has boune him into the Kirk, and all
Drew near to gaze on him, great and small.
The priest he was standing in the quire;--
"What gay young gallant comes branking here?"
The winsome maid, to herself said she;--
"Oh, were that gay young gallant for me!"
He stepp'd o'er one stool, he stepp'd o'er two;
"Oh, maiden, plight me thy oath so true!"
He stepp'd o'er three stools, he stepp'd o'er four;
"Wilt be mine, sweet May, for evermore?"
She gave him her hand of the drifted snow--
"Here hast thou my troth, and with thee I'll go."
They went from the Kirk with the bridal train,
They danced in glee, and they danced full fain;
They danced them down to the salt-sea strand,
And they left them there with hand in hand.
"Now wait thee, love, with my steed so free,
And the bonniest bark I'll bring for thee."
And when they pass'd to the white, white sand,
The ships came sailing towards the land;
But when they were out in the midst of the sound,
Down went they all in the deep profound!
Long, long on the shore, when the winds were high,
They heard from the waters the maiden's cry.
I rede ye, damsels, as best I can--
Tread not the dance with the Water-Man!
This is strong, pure, rugged Norse, scarcely inferior, we think, in any
way, to the pitch of the old Scottish ballads.
* * * * *
Before we forsake the North, let us try "The King in Thule." We are
unfortunate in having to follow in the wake of the hundred translators
of Faust, some of whom (we may instance Lord Francis Egerton) have
already rendered this ballad as perfectly as may be; nevertheless we
shall give it, as Shakspeare says, "with a difference."
THE KING IN THULE.
There was a king in Thule,
Was true till death I ween:
A vase he had of the ruddy gold,
The gift of his dying queen.
He never pass'd it from him--
At banquet 'twas his cup;
And still his eyes were fill'd with tears
Whene'er he took it up.
So when his end drew nearer,
He told his cities fair,
And all his wealth, except that cup,
He left unto his heir.
Once more he sate at royal board,
The knights around his knee,
Within the palace of his sires,
Hard by the roaring sea.
Up rose the brave old monarch,
And drank with feeble breath,
Then threw the sacred goblet down
Into the flood beneath.
He watch'd its tip reel round and dip,
Then settle in the main;
His eyes grew dim as it went down--
He never drank again.
* * * * *
We shall now venture on an extravaganza which might have been well
illustrated by Hans Holbein. It is in the ultra-Germanic taste, such as
in our earlier days, whilst yet the Teutonic alphabet was a mystery, we
conceived to be the staple commodity of our neighbours. We shall never
quarrel with a wholesome spice of superstition; but, really, Hoffmann,
Apel, and their fantastic imitators, have done more to render their
national literature ridiculous, than the greatest poets to redeem it.
The following poem of Goethe is a strange piece of sarcasm directed
against that school, and is none the worse, perhaps, that it somewhat
out-herods Herod in its ghostly and grim solemnity. Like many other
satires, too, it verges closely upon the serious. We back it against any
production of M. G. Lewis.
THE DANCE OF DEATH.
The warder look'd down at the depth of night
On the graves where the dead were sleeping,
And, clearly as day, was the pale moonlight
O'er the quiet churchyard creeping.
One after another the gravestones began
To heave and to open, and woman and man
Rose up in their ghastly apparel!
Ho--ho for the dance!--and the phantoms outsprung
In skeleton roundel advancing,
The rich and the poor, and the old and the young,
But the winding-sheets hinder'd their dancing.
No shame had these revellers wasted and grim,
So they shook off the cerements from body and limb,
And scatter'd them over the hillocks.
They crook'd their thighbones, and they shook their long shanks,
And wild was their reeling and limber;
And each bone as it crosses, it clinks and it clanks
Like the clapping of timber on timber.
The warder he laugh'd, though his laugh was not loud;
And the Fiend whisper'd to him--"Go, steal me the shroud
Of one of these skeleton dancers."
He has done it! and backward with terrified glance
To the sheltering door ran the warder;
As calm as before look'd the moon on the dance,
Which they footed in hideous order.
But one and another seceding at last,
Slipp'd on their white garments and onward they pass'd,
And the deeps of the churchyard were quiet.
Still, one of them stumbles and tumbles along,
And taps at each tomb that it seizes;
But 'tis none of its mates that has done it this wrong,
For it scents its grave-clothes in the breezes.
It shakes the tower gate, but _that_ drives it away,
For 'twas nail'd o'er with crosses--a goodly array--
And well was it so for the warder!
It must have its shroud--it must have it betimes--
The quaint Gothic carving it catches,
And upwards from story to story it climbs
And scrambles with leaps and with snatches.
Now woe to the warder, poor sinner, betides!
Like a long-legged spider the skeleton strides
From buttress to buttress, still upward!
The warder he shook, and the warder grew pale,
And gladly the shroud would have yielded!
The ghost had its clutch on the last iron rail
Which the top of the watch-turret shielded.
When the moon was obscured by the rush of a cloud,
ONE! thunder'd the bell, and unswathed by a shroud,
Down went the gaunt skeleton crashing!
* * * * *
A very pleasant piece of poetry to translate at midnight, as we did it,
with merely the assistance of a dying candle!
After this feast of horrors, something more fanciful may not come amiss.
Let us pass to a competition of flowers in the golden, or--if you will
have it so--the iron age of chivalry. The meditations of a captive
knight have been a cherished theme for poets in all ages. Richard the
Lion-heart of England, and James I. of Scotland, have left us, in no
mean verse, the records of their own experience. We all remember how
nobly and how well Felicia Hemans portrayed the agony of the crusader as
he saw, from the window of his prison, the bright array of his Christian
comrades defiling through the pass below. We shall now take a similar
poem of Goethe, but one in a different vein:--
THE FAIREST FLOWER.
THE LAY OF THE CAPTIVE EARL.
_The Earl._--I know a floweret passing fair,
And for its loss I pain me;
Fain would I hence to seek its lair,
But for these bonds that chain me.
My woes are aught but light to me,
For when I roam'd unbound and free
That flower was ever near me.
Adown and round the castle's steep,
I let my glances wander;
But cannot from the dizzy keep,
Descry it, there or yonder.
Oh, he who'd bring it to my sight,
Or were he knave or were he knight,
Should be my friend for ever!
_The Rose._--I blossom bright thy lattice near,
And hear what thou hast spoken;
'Tis me--brave, ill-starr'd cavalier--
The Rose, thou wouldst betoken!
Thy spirit spurns the base, the low,
And 'tis the queen of flowers, I know,
That in thy bosom reigneth.
_The Earl._--All honour to thy purple cheer,
From swathes of verdure blowing;
And so art though to maidens dear,
As gold or jewels glowing.
Thy wreaths adorn the fairest face,
Yet art thou not the flower, whose grace
In solitude I cherish.
_The Lily._--A haughty place usurps the rose,
And haughtier still doth covet;
But where the lily meekly blows,
Some gentle eye will love it.
The heart that beats in faithful breast,
And spotless is as my white vest,
Must value me the highest.
_The Earl._--Spotless and true of heart am I,
And free from sinful failing,
Yet must I here a captive lie,
In loneliness bewailing.
I see an image fair in you
Of many maidens pure and true,
Yet know I something dearer.
_The Carnation._--That may thy warder's garden show
In me, the bright carnation,
Else would the old man tend me so
With loving adoration?
In perfect round my petals meet,
And lifelong are with scent replete,
And with a burning colour.
_The Earl._--None may the sweet carnation slight,
It is the gardener's pleasure,
Now he unfolds it to the light,
Now shields from it his treasure.
But no--the flower for which I pant,
No rare, no brilliant charms can vaunt,
'Tis ever meek and lowly.
_The Violet._--Conceal'd and bending I retreat,
Nor willingly had spoken,
Yet that same silence, since 'tis meet,
Shall now by me be broken.
If I be that which fills thy thought
Then must I grieve that I may not
Waft every perfume to thee.
_The Earl._--I love the violet, indeed,
So modest in perfection,
So gently sweet--yet more I need
To soothe my heart's dejection.
To thee alone the truth I'll speak,
That not upon this rock so bleak
Is to be found my darling.
In yon far vale, earth's truest wife
Sits where the brooks run playing,
And still must wear a woeful life
Till I with her am straying.
When a blue floweret by that spot
She plucks, and says--FORGET-ME-NOT,
I feel it here in bondage.
Yes, when two truly love, its might
They own and feel in distance,
So I, within this dungeon's night,
Cling ever to existence.
And when my heart is nigh distraught,
If I but say--FORGET-ME-NOT,
Hope burns again within me!
* * * * *
Such is constant love--the light even of the dungeon! Nor, to the glory
of human nature be it said, is this a fiction. Witness Picciola--witness
those letters, perhaps the most touching that were ever penned, from
poor Camille Desmoulins to his wife, while waiting for the summons to
the guillotine--witness, above all, that fragment signed Queret-Demery,
which could not get beyond the sullen walls of the Bastile until fifty
years after the agonizing request was preferred, when that
torture-chamber of cruelty was razed indignantly to the ground--"If, for
my consolation, Monseigneur would grant me, for the sake of God and the
most blessed Trinity, that I could have news of my dear wife! were it
only her name on a card to show that she is yet alive! It were the
sweetest consolation I could receive; and I should for ever bless the
greatness of Monseigneur." Poetry has no such eloquence as this.
But we must not digress from our author. Here are a few lines of the
deepest feeling and truth, and most appropriate in the hours of
wretchedness--
SORROW WITHOUT CONSOLATION.
O, wherefore shouldst thou try
The tears of love to dry?
Nay, let them flow!
For didst thou only know,
How barren and how dead
Seems every thing below,
To those who have not tears enough to shed,
Thou'd'st rather bid them _weep_, and seek their comfort so.
* * * * *
The following stanzas, though rather inferior in merit, may be taken as
a companion to the above. Their structure reminds us of Cowley.
COMFORT IN TEARS.
How is it that thou art so sad
When others are so gay?
Thou hast been weeping--nay, thou hast!
Thine eyes the truth betray.
"And if I may not choose but weep,
Is not my grief mine own?
No heart was heavier yet for tears--
O leave me, friend, alone!"
Come, join this once the merry band,
They call aloud for thee,
And mourn no more for what is lost,
But let the past go free.
"O, little know ye in your mirth
What wrings my heart so deep!
I have not lost the idol yet
For which I sigh and weep."
Then rouse thee and take heart! thy blood
Is young and full of fire;
Youth should have hope and might to win,
And wear its best desire.
"O, never may I hope to gain
What dwells from me so far;
It stands as high, it looks as bright,
As yonder burning star."
Why, who would seek to woo the stars
Down from their glorious sphere?
Enough it is to worship them,
When nights are calm and clear.
"Oh, I look up and worship too--
My star it shines by day--
Then let me weep the livelong light
The whilst it is away."
* * * * *
A thread from the distaff of Omphale may be stronger than the club of
Hercules. Here is an inconstant Romeo escaped from his Juliet, and yet
unable to shake off the magnetic spell which must haunt him to his dying
day.
TO A GOLDEN HEART.
Pledge of departed bliss,
Once gentlest, holiest token!
Art thou more faithful than thy mistress is,
That ever I must wear thee,
And on my bosom bear thee,
Although the bond that knit her soul with mine is broken?
Why shouldest thou prove stronger?
Short are the days of love, and wouldst thou make them longer?
Lili! in vain I shun thee!
Thy spell is still upon me.
In vain I wander through the distant forests strange,
In vain I roam at will
By foreign glade and hill,
For, ah! where'er I range,
Beside my heart, the heart of Lili nestles still!
Like a bird that breaks its twine,
Is this poor heart of mine:
It fain into the summer bowers would fly,
And yet it cannot be
Again so wholly free;
For always it must bear
The token which is there,
To mark it as a thrall of past captivity.
* * * * *
Here, again, is Romeo before his escape. Poor Juliet! may we hope that
she still has, and may long possess, the power
"To lure this tassel-gentle back again."
Death, indeed, were a gentler fate than desertion. Truth to say, Goethe
would have made but a sorry Romeo, for he wanted the great and leading
virtue of constancy; and yet who can tell what Romeo might have become,
after six months' exile in Mantua? Juliet, we know, had taken the place
of Rosaline. Might not some fairer and newer star have arisen to eclipse
the image of the other? We will not credit the heresy. Far better that
the curtain should fall upon the dying lovers, before one shadow of
doubt or suspicion of infidelity has arisen to perplex the clear bright
mirror of their souls!
WELCOME AND DEPARTURE.
To horse!--away o'er hill and steep!
Into the saddle blithe I sprung;
The eve was cradling earth to sleep,
And night upon the mountains hung.
With robes of mist around him set,
The oak like some huge giant stood,
While, with its hundred eyes of jet,
Peer'd darkness from the tangled wood.
Amidst a bank of clouds, the moon
A sad and troubled glimmer shed;
The wind its chilly wings unclosed,
And whistled wildly round my head.
Night framed a thousand phantoms dire,
Yet did I never droop nor start;
Within my veins what living fire!
What quenchless glow within my heart!
We met; and from thy glance a tide
Of stifling joy flow'd into me:
My heart was wholly by thy side,
My every breath was breathed for thee.
A blush was there, as if thy cheek
The gentlest hues of spring had caught,
And smiles so kind for me!--Great powers!
I hoped, yet I deserved them not!
But morning came to end my bliss;
A long, a sad farewell we took.
What joy--what rapture in thy kiss,
What depth of anguish in thy look!
I left thee, dear! but after me
Thine eyes through tears look'd from above;
Yet to be loved--what ecstacy!
What ecstacy, ye gods, to love!
Here are three small cabinet pictures of exquisite finish. We have
laboured hard to do justice to them, for the smallest gems are the most
difficult to copy; yet after all we have some doubts of our success.
EVENING.
Peace breathes along the shade
Of every hill,
The tree-tops of the glade
Are hush'd and still;
All woodland murmurs cease,
The birds to rest within the brake are gone.
Be patient, weary heart--anon,
Thou, too, shalt be at peace!
* * * * *
A CALM AT SEA.
Lies a calm along the deep,
Like a mirror sleeps the ocean,
And the anxious steersman sees
Round him neither stir nor motion.
Not a breath of wind is stirring,
Dread the hush as of the grave--
In the weary waste of waters
Not the lifting of a wave.
* * * * *
THE BREEZE.
The mists they are scatter'd,
The blue sky looks brightly,
And Eolus looses
The wearisome chain!
The winds, how they whistle!
The steersman is busy--
Hillio-ho, hillio-ho!
We dash through the billows--
They flash far behind us--
Land, land, boys, again!
* * * * *
In one of Goethe's little operas, which are far less studied than they
deserve, although replete with grace, melody, and humour, we stumbled
upon a ballad which we at once recognised as an old acquaintance. Some
of our readers may happen to recollect the very witty and popular ditty
called "Captain Wedderburn's Courtship," a peculiar favourite amongst
the lower orders in Scotland, but not, so far as we knew, transplanted
from its native soil. Our surprise, therefore, was great when we
discovered Captain Wedderburn dressed out in the garb of a _Junker_ of
the middle ages, and "bonny Girzie Sinclair," the Laird of Roslin's
daughter, masquerading as a German _Frauelein_. The coincidence, if it be
not plagiary, is so curious, that we have translated the ballad with a
much freer hand than usual, confessing at the same time that the
advantage, in point of humour and gallantry, is clearly on the side of
the old Mid-Lothian ditty.
THE CAVALIER'S CHOICE.
It was a gallant cavalier
Of honour and renown,
And all to seek a ladye-love
He rode from town to town.
Till at a widow-woman's door
He drew the rein so free;
For at her side the knight espied
Her comely daughters three.
Well might he gaze upon them,
For they were fair and tall;
Ye never have seen fairer
In bower nor yet in hall.
Small marvel if the gallant's heart
Beat quicker in his breast:
'Twas hard to choose, and hard to lose--
How might he wale the best?
"Now, maidens, pretty maidens mine,
Who'll rede me riddles three?
And she who answers best of all
Shall be my own ladye!"
I ween they blush'd as maidens do
When such rare words they hear--
"Now speak thy riddles, if thou wilt,
Thou gay young Cavalier!"
"What's longer than the longest path?
First tell ye that to me;
And tell me what is deeper
Than is the deepest sea?
And tell me what is louder
Than is the loudest horn?
And tell me what is sharper
Than is the sharpest thorn?
"And tell me what is greener
Than greenest grass on hill?
And tell me what is crueller
Than a wicked woman's will?"
The eldest and the second maid,
They sat and thought awhile;
But the youngest she look'd upward,
And spoke with merry smile.
"O, love is surely longer far
Than the longest paths that be;
And hell, they say, is deeper
Than is the deepest sea;
And thunder it is louder
Than is the loudest horn;
And hunger it is sharper
Than is the sharpest thorn;
I know a deadly poison
More green than grass on hill;
And the foul fiend he is crueller
Than any woman's will!"
Scarce had the maiden spoken
When the youth was by her side,
And, all for what she answer'd him,
Has claim'd her as his bride.
The eldest and the second maid,
They ponder'd and were dumb;
And there, perchance, are waiting yet
Till another wooer come.
Then, maidens, take this warning word,
Be neither slow nor shy,
And always, when a lover speaks,
Look kindly and reply.
* * * * *
The following beautiful verses are from Wilhelm Meister. We shall
venture to call them
RETRIBUTION.
He that with tears did never eat his bread,
He that hath never lain through night's long hours,
Weeping in bitter anguish on his bed--
He knows ye not, ye dread celestial powers.
Ye lead us onwards into life. Ye leave
The wretch to fall, then yield him up, in woe,
Remorse, and pain, unceasingly to grieve;
For every sin is punished here below.
* * * * *
We shall close this number with a series of poems, in imitation, or
rather after the manner of the antique, all of which possess singular
beauty. No man understood or appreciated the exquisite delicacy of the
Greek Anthology better than our author; and although we may, in several
of the versions, have fallen short of the originals, we trust that
enough still remains to convince the reader that we have not exaggerated
their merit.
POEMS AFTER THE MANNER OF THE ANTIQUE.
THE HUSBANDMAN.
Lightly doth the furrow fold the golden grain within its breast,
Deeper shroud, old man, shall cover in thy limbs when laid at rest.
Blithely plough and sow as blithely! Here are springs of mortal cheer,
And when e'en the grave is closing, Hope is ever standing near.
* * * * *
ANACREON'S GRAVE.
Where the rose is fresh and blooming--where the vine and myrtle spring--
Where the turtle-dove is cooing--where the gay cicalas sing--
Whose may be the grave surrounded with such store of comely grace,
Like a God-created garden? 'Tis Anacreon's resting-place.
Spring and summer and the autumn pour'd their gifts around the bard,
And, ere winter came to chill him, slept he safe beneath the sward.
THE BROTHERS.
Slumber, Sleep--they were two brothers, servants to the Gods above;
Kind Prometheus lured them downwards, ever fill'd with earthly love;
But what Gods could bear so lightly, press'd too hard on men beneath;
Slumber did his brother's duty--Sleep was deepen'd into Death.
* * * * *
LOVE'S HOUR-GLASS.
Eros! wherefore do I see thee, with the glass in either hand?
Fickle God! with double measure wouldst thou count the shifting sand?
"_This_ one flows for parted lovers--slowly drops each tiny bead--
_That_ is for the days of dalliance, and it melts with golden speed."
* * * * *
WARNING.
Do not touch him--do not wake him! Fast asleep is Amor lying;
Go--fulfil thy work appointed--do thy labour of the day.
Thus the wise and careful mother uses every moment flying,
Whilst her child is in the cradle--Slumbers pass too soon away.
* * * * *
SOLITUDE.
Grant, O ye healing Nymphs, that have your haunts
By rock and stream and lonely forest glade,
The boon which, in their bosoms' silent depths,
Your votaries crave! Unto the sad of heart
Give comfort--knowledge unto him that doubts--
Possession to the lover, and its joy.
For unto you the Gods have given, what they
Denied to man--to aid and to console
All those soe'er who put their trust in you.
* * * * *
PERFECT BLISS.
All the divine perfections, which, while ere
Nature in thrift doled out 'mongst many a fair,
She shower'd with open hand, thou peerless one, on thee!
And she that was so wond'rously endow'd,
To whom a throng of noble knees were bow'd,
Gave all--Love's perfect gift--her glorious self, to me!
THE CHOSEN ROCK.
Here, in the hush and stillness of mid-noon,
The lover lay and thought upon his love;
With blithesome voice he spoke to me: "Be thou
My witness, stone!--Yet, therefore, vaunt thee not,
For thou hast many partners of my joy--
To every rock that crowns this grassy dell,
And looks on me and my felicity;
To every forest-stem that I embrace
In my entrancement as I roam along,
Stand thou for a memorial of my bliss!
All mingle with my rapture, and to all
I lift a consecrating cry of joy.
Yet do I lend a voice to thee alone,
As culls the Muse some favourite from the crowd,
And, with a kiss, inspires for evermore."
* * * * *
THE DEATH TRANCE.
Weep, maiden, here by Cupid's grave! He fell,
Some nothing kill'd him--what I cannot tell.
But is he really dead?--I swear not that, in sooth;
A trifle--nothing--oft revives the youth.
* * * * *
PHILOMELA.
Surely, surely, Amor nursed thee, songstress of the plaintive note,
And, in fond and childish fancy, fed thee from his pointed dart.
So, sweet Philomel, the poison sunk into thy guileless throat,
Till, with all love's weight of passion, strike its notes to every heart.
* * * * *
SACRED GROUND.
A place to mark the Graces, when they come
Down from Olympus, still and secretly,
To join the Oreads in their festival,
Beneath the light of the benignant moon.
There lies the poet, watching them unseen,
The whilst they chant the sweetest songs of heaven,
Or, floating o'er the sward without a sound,
Lead on the mystic wonder of the dance.
All that is great in heaven, or fair on earth,
Unveils its glories to the dreamer's eye,
And all he tells the Muses. They again,
Knowing that Gods are jealous of their own,
Teach him, through all the passion of his verse,
To utter these high secrets reverently.
THE PARK.
How beautiful! A garden fair as heaven,
Flowers of all hues, and smiling in the sun,
Where all was waste and wilderness before.
Well do ye imitate, ye gods of earth,
The great Creator. Rock, and lake, and glade,
Birds, fishes, and untamed beasts are here.
Your work were all an Eden, but for this--
Here is no man unconscious of a pang,
No perfect Sabbath of unbroken rest.
* * * * *
THE TEACHERS.
What time Diogenes, unmoved and still,
Lay in his tub, and bask'd him in the sun--
What time Calanus clomb, with lightsome step
And smiling cheek, up to his fiery tomb--
What rare examples there for Philip's son
To curb his overmastering lust of sway,
But that the Lord of the majestic world
Was all too great for lessons even like these!
* * * * *
MARRIAGE UNEQUAL.
Alas, that even in a heavenly marriage,
The fairest lots should ne'er be reconciled!
Psyche wax'd old, and prudent in her carriage,
Whilst Cupid evermore remains the child.
* * * * *
HOLY FAMILY.
O child of beauty rare--
O mother chaste and fair--
How happy seem they both, so far beyond compare!
She, in her infant blest,
And he in conscious rest,
Nestling within the soft warm cradle of her breast!
What joy that sight might bear
To him who sees them there,
If, with a pure and guilt-untroubled eye,
He looked upon the twain, like Joseph standing by.
EXCULPATION.
Wilt thou dare to blame the woman for her seeming sudden changes,
Swaying east and swaying westward, as the breezes shake the tree?
Fool! thy selfish thought misguides thee--find the _man_ that never ranges;
Woman wavers but to seek him--Is not then the fault in thee?
* * * * *
THE MUSE'S MIRROR.
To deck herself, the Muse, at early morn,
Wander'd a-down a wimpling brook, to find
Some glassy pool more quiet than the rest.
On sped the stream, and ever as it ran
It swept away her image, which did change
With every bend and dimple of the wave.
In wrath the Goddess turn'd her from the spot,
Yet after her the brook, with taunting tongue,
Did call--"'Tis plain thou wilt not see the truth
All purely though my mirror shows it thee!"
But she, meanwhile, stood with indifferent ear,
By a far corner of the crystal lake,
Delightedly surveying her fair form,
And settling flowerets in her golden hair.
* * * * *
PH[OE]BUS AND HERMES.
The deep-brow'd lord of Delos once, and Maia's nimble-witted son,
Contended eagerly by whom the prize of glory should be won;
Hermes long'd to grasp the lyre,--the lyre Apollo hoped to gain,
And both their hearts were full of hope, and yet the hopes of both were vain.
For Ares, to decide the strife, between them rudely dash'd in ire,
And waving high his falchion keen, he cleft in twain the golden lyre.
Loud Hermes laugh'd maliciously, but at the direful deed did fall
The deepest grief upon the heart of Phoebus and the Muses all.
* * * * *
A NEW LOVE.
Love, not the simple youth that whilome wound
Himself about young Psyche's heart, look'd round
Olympus with a cold and roving eye,
That had accustom'd been to victory.
It rested on a Goddess, noblest far
Of all that noble throng--a glorious star--
Venus Urania. And from that hour
He loved her. Ah! to his resistless power
Even she, the holy one, did yield at last,
And in his daring arms he held her fast.
A new and beauteous Love from that embrace
Had birth; that to the mother owed his grace
And purity of soul; whilst from his sire
He borrow'd all his passion, all his fire.
Him ever where the gracious Muses be
Thou'lt surely find. Such sweet society
Is his delight, and his sharp-pointed dart
Doth rouse within men's breasts the love of ART.
* * * * *
THE WREATHS.
Our German Klopstock, if he had his will,
Would bar us from the skirts of Pindus old.
No more the classic laurel should be prized,
But the rough leaflets of our native oak
Alone should glisten in the poet's hair;
Yet did himself, with spirit unreclaim'd
From first allegiance to those early Gods,
Lead up to Golgotha's most awful height
With more than epic pomp the new Crusade.
But let him range the bright angelic host
On either hill--no matter. By his grave
All gentle hearts should bow them down and weep.
For where a hero and a saint have died,
Or where a poet sang prophetical,
Dying as greatly as they greatly lived,
To give memorial to all after times,
Of lofty worth and courage undismay'd;
There, in mute reverence, all devoutly kneel,
In homage of the thorn and laurel wreath,
That were at once their glory and their pang!
* * * * *
THE SWISS ALP.
Yesterday thy head was brown, as are the flowing locks of love,
In the bright blue sky I watch'd thee towering, giant-like, above.
Now thy summit, white and hoary, glitters all with silver snow,
Which the stormy night hath shaken from its robes upon thy brow;
And I know that youth and age are bound with such mysterious meaning,
As the days are link'd together, one short dream but intervening.
SPAIN AS IT IS.
There exists in this country a numerous class of persons who, if they
were given their choice of an overland journey to India and back, or a
ramble through Spain, occupying the same space of time, would prefer the
former, as likely to be less inconvenient, and decidedly far less
perilous. The wars and rumours of wars, revolutions, rebellions,
skirmishes, and _pronunciamentos_, that newspapers have recorded during
the last ten or twelve years, with an occasional particularly bloody and
barbarous execution by way of interlude, have certainly not been
calculated to reassure timid travellers; nor can we well wonder that, at
the mere mention of an excursion beyond the Pyrenees, tourists are
seized with a vertigo; and that visions, not only of rancid _gaspachos_
and vermin-haunted couches, but of chocolate-complexioned ruffians with
sugar-loaf hats, button-bedecked jackets, fierce mustaches, and lengthy
_escopetas_, peering out of the gloomy recesses of a cork wood, or from
among the silvery foliage of an olive grove, pass before the eyes of
their imagination. Dangers often appear greater at a distance than upon
close examination; many a phantom of ghastly aspect proves upon
inspection to be but a turnip-faced goblin after all: and we suspect
that if some of the timorous would adventure themselves upon Spanish
soil, they might find their precious persons far safer than they had
anticipated; and discover that they were in the hands neither of Caffres
nor cannibals, but amongst a courteous and generous people, who, if
occasionally a little too disposed to slit each other's weasands, on the
other hand are very rarely forgetful of the laws of hospitality, or of
the kindness and protection to which travellers in a foreign land have a
fair claim. We do not mean to recommend Spain as a desirable travelling
ground for those adventurous English dames, whom we have occasionally
met journeying by coachfuls in France, Germany, and other peaceable
lands, unsquired and unescorted save by their waiting-maids: to them the
encounter of _rateros_, _salteadores_, or other varieties of Spanish
banditti, might be in various respects disagreeable; but for men, who,
without leaving Europe, may wish to visit other scenes than those in
which every Cockney tourist has wandered, we know of few expeditions
more interesting than one into the interior of Spain. Fine scenery,
interesting monuments, associations historic, classic, and poetical,
and--which to our thinking is still preferable--a people who, in spite
of Gallo and Anglo manias, still possess great originality of character
and customs, are there to be met with. We cannot do better than refer
those persons who would like additional evidence on the subject, to the
volumes named at foot[2], in which they will see how a man possessed of
prudence, good sense, and good temper, may visit some of the wildest and
least frequented parts of the Peninsula, not only without injury or
annoyance, but with considerable pleasure and profit.
Captain Widdrington's journey to Spain, in the Spring of 1843, had, as
he tells us, a twofold object. He was desirous of observing the effects
of the numerous changes that have taken place in that country since the
death of Ferdinand; and he, at the same time, thought that his
assistance and previous knowledge of the country and people, would be
useful to a scientific friend, Dr Daubeny, who had been commissioned by
the Agricultural Society to examine the formation of phosphorite in
Estremadura. This mineral, it was imagined, might be advantageously
substituted for bones as manure.
The travellers had sketched out their route beforehand, and seem to have
adhered very closely to the plan they had laid down. Proceeding from
Bayonne to Madrid, after a short stay in that capital they struck into
Estremadura; visited the vein of phosphorite, and explored several
interesting districts, into which few travellers penetrate; thence to
the quicksilver mines at Almaden, and to various iron mines and
founderies, through Seville, Ronda, Malaga, and Granada, and back to
Madrid. Here Captain Widdrington separates from his companion, and
continues his peregrinations alone, through the kingdom of Leon, the
Asturias, and Galicia. In his narrative of this somewhat extensive
ramble, the gallant captain displays a very respectable degree of
knowledge on a considerable variety of subjects. Agriculture, geology,
natural history, the resources of Spain, and the best mode of applying
them, political intrigues and changes, the strange and apparently
inexplicable ups and downs of public men, are all touched upon in turn:
and if the earlier portion of his work is worthy of a member of the
learned societies to which he belongs, the latter part is no less
creditable to his habits of observation, and to the soundness of his
judgment.
One of the first things that appear to have struck Captain Widdrington
on arriving at Madrid, was the great activity in the building
department--an activity arising chiefly from the sequestration of the
church property. Convents were being pulled down, or at least altered so
as to render them suitable to other purposes. The ground on which one
had stood had been converted into a public walk--a chapel had been
replaced by a covered market. The large convent of St Thomas was the
headquarters of the national guard; while that of the Trinity had been
appropriated to the reception of works of art, the spoils of the other
convents. One had been sold to a private speculator, who let it out in
chambers; another was the refuge of military invalids; a third, the
convent of St Catalina--which was set fire to while the Duke of
Angouleme was attending, in the year 1823, a mass celebrated in honour
of his successful campaign--had been demolished, and a building for the
senate and deputies was erecting on its site. The names of many of the
streets had been altered to those of various heroes of Spanish liberty;
such as Porlier, Lacy, the Empecinado, and others. The street of the
Alcala had been rebaptized after the Duque de la Victoria; but no doubt,
as the Captain observes, by this time _on a change tout cela_.
Of the Countess of Mina, who was then _aya_, or governess, to the queen,
some interesting details are given by Captain Widdrington, who had known
her and her husband when they were living in exile at Plymouth
subsequently to the affairs of 1823. Madame Mina appears to be a person
of very superior powers of mind, far better qualified to superintend the
female department of a Spanish queen's education, than the bigoted and
_afrancesada_ dowager-marchioness who preceded her in the office, and in
the selection of whom Maria Christina, with her usual selfishness, had
probably thought more of the political principles and opinions in which
she wished Isabella to be brought up, than of her daughter's future
welfare and happiness. The universal complaint of the _Spanish_ or
national party in the time of Christina was, that the queen's education
was neglected, or, it should rather be said, misconducted. The
queen-dowager's French tendencies were more than suspected. Of course,
when the popular party became in the ascendant, and Madame Mina received
the appointment, alike unsolicited and unexpected, of governess to the
queen, the _afrancesados_ set up a yell of horror and consternation. Her
husband's humble birth, her character, even her piety, and the mourning
habit she had worn ever since her husband's death, were made matters of
reproach to her. But though Mina had been born a tiller of the earth, he
had died a grandee of Spain, ennobled yet more by his patriotism and
great qualities than he could be by the tinsel of a title; the character
of the countess was that of a high-minded and virtuous woman; and as to
the accusation of being a _santarona_, or affectedly pious, it was no
less unjust than malicious. Here is Captain Widdrington's portrait of
her:--
"Her stature is rather below the middle size, and her person stout,
with an abundance of the blackest hair simply dressed; eyes very
large, dark and fuller than usual, even in this classic land of
them, and beaming with intelligence. Her forehead, and the lower
part of her face, are remarkable for their development, and an
admirable study for the phrenologists, who would pronounce them
models, as indicating firmness of character. Her constant costume
is the deepest black, which completely covers her person; and when
she accepted her appointment, it was stipulated that she should
never be required to lay it aside. The only ornament she wore was a
simple but rather massive gold chain and cross, which had a
singularly good effect in relieving the mass of deep black; and her
manner, noble and serious, bordering on the severe at first sight,
made her the _beau-ideal_ of a lady abbess."
During the celebrated attack upon the palace at Madrid, on the 7th of
October 1841, the countess gave proof of energy, courage, and presence
of mind, worthy of Mina's widow, and of one who supplied the place of
mother to the queen and infanta of Spain. A most interesting account of
the transactions of that eventful night is to be found in the third
chapter of Captain Widdrington's book; and as he is indebted for the
details to Madame Mina herself, it is no doubt the most accurate that
has appeared before the public. The _alabarderos_, or halberdiers, who
formed the body-guard of the queen, and whose post was in the avenues
leading to the royal apartments, consisted of two hundred sergeants,
picked from the whole army, and placed under the command of a colonel
and lieutenant-colonel, who had the rank of lieutenant and sergeant in
this sacred band. "By the regulations, one-third of this little corps
ought always to have been on duty; but, 'Cosas de Espana,' when the
disturbance broke out, there were only the two officers and seventeen
privates present! The rest were in the town, at supper, or various other
engagements." And on this handful of men devolved the duty of defending
the queen against the attack of as many companies as they numbered
muskets. The first alarm was given by _vivas_ and other noises in the
quadrangle of the palace. Colonel Dulce, the commander of the
halberdiers, descended the stairs to enquire the cause of the uproar,
and was met on the landing-place by a detachment of the Princesa
regiment marching up. He ordered them to halt; they opened fire in
reply. Colonel Dulce retreated to the guard-room, and the skirmish
began. A double flight of steps leads up from one of the principal
entrances of the palace to this guard-room, of which the door is of
considerable size, and covered by a _mampara_ or moveable stuffed
screen, similar to those used in churches abroad. The alabarderos left
the mampara in its place, opening the door no more than was absolutely
necessary to fire through. The assailants took up their station at the
bottom of the stairs, and blazed away, vigorously replied to from the
_sala de armas_. The sides of the doorway and the mampara were riddled,
but the assailants could only fire at a guess, their opponents being
completely concealed behind the screen; and on the other hand, a stone
balustrade at the top of the staircase between the two flights and the
angle of the floor, protected the insurgents. The latter, no doubt,
thought the whole guard was at its post, so steady and incessant was the
fire the alabarderos kept up. To approach the guard-room door was
certain death. General Concha, the same who the other night danced the
third quadrille with Isabel at a court ball, taking the _pas_ of the
Spanish grandees there assembled, was present at this treasonable
attack, at the head of the Princesa regiment, in plain clothes, but with
a drawn sword. About midnight (the firing had begun at half-past
seven--what were the authorities about all that time?) Diego Leon, the
scapegoat of the affair, made his appearance in his usual dashing
attire, a showy hussar uniform, braided, belted, and befrogged, and took
command of the proceedings. "According to his own account, he went to
the foot of the great staircase, and called to the alabarderos to
discontinue firing, lest they should alarm the queen!" but the noise of
the musketry was such, that he could not make himself heard, even with
the aid of a trumpet! Things, however, had not gone as the conspirators
wished; the gallant defence of the halbardiers, which they had not
reckoned upon, had caused them to lose much time, and after a short
consultation Concha and Leon took to flight. Concha hid himself under
the dry arch of a bridge, and afterwards took refuge at the Danish
embassy, where he passed a few days, and was then conveyed from another
embassy (French, of course) to headquarters at Paris. His caution in
wearing plain clothes saved him; while poor Leon, who thought, as he
afterwards said, that uniform was the proper costume for the occasion,
was taken at Colmenar, a few leagues from Madrid. Captain Widdrington
says, with much truth, that nothing could be more characteristic of the
two men than their different mode of acting in this trifling particular.
In the whole affair, Concha was the real director and manager, although
he sheltered himself behind the Count of Belascoain, who was put forward
as being a popular man, especially with the army. A braver or more
dashing cavalry officer than Leon could hardly be found, but he was of
the wrong stuff for a conspirator; his brains, as the Spaniards used to
say in rather a coarse proverb, were in the wrong place. But who that
had ever known or even seen him, could help regretting him, the
chivalrous, the high-hearted soldier, as much loved by his friends as he
was dreaded by his foes! His death was, doubtless, necessary as an
example, and should not be laid at the door of the Spanish government of
the day, but at that of the unprincipled and selfish faction that made a
tool of him. We are surprised to find, by Captain Widdrington's book,
that the petitions for his pardon, sent for signature to the national
guard of Madrid, were torn across and returned, the only name affixed to
them being that of Captain Guardia, who was then dying of wounds
received on the night of the insurrection. This speaks plainly as to the
general feeling in Madrid concerning the necessity of Leon's sentence
being put into execution, the national guard consisting of ten thousand
men, who represent every shade of political opinion.
While the fighting was going on, the Countess of Mina was doing her best
to shield the queen and her sister from the bullets of the insurgents,
who surrounded the royal apartments on three sides, and seem to have
been tolerably careless where they sent their lead. A shot came into the
room where the queen and her sister lay in bed. They were frightened,
and got up, and the attendants placed mattresses on the floor, in the
angle of an alcove, upon which the children lay down, and after some
time fell asleep. "The poor children were hungry, and asked for supper,
but there was nothing to give them; and from two in the afternoon of the
7th, till eight in the morning of the 8th, they did not taste food."
What a curious picture is this! Isabel de Borbon, queen of Spain and the
Indies, lying on a mattress upon the floor, terrified and a-hungered,
her governess, the widow of an ex-peasant and guerilla, keeping watch
beside her; nineteen intrepid soldiers defending her against troops sent
by her own mother to attack her palace and carry off herself!
Nor was this all. There was a private staircase leading from the
_entresol_ of the palace to the royal apartments; and although it had
been blocked up some time previously, the rebels were aware of its
existence, and were heard sawing at the barrier that closed it. "At this
time, the countess told me, she felt it her duty to rouse the queen and
prepare her for the worst, dictating to her the manner in which those
who should enter were to be addressed. The intention was, when they
should arrive at the inner door, to open it for fear of greater
violence, and admit them." If the conspirators could have got possession
of the queen's person, their plan was to wrap her in a cloak and mount
her behind one Fulgosio, who had been a colonel in the Carlist service,
but was included in the convention of Bergara. In this Tartar fashion
she was to have been carried off to the north of Spain.
Captain Widdrington evidently considers that this daring attempt on the
part of Christina's faction, as well as subsequent almost equally
strange events that have occurred in Spain, were in great measure
concerted and organized in France, the money proceeding partly from the
French treasury and partly from the coffers of Christina--coffers which
she had taken excellent care to fill during the period of her regency.
We have been rather amused at the diplomatic caution displayed by the
Captain when alluding to French intrigues. The French are always "our
neighbours," and Louis Philippe "a certain personage." His meaning,
however, is plain enough, and we fully agree with him, that French gold
and French counsels and influence have been at the bottom of most of the
disturbances that have taken place in Spain since the year 1840. But
enough, for the present, of plots and plotters; we shall perhaps find
more of them before we bid our author farewell in Vigo Bay. At present
we will follow him to the mines of Almaden, whither he betakes himself
after rambling through a considerable portion of Estremadura, one of the
most fertile, but neglected and thinly peopled, of Spanish provinces.
"Nothing," he says, "is wanted but a good government to assist the
bounteous hand with which the gifts of Providence have been showered on
this beautiful region." But, alas! instead of a thriving peasantry and
well-tilled soil, what does he meet with? _Despoblados_, or deserts,
with here and there some wretched villages, few and far between, and
from time to time a _cortijo_, or farm-house, with its cultivated patch;
but the general face of the country is _zaral_, ground covered with the
cistus, numerous varieties of that beautiful plant abounding in the
province. Captain Widdrington mentions four sorts he found in
flower--the gum cistus, a large white species without spots, a smaller
white, and the purple kind common in English gardens. Furze, then just
breaking into flower, and _retama_, or brooms, vary the collection;
interesting enough, no doubt, to the botanist, but a melancholy sight
when one reflects on the far better purpose to which this fertile
territory might be applied.
The roads through these districts are, as might be expected, execrable,
intersected by large open ditches to carry off the water; and
subsequently to each journey the diligence requires extensive repairs.
After Truxillo, however, public conveyances are no longer to be found,
and mules supply their place. On these the travellers reach Logrosan,
where is situate the vein of phosphorite that it was one of the objects
of their journey to visit. Four mule-loads of the mineral are taken as a
sample, and forwarded to Seville; and this done, an excursion is made to
the famous sanctuary of Guadelupe, in the sacristy at which place are
some of the finest paintings of Zurbaran. Not the least agreeable
portions of Captain Widdrington's book are his descriptions of the
churches and other edifices he visits, and of the pictures and carvings
they contain. Details of that kind are often apt to be dry and
wearisome; but these are done _con amore_, and varied by reflections and
criticisms, of which many are very interesting.
It had been a matter of deliberation with Captain Widdrington, upon
commencing his wanderings in the Peninsula, whether it were advisable to
be armed or not. The usual advice one gets upon this subject on entering
Spain, is to take neither arms nor money, or at least no more of the
latter than is absolutely necessary for the journey. By being unarmed,
the traveller is said to avoid risk of ill treatment at the hands of any
banditti he may chance to encounter, and who, if they see him with
weapons, are apt either to give him a volley from some ambuscade, or to
murder him for having thought of resistance. Captain Widdrington's
theory is different. He calculates that, as the majority of Spanish
robbers are _rateros_, or ignoble and dastardly cut-purses, who prowl
about by twos and threes, it is just as well to be provided with a few
fire-arms, the mere sight of which may make all the difference between
being robbed or not. He has accordingly armed himself, his companion,
and attendant with muskets; and between Logrosan and Almaden he finds
the advantage of having done so. While passing through a wild and broken
country, with no road, and scarcely any visible track, he perceives
three suspicious-looking customers descending through a field to the
further side of a thicket which he is about to traverse. He calls up his
companions, who are a little in the rear--they look to their arms, and
prepare for a brush. If the three men that have been seen are alone, the
travellers are a match for them; but they may be only the van or
rearguard of a larger force.
"After waiting a little time in silence, there was no appearance of
their emerging from the thicket, which was very close; and, as it would
have been imprudent to enter it, we called out to them to advance. They
were still invisible, but a voice answered--'Come on, we shall not
meddle with you.' We then rode through, and found them on the banks of a
pretty stream that flowed through the ravine, preparing to breakfast;
some beautiful bread, far better than any we could find in the villages,
being part of their intended repast. The man who had answered was
nearest to the ford, and the others a little higher up. Of course we
passed them at the 'recover,' and the simple salutation of _Vaya vd.
con Dios!_ was interchanged. Had we omitted exchanging this compliment,
even with the people we were now dealing with, we should have risked
being thought unpolished."
There is something characteristic and Gil Blas-like about this--Spanish
all over. Pass we on to the Almaden mines, of which there is a detailed
and very interesting account.
The quicksilver mines of Almaden are one of the sure cards of the
Spanish finance minister, and during the late war, especially, were
often a great resource to the poverty-stricken government. When other
sources of revenue failed, there were always to be found speculators
willing to treat for the quicksilver contract; and these mines, like the
tobacco and other monopolies, and the Havanna revenue, have helped many
a Spanish minister in his moment of greatest need. Of course, as the
usual demand was money down, the bargains were frequently made at great
disadvantage to the seller; and, once made, the consumer is entirely at
the mercy of the contractor--the Almaden mines producing a very large
portion of all the quicksilver known to exist in the world. Madame
Calderon de la Barca, in her _Life in Mexico_, alludes to this when
speaking of the unsuccessful mining speculations in that country, where
"heaps of silver lie abandoned, because the expense of acquiring
quicksilver renders it wholly unprofitable to extract it." That lady
further observes, that quicksilver has been paid for at one hundred and
fifty dollars per quintal in real cash, when the same quantity was given
at credit by the Spanish government for fifty dollars. Madame Calderon
is good authority; but we suspect that the cause of such a vast
difference between the price given and demanded by the contractor, must
have been the cash advances required by the Spanish government. "The
contract once made," says Captain Widdrington, "it is clear that,
excepting any qualms of conscience the lessee may be influenced by,
there is no check upon his cupidity. The temptation to charge exorbitant
prices is increased by the habit of the government requiring large sums
to be paid down. This practice, which was unavoidable during the civil
war, when it frequently produced the only ready money they could lay
their hands on, has continued, and must still do so, unless a financial
change take place."
Owing to this state of things, the profit to the government is only
about L75,000 per annum; although we are told that the price has been
raised, in a few years, from thirty-four to eighty-four dollars the
quintal--the price paid to the government we presume. The contract was
taken in 1843 by those great _accapareurs_ of good things, the
Rothschilds. Of course, as long as the civil war lasted, if the
contractors had to give money in advance, the risk they ran entitled
them to a large rate of profit. Had Don Carlos got the upper hand before
they had reimbursed themselves, their lien upon the mines would have
been so much waste paper; or even, without that, they might have been
exposed to considerable loss and delay had Messrs Cabrera, Balmaseda,
Palillos, or others of the same kidney, chosen to take a turn in that
direction, carry off the workmen, destroy or damage the works, or drown
out the mines. Gomez did pay Almaden a visit when he made the tour of
Spain with his expeditionary corps. He burned a part of the town and
plundered all he could; but did no harm to the mine--which was either
very foolish or very considerate of him.
There is room for much curious speculation as to the effect which the
increased and increasing value of quicksilver may have upon the monetary
system of Europe, especially in France and other countries where silver
is the legal currency, and gold very little used on account of the
premium on it. It has been seen above, that, in Mexico, silver is not
worth refining, owing to the dearness of the mineral required for the
purpose. Unless something be discovered as a substitute for quicksilver,
the same result will, in all probability, ensue in other mining
districts; and the natural consequence will be the diminished use of
silver as a circulating medium, and the increased employment of gold,
the more so as the supply of the latter metal has of late years been
greatly augmented--a great deal now coming from Asiatic Russia--while
its wear and tear are very small. This change would not arise from a
scarcity of quicksilver, the quantity and quality of which, at Almaden
at least, improve as the miners get deeper into the vein; and, moreover,
the portion extracted is limited to 20,000 quintals, or weights of 105
pounds English. "All the works are executed in a truly royal manner; and
so capacious and enlarged are the views carried out in the management,
that they only take away about one-half of the mineral, leaving the
other as a legacy to the future possessors of it, and to provide a
supply in case of unforeseen accidents in the workings." There are other
uses besides the refining of silver to which quicksilver is applied; and
should the contractors continue to raise the price of the latter, the
consequence must necessarily be an increase in the value of the former,
and a diminution in its consumption.
There are five thousand men employed at the Almaden establishment, and
most of those who work in the mines suffer, as may be supposed, in their
health, from the unwholesome exhalations. In the summer, when they are
most liable to be affected in that way, work is suspended, the labourers
retire to their respective provinces to recruit, and generally return in
the autumn, restored by their native air. Temperance, cleanliness, and a
milk-diet appear to be the best preservatives from the pernicious
effects of the mercury-infected atmosphere.
Captain Widdrington does not visit Catalonia, which we regret; for we
should like to have had the result of his observations on that turbulent
and troublesome province, to which he once or twice alludes. It must
truly be a difficult thing to legislate for a country split into so many
conflicting interests--fancied interests many of them--as Spain is. The
Catalonians, for instance, have got a notion that they are
cotton-manufacturers--a notion which their northern neighbours do all in
their power to nourish and encourage. Of course, the French would be
much annoyed to see Spanish ports opened to cotton goods at a reasonable
duty, until such time (if it ever arrives) as they can compete
successfully with English manufacturers. It suits their book much better
to have a prohibition, or what amounts to such, imposed on all foreign
cottons. The Pyrenees are high, but it is a long line of frontier from
Port Vendres to Bayonne, and the deuce is in it if they cannot manage to
smuggle more French calicoes and _percales_, and suchlike commodities
into Spain, than would ever be taken by the Spaniards were those
articles admitted at a reasonable duty, which would put a stop to
smuggling by rendering it unprofitable. At present there is a regular
tariff of smugglers' charges for passing goods, so much per cent on the
value, according to the bulk and nature of the articles; and the agents
of this traffic abound in Bayonne, Oleron, Perpignan, and all the
frontier towns. The idea prevailing in Spain, that Espartero intended
entering into a treaty of commerce with England, made him enemies of the
Catalonians, and indeed of the majority of the mercantile classes, most
of the members of which are more or less mad about the importance of
Spanish manufactures, or, at any rate, they seem to be nearly unanimous
in their wish to prohibit foreign goods. It is impossible to persuade
them, so pigheaded are they, that it would be better to admit foreign
manufactures at a fair duty, than to have their markets deluged with
smuggled ones that pay no duty at all. "To these miserable manufactures,
only capable of producing about one-half of what is required for the
consumption of the kingdom," (and that half, be it observed, of inferior
quality, and at vastly higher prices than the same merchandise could be
imported for,) "is the interest of the landed proprietors and commercial
class, as well as that of the entire community, sacrificed."
These manufacturing madmen, the Catalonians, are the plague-spot of the
Peninsula. Obstinate, fiery, and selfish, they think only of themselves,
and of what they consider their interests, petty and miserable as the
latter are compared to those of the rest of Spain. The real interests of
the country are obvious to any but prejudiced understandings. It is a
land flowing with milk and honey, or, what is far better, with wine and
oil; abounding in valuable products, of which the export might be vastly
increased by admitting the manufactures of countries possessing,
perhaps, a less-favoured soil and climate, but a more industrious
population. Instead of making bad calicoes at a high price, let the
Spaniards set to work to clear and plant their _despoblados_--let them
improve their system of agriculture, their mode of producing oil; let
them cut canals and make roads, and get something like decent
communications between towns and provinces. The irrigation of the soil
in Spain is also a matter of great importance, and which, in many parts
of the country, is at present sadly neglected. There are vast districts
that remain uninhabited and barren, solely because people will not build
or live where they are beyond a certain distance from water; districts
where every thing is parched and dry for the greater part of the year,
and where the land, although rich in its nature, becomes worthless from
excessive drought. The system of Artesian wells might, we are persuaded,
be introduced to great advantage in Spain; and for such, as well as for
canals, railways, and similar improvements, abundance of foreign capital
would be forthcoming, if--and here is the sticking point--Spaniards
would only show a disposition to remain quiet, and turn their attention
to the arts of peace, instead of ruining their country, wasting their
blood, and degrading the national character, by all these unmeaning and
unprofitable _pronunciamentos_ and skirmishings. It is probably not very
important at this moment who rules over the Spaniards, provided the
government have power and energy enough to keep them from cutting each
others' throats, and to prevent their getting into a confirmed habit of
revolutions and rebellions. "In all the larger towns of Spain," we quote
Captain Widdrington, "there is a crowd of idlers, characters with little
or no occupation, frequenters of theatres and _cafes_, great readers of
journals, and considerable politicians, pretenders to small places,
excessively ignorant, and ready to join in any movement provided it be
attended with little personal risk to themselves. A large portion of
this class took a very active part in opposing the government, and were
delighted to figure in _juntas_, or fill other analogous situations,
giving them a momentary importance, and possibly a few dollars at the
public expense." And this is one of the great causes of the unsettled
state of Spain, the immense number of idlers. Wars and revolutions,
producing an unflourishing state of trade and agriculture, have
discouraged Spaniards, during the last thirty or forty years, from
putting their children to trades or professions. "There is no knowing
how long this war may last," they used to say during the Carlist
contest; "and as long as it lasts, there is no good to be done in
Spain." So, instead of bringing up their sons to work, they just let
them live on from day to day, gossiping and smoking; and at the present
moment there are many hundred thousand young and middle-aged men of the
lower and middle classes, especially the latter, who are idlers by
profession, and exactly correspond to Captain Widdrington's description.
These gentry have nothing particular to lose by any political rumpus,
and they flatter themselves they may gain; besides, they cannot be
always playing _monte_ or taking the _siesta_; and even if they could, a
change is sometimes agreeable. Now and then, too, they get tired of
hearing Aristides called the Just--that is a very common thing with
Spaniards--some mischievous political agent comes amongst them, they are
soon excited, get hold of an old musket or rusty fowling-piece, chuck up
their _sombreros_, cry _viva la Libertad!_ and rush about the town
uttering _gritos_; and in a few hours, and before they have any clear
idea of what they have been doing, they are told that they are heroes
and patriots, that "_Spaniards_ never shall be slaves," and all the rest
of the humbug and claptrap that revolutionary agitators always have upon
their tongue's tip. The poor idiots, fizzing and boiling over with their
fire-new enthusiasm, aimless and causeless as it is, are in ecstasies
for about a week, or until they discover, what is pretty often the case,
that instead of being better off, they have exchanged King Log for King
Stork. The fact is, Spaniards are not at present fit for a mild and
constitutional government. Espartero, who had got the country into
something like a state of respectability, fell into the error of
imagining that they were; and such was in great measure the cause of his
overthrow. The iron and remorseless rule of a Narvaez will perhaps suit
them better, and of a certainty it is what a large portion of them
richly deserve.
To those persons who wish to understand what many have doubtless found
rather incomprehensible; namely, the causes, immediate and remote, that
led to the deposition of the Duque de la Victoria and the triumph of the
Moderado party--we recommend the attentive perusal of Captain
Widdrington's book, especially the chapter entitled, "On the
Pronunciamentos and Fall of the Regency." That chapter is a very
complete manual of the Spanish politics of the day, in a lucid and
simple form; and we were much pleased to find our own theories and
opinions on the subject confirmed by an eyewitness, and by so shrewd an
observer as Captain Widdrington. He traces the share that each party and
class in Spain took in the recent changes; and proves satisfactorily
enough, what every one who is acquainted with Spanish character and
feelings must have already been pretty certain of, that the revolution
in question was not a national one, but the result of intrigue, bribery,
and delusion--the work of a faction, aided by foreign gold. The
ill-judged selection of Lopez for minister, and the still more
injudicious act of agreeing to a _programme_ which he was afterwards
compelled to repudiate, were the fatal mistakes made by Espartero, who
was placed in a situation of extreme difficulty by his wish to govern
constitutionally. "It is impossible not to respect and admire the
firmness with which, to the very last, he carried through the principle,
sacrificing his station and rank to it; but, as far as the interests of
his country were concerned, no greater mistake was ever made in
government than the selection of Lopez." It is customary in Spain for a
new minister to make public his programme, or plan of campaign--but this
is considered a mere matter of form. In that of Lopez, however, amidst
the usual commonplaces, one article of vital importance had insinuated
itself; it was that of the amnesty, "which was so speciously made out as
completely to answer the purpose for which it was intended, that of
paving the way for bringing back the _afrancesado_ leaders who were
engaged in the attempt to carry off the Queen, in October 1841." It was
not deemed sufficient to recall the regent's mortal enemies; an attempt
was made to isolate him, by dismissing his most faithful friends, even
to the distinguished officer who acted as his private secretary, and who
now bears him company in his exile. Espartero naturally kicked at
this--as who would not in his place?--dismissed Lopez, and dissolved the
Chamber. But the people, especially those troublesome fellows the
Andalusians and Valencians, had got the fraternizing fit strong upon
them, and were mad after the programme. Juntas were
formed--pronunciamentos made--and misrule was again the order of the
day.
As to the conduct of the army towards Espartero, it was unquestionably
most disgraceful; but it must be borne in mind that a large proportion
of the officers were his personal enemies, especially those of the
regiments of guards, which had been broken up after the war, when many
of the officers passed into line regiments. Others were partisans of
Leon, of Narvaez, or Christina; and another large section were won over
by the profuse promotion given by the juntas, who, as soon as the
pronunciamentos began, assumed the functions of government, and
scattered epaulets in absurd profusion. Truly, as Captain Widdrington
observes, one has heard of bloody wars and sickly seasons, and rapid
advancement consequent thereon, but nothing ever equalled the promotion
that was now given; and this system Espartero was also obliged to adopt,
in order not to be deserted by the lukewarm among his adherents, or by
those whom the prospect of a step of rank might have influenced to leave
him. There can be little doubt, too, that bribery was largely employed
by the Moderados. Witness the instance of Colonel Echalecu, which is no
case of suspicion, but an official and publicly known fact. He was
offered four millions of reals (forty thousand pounds sterling) to
surrender the fort of Montjuich, and a French steamer was put at his
disposal to convey him away. To the immortal honour of this gallant
Basque soldier be it said, he was proof against the temptation; true to
his colours, to his general, and to the established constitution of his
country, he held out the fort to the very last, and only gave it up when
every hope was lost, and the new order of things completely victorious.
The Moderados had the good sense to continue so faithful an officer in
his command; but, at the time of Amettler's revolt, he refused to
bombard Barcelona, and of course resigned. His, however, was a solitary
instance of virtue; far less brilliant baits were found irresistible by
the mass of officers, who used their influence to bring over the
soldiery, a credulous and ignorant class in Spain. The men, there is no
question, were disposed to stand by the regent, and some even held out
against their officers till compelled to give in; but at last all
followed in the stream, led away partly by habits of obedience, partly
by the hopes held out to them of more regular pay and better rations,
and still more by the prospect of obtaining their discharge previous to
the legal expiration of their term of service--the latter being the
strongest argument that can be urged to Spanish soldiers.
The peasantry, with the exception, perhaps, of those around certain
towns, had neither voice nor part in the change; the nobility, sunk in
sloth and smothered by incapacity, looked on as idle spectators; and a
vast many of the restless and excitable spirits who got up the
revolution, were mere instruments in the hands of a faction, and knew
not what they did. Hear Captain Widdrington--
"The parties who began the pronunciamentos had neither the
intention nor the slightest idea, that the result of their
proceedings would be the fall of the regency. This I can most
positively assert to be fact."
The Spaniards, especially those of the south, had got a sort of Utopian
notion into their very ill-furnished heads, that all parties were to
"kiss and be friends." The projected amnesty which Espartero so
unfortunately agreed to, was the cause of this idea getting ground. It
took them upon their weak side, carried them entirely off their legs;
and, acting under the influence of this frothy enthusiasm, they ran
a-muck, as the saying is, and only awakened from their day-dream to
curse the changes that their own folly had so largely contributed to
bring about.
As to any body attempting to divine what will be the next move upon the
Spanish chessboard, it is out of the question, and nobody who knows the
character of the people will attempt to do it. Unquestionably there is
no such country in the world for anomalies of all kinds. _Cosas de
Espana!_ as Captain Widdrington amusingly enough says, when he meets
with some huge piece of inconsistency that astonishes even him,
accustomed though he be to the most contradictory vagaries on the part
of his Iberian friends. And it is exactly what intelligent Spaniards
themselves say, when similar absurdities on the part of their countrymen
are pointed out or reproached to them. "_Que quiere vd hombre_," cry
they with a shrug, "_son cosas de Espana_." What can we say to you? They
are Spanish doings.
At Almaden the Captain finds a magnificent road leading to the town,
which had been commenced at great expense by a former governor. For some
distance it is fit for an approach to the largest capital, but on a
sudden it terminates--in a mule-track! _Cosas de Espana_. "I entered
Corunna just before nightfall, and although a regular fortress, seaport,
and chief place of the province--_Cosas de Espana_--not a sentinel was
mounted on the works!" Guards desert their post--witness the attack on
the palace, when seventeen men were present out of sixty-five; a
governor is absent from his province at the very time when he is most
wanted there; an official is sent for by one of his superiors, and
returns for answer that he can certainly come if necessary, but hopes he
shall be excused, as it would occasion him the trouble of dressing
himself--this in the middle of the day. The creature was no doubt lying
on a mattress, half naked, with a cigar in his mouth. These are
instances of "_Cosas de Espana_," always odd and sometimes
unintelligible, but usually to be explained by the system of laxity and
inattention to the duties of their respective posts and stations that
seems to extend to nearly all classes in Spain.
Captain Widdrington professes the strictest impartiality in the accounts
and opinions he gives; and if we venture to point out an instance where
we think he has deviated a little from the straight line he drew for
himself at starting, it is only because his having done so in the
particular we refer to, is rather creditable to him than otherwise, and
is exactly the error that most warm-hearted men who passed any length of
time in the very agreeable society of Spaniards, would be apt to fall
into. But we cannot help thinking, that in some respects he takes too
favourable a view of the Spanish character; that he is led away by his
love for the nation. The following passages are rather remarkable--
"No people in existence," he says, "are so little anarchical in their
habits, or live, unless under immediate excitement, in a more orderly
and peaceable manner, or are so easily governed. The presiding genius of
the country is tranquillity, and quiet, inoffensive demeanour, in every
class of society, and in every part of the kingdom; nor is there any
necessity, unless where domination, or unpopular and false principles
are the object, for the application of force to coerce them at any time.
What they want, by their universal consent, is a steady, progressive,
and intelligent government, that will lead the way in the changes and
improvements which every class, at least the far greater majority, are
desirous of seeing carried out, but which their indolence and easy
habits prevent originating with themselves alone."
"_Aide toi, et Dieu t'aidera_," says the French proverb. It is really a
pity that a proper dry-nurse cannot be procured for these quiet and
inoffensive people, who have been slaughtering each other, with small
intermission, for the last ten years, to say nothing of previous
instances of mansuetude. Unfortunately, however, they are as jealous of
being helped as, according to Captain Widdrington's own admission, they
are incompetent to help themselves. "_Es una lastima_," as they would
say; but really at this rate there seems no chance of their ever getting
their country into a prosperous, or even a decent, state. We fully agree
with Captain Widdrington in liking the Spanish character as a whole, in
appreciating its fine qualities, in rendering ample justice to that
courtesy of feeling and manner so agreeable to those who have
intercourse with Spaniards, and that may truly be called national,
seeing that it is found as commonly under the coarse _manta_ of the
muleteer as beneath the velvet-lined _capa_ of the high-born hidalgo;
but we have some small experience of Spain, and a more considerable one
of Spaniards, and we cannot for the life of us think them so tractable
and easy to guide into the right path, or so exceedingly averse to
bloodshed. "The truth is, that, excepting in cases of deadly feud, which
sometimes happen, in no country in the world is life more
secure."--(Vol. ii. p. 358.) We will not contradict the Captain, but it
has always appeared to us that human life is rated at a much lower value
in Spain than in any other civilized country we are acquainted with, and
that the natural consequence of that low valuation is the cool
indifference with which blood is there so frequently and abundantly
poured out upon the most trifling and insufficient grounds.
At the end of a chapter on the church in Spain, we find a notice of Mr
Borrow's proceedings for the propagation of the Scriptures in the
Peninsula--proceedings which seem to have resulted in perfect failure.
"As to the object of the undertaking, it was not only a most complete
and entire failure, but of such a nature as entirely to defeat any
future attempt of the same kind." The meaning of this is clear, although
the sentence is of a curious turn. Further on, the Captain says--"It is
impossible not to regret, that the very large sums annually sent out of
the country, from the most pure and really religious and conscientious
motives, on this and other undertakings, producing equally little
result, were not devoted to the building or endowing of churches and
chapels in our own manufacturing districts, where they are so very much
needed."
How can Captain Widdrington make such an observation as this latter one?
Surely he must be aware how much more interesting it is to provide for
the spiritual wants of people at a distance than for those of people in
our country. What missionary society, worthy of the name, would
undertake a church-building crusade into Lancashire or Yorkshire? It is
too near home, too commonplace. But let them discover some region at the
antipodes, inhabited by copper-coloured gentry with feathers upon their
heads and curtain rings through their noses, and _there_ is a worthy
field for the labours of the pious. In like manner, poor Spain, which
really might be allowed to set its temporal house a little in order,
before being expected to a depart from the faith that has been universal
in it since the expulsion of the Saracen, was deemed sufficiently
distant and dangerous to be interesting, and "the great London Caloro"
girded up his loins and departed thither. Of the peril he encountered,
the acquaintances he made, of how he galloped through the country on
silver-grey _burras--Anglice_, female donkeys--and dropped tracts in
public walks and concealed Testaments in ruins and other queer places,
where robbers _might_ go, _might_ find them, and _might_ be improved by
their perusal, has he not written a most marvellous and amusing account
for the benefit of generations present and to come? Notwithstanding,
however, his missionary avocations and Munchausenish tendencies, we have
a sneaking kindness for friend Borrow, having collected from his
writings that he is a fellow of considerable pluck and energy, of
adventurous spirit, with a sharp eye for a good horse, and who would, no
doubt, have made an excellent dragoon, had it pleased God to call him to
that way of life. But we must say, that his manner of spreading the
Scriptures in Spain, puts us considerably in mind of those peripatetic
advertisers, whose handbills, thrust _nolens volens_ into the fist of
the passer-by, are for the most part cast unread into the gutter. It
would be curious to calculate the proportion borne by those Testaments
that Mr Borrow succeeded in getting really circulated and read in Spain,
to the very large number which he acknowledges to have been confiscated,
burnt, stolen on the road, or otherwise lost. The expense of the mission
must have been very considerable, and the same funds might have been
employed in this country with tenfold advantage both to humanity and the
Christian religion.
There is a certain class of writers, some of whom ought to know better,
who have lately taken up the cudgels upon the pseudo-philanthropic side
of the question, and have expended a vast deal of uncalled-for
indignation and maudlin sympathy upon the rich and poor of this
country--the former of whom they would make out to be the most selfish
and hard-hearted of created beings, and the latter the most amiable and
ill-treated. According to these writers, it would appear as if no man,
with less than seven children to provide for, and more than ten
shillings a-week to do it with, could be possessed of any one of the
Christian virtues. Charity and kindness of heart exist, they would have
us to believe, in an inverse ratio to income, and the _warmest_ men, in
city parlance, are invariably those of the coldest feelings. The sickly
cant of this style of writing in a country where charity, both public
and private, is so extensive and practical; and its probable ill effects
in rendering the poorer classes discontented, are too evident for it to
be necessary to dwell upon them. It would be far better if the writers
who go to such large expense of sympathetic ink, would change the
direction of their virtuous indignation, and try if they have sufficient
influence to put an end to this foreign tract and testament mongering,
whether its scene be in Spain or at a greater distance.
Before concluding, Captain Widdrington alludes to a growing shyness
towards English travellers in some of the large southern towns, owing to
the indiscretions, exaggerations, and absurdities of certain
tour-writers. It is a lamentable fact that, now-a-days, every booby who
gets on board a steamer, and leaves England for a few weeks or months,
thinks himself entitled to perpetrate a book about what he sees and
hears. We would fain whisper to such persons, that mere locomotion never
qualified any body to write a book, even of travels; that some powers of
observation, and a certain correctness of judgment, and even some
previous acquaintance with the history and character of the nation they
visit, are also necessary; and if, after that, they still persisted in
their designs, we would beg of them to remember that light words are apt
to travel both far and fast; that some part of their lucubrations may
possibly reach the countries they refer to--perhaps through the
instrumentality of the trunkmakers; and that in any case they should
avoid giving unfavourable details, even if true, of the private life and
habits of people who have shown them kindness and hospitality--details,
the data of which, if investigated, would be found, in most instances,
to be absurd and ridiculously insufficient. Some travelling bagman, or
half-fledged subaltern on his way to the Mediterranean, gets ashore at
Cadiz or Gibraltar, takes a run through three or four of the principal
Andalusian cities, perhaps has a letter of introduction, or else meets
at a _fonda_ with some good-natured Spaniard, who compassionates his
"goose look" and evident helplessness, invites him to his house, and
introduces him at a tertulia or two. The gosling picks up a few Spanish
sentences, hears a few anecdotes from some lying valet-de-place, who has
attached himself to the Senor Ingles, and leaves the country after a few
weeks', perhaps days', residence, considerably bewildered by all the
novelties he has seen, but without the slightest real addition to his
previous knowledge of Spanish character and customs. Six months
afterwards, the new work on Spain by Ensign Epaulet or Tedious Twaddle,
Esquire, issues forth, borne on a mighty blast of puffery, from the
laboratory of some fashionable publisher.
"Nothing can be more harmless," says Captain Widdrington, "than
this mode of making a livelihood, provided their effusions are kept
within the bounds of moderation and charity, as well as confined to
such views as a rapid transit enables any one unacquainted with the
language and the people to make during a few hours' sojourn in the
place. This rule, however, has been broken in upon; and as it
unluckily happens that the females are generally a favourite
subject for the tirades of that class of writers, their random
assertions on subjects they had no means of investigating, and most
assuredly did not speak of from their own knowledge and experience,
have made both the Gaditanas and Malaguanas, and their relations
and countrymen, extremely irate."
And with good reason, too, say we. It is not the first time we have
heard this sort of thing complained of. The practice is one that cannot
be too severely reprehended and we shall look out for such offenders in
future.
There are a number of anecdotes and pleasant bits scattered through
Captain Widdrington's work, which is a happy blending of the amusing and
instructive, neither predominating to the injury of the other; and we
take leave both of the book and its accomplished author, with much
respect and gratitude. Before doing so, however, and having said much in
commendation, Captain Widdrington will perhaps permit us to offer him a
slight and well-intended hint in the contrary sense. When next the
truant-fit comes over him, and he favours us with the result of his
researches and observations in Spain or any other country--and we hope
it will not be long before he does thus favour us--may he be able to
devote rather more time to the mere authorship part of the work, to the
correction and chastening of his style. His sentences are often terribly
piled up and intricate, and some are really illogical in their
construction, to the extent of being difficult of comprehension. That
kind of negligence in an author, considerably diminishes the reader's
enjoyment even of the most interesting book. Captain Widdrington should
bear in mind, that however sterling his matter may be, some attention to
manner is also expected, and that the appearance, at least, of the most
valuable gems is deteriorated by an inelegant setting. Nevertheless, in
this book-making age, it may be considered highly creditable to an
author when faults of form and not of substance are the greatest with
which he can be reproached.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 2: _Spain and Spaniards in 1843._ By Captain S. E.
WIDDRINGTON, R.N., K.T.S., F.R.S., F.G.S. _A Journey across the Desert
from Ceylon to Marseilles, &c. &c._ By Major and Mrs GRIFFITH. 2 vols.
_Facts in Mesmerism, with Reasons for a Dispassionate Enquiry into it._
By the Rev. CHAUNCY HARE TOWNSHEND, A.M.]
THE SUPERFLUITIES OF LIFE.
A TALE ABRIDGED FROM TIECK.