uninterruptedly, with the exception of little intervals spent in
excursions to neighbouring places in Andalusia, and in one visit
he made to Madrid. In addition to his official occupations, he
occasionally transacted business of other kinds, and was sometimes
employed as a mercantile agent (_agente de negocios_.) Though it may
be fairly inferred that these pursuits were not the most congenial to
his taste, and though they were of a nature to repress rather than to
encourage the excursiveness of a poetic imagination, yet the genius of
Cervantes turned to fruitful account even the plodding interval of his
existence which was spent in business in Seville. That noble city, then
the emporium of the wealth of Spanish America, offered in the active
life and busy pursuits of its inhabitants a rich field for the study
of human nature. That no object of interest, no trait of character or
manners peculiar to this part of Spain, escaped the keen perception
of Cervantes is shewn in his novel of _Riconete y Cortadillo_, and
in that entitled, _El Zeloso Extremeño_. Those animated pictures of
Andalusian manners could only have been drawn from actual observation.
The peculiar tone which pervades the writings of the author’s latter
years, and which distinguishes them in a marked manner from his early
productions;--the graceful humour and delicate irony of which he had so
masterly a command, may possibly be in a great degree assignable to his
residence in the province of Andalusia, and his intercourse with its
intelligent and lively inhabitants.
An unfounded accusation, of which he was the object, during his abode
in Seville, caused him no little annoyance. He had placed in the hands
of a Sevillian merchant, a sum of money, which he had received in the
course of some transactions connected with his official duties. The
merchant had undertaken to lodge this sum in the national treasury; but
instead of so doing, he appropriated the money to himself and fled.
Poor Cervantes, who was unable to make good the sum from his own means,
was arrested and thrown into a jail on the charge of embezzlement; and
he was only liberated on obtaining security for the repayment of the
lost money.
After the close of 1598, we find, during an interval of four years,
no clear intelligence respecting the life of Cervantes. His early
biographers state, that about that period he made a visit to La Mancha,
and there wrote the first part of his _Don Quixote_,[36] that work
indeed bears such unquestionable traces of familiar acquaintance with
the localities of La Mancha, and with traditions, still preserved
there, that it cannot be doubted the author at some period of his life
must have made a lengthened sojourn in that province. But though the
time and circumstances of his visit to La Mancha may he hypothetical,
there is every reason to infer that in the interval during which his
biographers partially lose sight of him, Cervantes planned and partly
wrote his _Don Quixote_, that bright gem in the literature of Spain.
After the death of Philip II., the Court removed from Madrid to
Valladolid, and in 1603 Cervantes became a resident of the latter city.
His removal thither appears to have been influenced by two strong
motives; one was to facilitate the means of refuting certain calumnious
charges brought against him in Seville and now renewed; and the other
was to urge on the attention of the government his claim to reward
for long public service. In the first object he succeeded, but in the
second he failed; and consequently he was doomed to continue in penury.
The first part of _Don Quixote_ was published in the year 1604,[37]
and we have the authority of Cervantes himself for the fact that it
was the first book he had written since he “laid aside his pen,” on
being installed in his appointment at Seville. The eager interest with
which the work was immediately perused by all classes of readers well
warranted the remark of the Duchess; “that it came forth to the world
amidst the approbation of the public.”[38] The original idea which
forms the fundamental principle of the whole work has frequently been
the subject of critical controversy; but it appears to have been more
accurately understood and defined by Bouterwek than by any other
critic. “It has often been said,” remarks the Historian of Spanish
literature, “though the opinion has not, perhaps, been duly weighed,
that the worthy Knight of La Mancha is the immortal representative of
all men of exalted imagination, who carry the noblest enthusiasm to a
pitch of folly. This sort of exaggerated feeling may be accounted for
by the fact that with understandings in other respects sound, they
are unable to resist the fascinating power of a self-deception by
which they are led to regard themselves as beings of a superior order.
None but an experienced observer of mankind, endowed with profound
judgment,--and a genius to whose penetrating glance one of the most
interesting recesses of the human heart had been newly disclosed, could
have seized the idea of such a romance with energetic precision. No one
but a poet, and a man of wit, could have thrown so much interest into
the execution of that idea, and no one but an author who had at his
disposal all the richness and variety of one of the finest languages in
the world, could have invested such a work with that classic perfection
of style which gives the stamp of excellence to the whole.”[39]
That the _Ingenioso Hidalgo_ made his way to court, and even attracted
the notice of the monarch, is shown by an anecdote which, though
often related, may be repeated here, since it bears evidence to the
general popularity which attended the publication of the great work of
Cervantes. The anecdote is as follows: “King Philip III. standing one
day in the balcony of his palace in Madrid, observed on the opposite
bank of the Manzanares, a student who was earnestly engaged in reading
a book. At intervals the reader raised his eyes from the volume, and
striking his forehead with his hand, burst into fits of laughter, and
made other movements indicative of extreme pleasure and mirth. ‘That
student,’ observed the King, ‘is either crazy, or he is reading the
history of _Don Quixote_.’ The King’s conjecture proved to be correct,
for some of the courtiers ascertained on enquiry that it was the
masterpiece of Cervantes that occasioned the student’s merriment.”[40]
The first part of _Don Quixote_ was dedicated to Don Alonso López
de Zuñiga y Sotomayor, Duke de Bexar, a literary nobleman who was
ambitious to be thought the Mecænas of his age and who patronised
Cervantes, though without extending to the poor author the generosity
which his wealth gave him the means of exercising. It is related that
the duke was at first reluctant to receive the homage of dedication
offered by Cervantes. Under the mistaken impression that the book was
merely one of those romances of chivalry then so much in fashion, he
was unwilling to lend the sanction of his name to a work which he
supposed to be of that class. Cervantes requested permission to read a
chapter of the book to his patron. The request was granted, and with
this specimen of the work the duke was so delighted that he readily
consented to accept a dedication, which has transmitted his name to
posterity.
The misapprehension of the Duke de Bexar respecting the nature of the
work prevailed for a time among a portion of the public; and some
individuals of the educated class refrained from reading it, under the
supposition that it was merely a narrative of romantic chivalrous
adventure. Others again, and these were the unlearned, perused the
book, and were pleased with it, though without perceiving the delicate
vein of satire which constitutes its very essence and spirit. Finding
that his book was read by persons who did not understand it, and not
read by some who were capable of fully comprehending it, Cervantes
devised a plan for explaining its real nature and purpose; and for
rendering it an object of interest to those who had regarded it with
indifference. This plan he carried out in a very effective manner in
the manuscript opuscule which forms the principal subject of this
volume. Alluding to _El Buscapié_, Navarrete, the author’s able Spanish
biographer, styles it _una obra anonima, pero ingeniosa y discreta_.
Cervantes was fifty-seven years of age when he completed the first
part of _Don Quixote_; and it is a fact worthy to be mentioned, that
several of our eminent English novelists have produced their best
works in the latter part of their lives. Fielding was between forty and
fifty when he wrote _Tom Jones_. Richardson was somewhere about sixty
when he produced _Clarissa_; and Scott was upwards of forty when he
commenced _Waverley_. These facts fully verify the observation of an
able literary critic, who says--“The world, the school of the novelist,
cannot be run through like the terms of a university, and the knowledge
of its manifold varieties must be the result of long and diligent
training.”
The gleam of sunshine which dawned upon Cervantes, through the
popularity of his _Don Quixote_, was partially overclouded by the
malignity of his literary rivals. Success arrayed against him a host
of enemies, whose attacks annoyed him and disturbed his peace. Many of
these assailants were men of no literary distinction, and their censure
was characterized merely by that petty envy which finds pleasure in
depreciating superiority of every kind;--others, though actuated by
unbecoming jealousy, were nevertheless men of talent. Several of them
ranked among the most distinguished poets of the time, for example,
Góngora, Christoval, Suárez de Figueroa, and Estevan Manuel de Villegas.
The freedom of Cervantes’ literary criticisms doubtless went far to
draw upon him the vengeance of a host of poets whose vanity he had
offended. It has frequently been alleged that Lope de Vega arrayed
himself among the enemies of Cervantes; and that eminent writer is
accused of being the author of a sonnet which predicted that the works
of his great rival would speedily find their way into the kennel. But
there is every reason to doubt the justice of this imputation; Lope
de Vega renders due homage to his illustrious contemporary in several
passages of his works.
But these literary contests were not the only troubles in which
Cervantes was involved during his abode in Valladolid: an affair of
a very serious nature, in which he innocently became implicated,
must have caused him more annoyance than the assaults of his poetic
adversaries. This new misfortune was nothing less than his apprehension
on the charge of being concerned in a homicide, committed by some
unknown person in a street affray.
The particulars of this affair, extracted from the magisterial records
of Valladolid, are given at great length by the Spanish biographers
of Cervantes. They are too curious to be passed over in silence, but
without wearying the reader with the details, the following brief
recapitulation of the principal facts may be given:--
Don Gaspar de Ezpelete, a young gentleman of Navarre, and a Knight of
the Order of Santiago, was in Valladolid in the year 1605. He was a
young man much devoted to pleasure, and, according to a phrase then in
fashionable use in Spain as well as in our own country, “he followed
the Court.” He had probably been attracted to Valladolid merely by
the festivities which had a short time previously taken place there,
in honour of the birth of the young Infante, afterwards Phillip IV. On
the night of the 27th of June, 1605, Don Gaspar was proceeding through
the streets of Valladolid, after having supped with his friend, the
Marquis de Falces, when he encountered a man who accosted him rudely,
and in consequence a quarrel ensued. Both drew their swords, and after
interchanging a few passes, Don Gaspar received a severe wound, and
cried out for help.
This occurrence took place near the foot of a wooden bridge,
(_Puentecilla_), which at that period crossed the river Esgueva, and in
near proximity to the house in which Cervantes and his family resided.
This house, which was let in separate suites of apartments, must have
been of considerable size, judging from the number of its occupants,
whose names appear in the records of the judicial proceedings, now
about to be referred to. Among the fellow-lodgers of Cervantes was Doña
Luisa de Montoya, the widow of the celebrated chronicler, Esteban de
Garabay; and her two sons resided with her. On hearing the outcries
in the street, one of this lady’s sons, Don Luis de Garabay ran down
stairs, with the intention of going out to ascertain the cause of
the disturbance. Before he could reach the street, he met Don Gaspar
de Ezpelete staggering into the portal or porch of the house. He was
bleeding profusely, and holding his unsheathed sword in his hand. Don
Luis called Cervantes to assist him, and they carried the wounded
gentleman to the apartments of Doña Luisa. It was found that he had
received a severe thrust in the side. A surgeon immediately attended,
and the wound was dressed; but though every effort was made to save
him, Don Gaspar died in the course of a few days.
This affair caused much sensation in Valladolid, where it immediately
became the subject of magisterial investigation. The first evidence
submitted to the Alcalde, was the deposition of Miguel de Cervantes. It
was as follows:--
“The undersigned, Miguel de Cervantes, having been sworn in due form,
testifies that he is upwards of fifty years of age,[41] and that he
lives in one of the new houses near the _Rastro_, that he knew by sight
a Knight of the Order of Santiago, whose name, he understood was Don
Gaspar. That on the night of the 27th of June, about eleven o’clock,
the witness, being then in bed, was disturbed by a great noise in the
street; that presently he heard Don Luis de Garabay calling to him,
and begging he would come to his assistance; that on going out the
witness saw a wounded gentleman, whom he recognized to be Don Gaspar.
He was helped up stairs, and, shortly after there entered a surgeon
(_barbero_) who dressed the wound; the gentleman could not answer any
questions being scarcely able to utter a word. All this I declare to be
true, on my oath, and I hereby sign this deposition.
“MIGUEL DE CERVANTES.”[42]
No evidence of any greater importance was obtained from the testimony
of the other deponents, one of whom was Maria de Cevallos, the
maid-servant of Cervantes’ family, now consisting of himself, his wife
and daughter, with the addition of his two sisters and a niece.
In course of the investigation some circumstances transpired which, it
would seem, led to the inference that Don Gaspar, on the night when he
received his fatal wound, was on his way to visit either the daughter
or the niece of Cervantes, or some other lady residing in the same
house with them. The ground of this suspicion is not very clearly made
out in the depositions, but it was deemed a sufficient reason for
putting under arrest a considerable number of persons, among whom was
Cervantes, his daughter, his niece, and one of his sisters. They were
imprisoned for a short time, but after some further examination, they
were set at liberty and the Alcalde’s declaration honorably acquitted
them of any knowledge of the circumstances which had led to the death
of Don Gaspar de Espelete.
On being liberated from his brief but vexatious incarceration,
Cervantes formally lodged in the hands of the Alcalde, the effects
of the deceased gentleman, which had been placed in his care. They
consisted of his clothes, a little money and some jewels which he wore
on his person. These articles are curiously described in an inventory
taken by one of the Alguazils. The dress, which is stated to be the
_hábito de noche_ (evening costume) of a fashionable cavalier of the
time, was composed of an under vest of satin laced with gold, to which
was fastened the badge of the Order of Santiago, a doublet also of
satin with sleeves of taffety, black hose ornamented with embroidery,
and a cloak of a kind of mixed cloth called _mezcla_. In the pockets
of the deceased were found seventy-two reals, three small keys and
two little bags, (_bolsillos_), the one filled with relics and the
other containing a flint, a steel, and some tinder (probably used in
smoking). On his fingers were two gold rings, one set with diamonds
forming an _Ave Maria_, the other set with emeralds; suspended from his
neck was a rosary of ebony.
The court removed from Valladolid to Madrid in 1606, and shortly after
that time we find Cervantes with his family settled in the capital.
The poor author’s worldly affairs were in no respect improved, yet
nevertheless he continued to maintain his two sisters and his niece,
who had now became entirely dependent on him: of his brother Rodrigo
nothing is known subsequently to the time when he left Spain to join
the army in Flanders. Between Cervantes and his elder sister, Doña
Andrea, the most cordial affection always prevailed. That lady had
appropriated her little dowry to the pious purpose of aiding the ransom
of her two brothers from Algiers, and when in her widowhood, she fell
into straitened circumstances, Cervantes gave her and her daughter
an asylum in his home. They, together with the younger sister of
Cervantes, Doña Luisa, had lived with him and his family in Seville and
Valladolid and they accompanied him in his removal to Madrid.
With old age advancing upon him, Cervantes now tranquilly resigned
himself to the penury which fate seemed to have irrevocably assigned
as his lot. In conformity with a custom very common at that time, he
enrolled himself among the members of a religious fraternity, that
of the Franciscans of the third class; and he sought in literary
retirement to forget the world’s ingratitude. He began to prepare
for the press some of the works, which at previous periods had
occasionally occupied his pen. The _Novelas Exemplares_, (Moral or
Instructive Tales), several of which had been written during the
author’s residence in Seville were published in 1612. These _Novelas_,
which have gained for Cervantes the title of the Boccacio of Spain,
are romances in miniature, some serious, some comic, and all written
in a light conversational style. No compositions of a similar kind had
previously existed in Spanish literature; and the author, to use his
own expression, opened a path (_abierto camino_) for other writers to
pursue.
Cervantes, who was prone to comment on his own works, makes the
following remarks in alluding to the _Novelas Exemplares_. “I was
the first to write novels in the Spanish language; for though many
novels have been printed in Spanish, they have all been translated
from foreign languages. These are my own: I have neither copied nor
stolen them. They were engendered in my fancy, brought forth by my
pen; and they will grow in the fostering arms of the press.”[43] The
_Novelas Exemplares_ were speedily followed by the publication of the
_Viaje del Parnaso_ (Journey to Parnassus), a work which is regarded
as one of the most extraordinary productions of its author. It is a
satirical poem directed against the false pretenders to the honours of
the Spanish Parnassus. In a prose Appendix (_Adjunta_) to this poem,
Cervantes directs attention to some of his early dramatic writings.
He complains of the ingratitude of actors and of the misjudgment of
audiences, and he mentions in commendatory terms some of the plays he
had written at a recent period. He was evidently desirous once more
to try his fortune as a dramatic author; and above all to have his
plays successfully performed in the theatres of the capital. But the
managers positively declined to bring his dramas upon the stage; and
in the hope of turning them to some little profit, he offered a few to
the bookseller Villaroel for publication. Villaroel at first hesitated,
but at length offered a trifle for the manuscripts, and the result
was the publication of the _Ocho Comedias y Entremeses_,[44] with the
celebrated Preface.
About this time the appearance of an extraordinary literary production
created a great sensation throughout Spain. This was a pretended
continuation of _Don Quixote_, by a writer who assumed the name of
Avellaneda. This production though not absolutely devoid of talent
has received from some critics more approbation than it deserves. One
marked difference may be noticed as existing between the great work
of Cervantes and the spurious production of his imitator; it is that
the wild fancies of _Don Quixote_ are prepared by circumstances likely
to lead to them, in a mind subject to such aberrations as that of the
Knight of La Mancha; whereas Avellaneda’s hero plunges into all sorts
of extravagance without any sufficient cause. It is merely a narrative
of marvellous incidents, of a nature calculated to gratify puerile
taste; but the ingenuity requisite to please the intelligent reader
is totally wanting. The work was translated into French by Le Sage,
who, as Mr. Prescott justly observes “has given a substantial value to
gems of little price in Castilian literature, by the brilliancy of his
setting.”[45] The real name of the author of this literary imposture,
was never discovered. He was supposed to be an Arragonian priest.
Instead of indulging in idle complaint or bitter invective, Cervantes
nobly resented this injury by producing the second part of his _Don
Quixote_. This second part, which was published in 1615, obtained even
a greater share of public approbation than that which had greeted the
first part. The proceeds derived from the sale, could not have been
inconsiderable, and must have proved an acceptable addition to the
author’s pecuniary resources. It is also ascertained that at this
period his income was augmented by the liberality of the Count de Lemos
and the Archbishop of Toledo, whose friendship Cervantes, amidst all
his misfortunes, had secured; and there appears reason to hope that his
latter years were in some degree exempt from the struggles which at
various times embittered the earlier periods of his life.
The leisure which his improved circumstances afforded was employed in
completing some of his unfinished works, and in writing those which he
had previously only sketched in outline. He gave the finishing touch
to his _Galatea_, and he produced several poetic works, of which the
romance of _Persiles y Sigismunda_ is the only one preserved. This
poem, an avowed imitation of the style of _Heliodorus_, was preferred
by the author himself to any of his other works; a preference at
variance with the unanimous judgment of literary criticism. But with
all its faults, its paramount beauties must be admitted;--and the
writer, who at the age of sixty-eight could produce so glowing a
creation of poetic fancy, may, to borrow Calderón’s simile, be likened
to a volcano, in which, beneath a cap of snow, flow streams of fire.
Cervantes dedicated _Persiles_ to his patron, the Count de Lemos, in
a _prólogo_ or preface, which is one of the most graceful pieces of
writing its author ever produced.
This poem was finished in the spring of 1616, at which time the
declining health of Cervantes began to excite the alarm of his friends.
Hoping to derive benefit from change of air, he occasionally made
visits to Esquivias, where his wife’s family still resided. He went
on one of those excursions only a few days prior to his death; and
he himself related that whilst returning home to Madrid, in company
with some friends, they were overtaken by a student, who joined in
their conversation, and they all rode on together. This student, on
recognising Cervantes, greeted him with the titles of, “Pleasant
writer! the favourite of the Muses!” (_¡Escritor alegre! ¡el regocijo
de las Musas!_). In the course of conversation, Cervantes acquainted
the student that he was suffering from dropsy, and that he feared
the disorder would speedily reach a fatal crisis, adding, as it were
prophetically, he thought he should not live beyond the following
Sunday.
The malady speedily assumed so formidable an aspect as to preclude
all hope of recovery. On the 18th of April, 1616, Cervantes received
extreme unction, and on the day following he finished the dedicatory
preface to _Persiles_. When about to depart on the long journey of
death, his memory reverted to some old Spanish coplas, which commence
with the words, “_Puesto ya el pie en el estribo_,” (with one foot
already in the stirrup). To these quaint old lines, he playfully
alludes in the dedication of his last work, where, addressing the Count
de Lemos, he observes:--“These old coplas, so popular in their day,
may perhaps come opportunely into this epistle, which I might commence
almost in the same words, saying--
Puesto ya el pie en el estribo,
Con las ansias de la muerte,
Gran Señor, ésta te escribo.[46]
“Yesterday they gave me the extreme unction, and to-day I write this.”