by Geoffrey Crayon, Author Of The Sketch Book, &c.
What! Washington Irving, or, as the title-page will have it, Geoffrey
Crayon, in SPAIN, wandering up and down the deserted halls of the
Alhambra, and weaving its legendary lore with thick coming fancies
into sketches of enchanting interest. The origin of the work, (the
_New Sketch Book_,) as it has been inappropriately styled, is told in
the dedication to David Wilkie, Esq., R.A. Mr. Irving and the great
artist just named were fellow travellers on the continent a few years
since. In their rambles about some of the old cities of Spain, they
were more than once struck with scenes and incidents which reminded
them of passages in the "Arabian Nights." The painter urged Mr.
Irving to write something that should illustrate those peculiarities,
"something in the Haroun Alrasched style" that should have a dash of
that Arabian spice which pervades every thing in Spain. The author set
to work, _con amore,_ and has produced two goodly volumes, with a
few "Arabesque" sketches and tales founded on popular traditions. His
_study_ was THE ALHAMBRA, which must have inspired him for his task.
To quote his own words: "how many legends and traditions, true and
fabulous; how many songs and romances, Spanish and Arabian, of love
and war, and chivalry, are associated with this romantic pile." The
Governor of the Alhambra gave Mr. Irving and his companion, permission
to occupy his vacant apartments in the Moorish Palace. "My companion,"
says the author, "was soon summoned away by the duties of his station;
but I remained for several months, spellbound in the old enchanted
pile."
Such is the plan or frame of the work before us. It has induced us to
select the Embellishments on the annexed page; and their description,
from so graceful a pencil as that of the author, will, we hope,
bespeak the favour of the reader.
"The Alhambra is an ancient fortress or castellated palace of the
Moorish kings of Granada, where they held dominion over this their
boasted terrestrial paradise, and made their last stand for empire in
Spain. The palace occupies but a portion of the fortress, the walls of
which, studded with towers, stretch irregularly round the whole crest
of a lofty hill that overlooks the city, and forms a spur of the
Sierra Nevada, or snowy mountain.
"In the time of the Moors, the fortress was capable of containing
an army of forty thousand men within its precincts, and served
occasionally as a stronghold of the sovereigns against their
rebellious subjects. After the kingdom had passed into the hands
of the Christians, the Alhambra continued a royal demesne, and was
occasionally inhabited by the Castilian monarchs. The Emperor Charles
V. began a sumptuous palace within its walls, but was deterred from
completing it by repeated shocks of earthquakes. The last royal
residents were Philip V. and his beautiful queen Elizabetta of Parma,
early in the eighteenth century. Great preparations were made for
their reception. The palace and gardens were placed in a state of
repair, and a new suite of apartments erected, and decorated by
artists brought from Italy. The sojourn of the sovereigns was
transient, and after their departure the palace once more became
desolate. Still the place was maintained with some military state. The
governor held it immediately from the crown, its jurisdiction extended
down into the suburbs of the city, and was independent of the captain
general of Granada. A considerable garrison was kept up, the governor
had his apartments in the front of the old Moorish palace, and never
descended into Granada without some military parade. The fortress, in
fact, was a little town of itself, having several streets of houses
within its walls, together with a Franciscan convent and a parochial
church.
"The desertion of the court, however, was a fatal blow to the
Alhambra. Its beautiful halls became desolate, and some of them fell
to ruin; the gardens were destroyed, and the fountains ceased to play.
By degrees the dwellings became filled up with a loose and lawless
population; contrabandistas, who availed themselves of its independent
jurisdiction to carry on a wide and daring course of smuggling, and
thieves and rogues of all sorts, who made this their place of refuge
from whence they might depredate upon Granada and its vicinity. The
strong arm of government at length interfered: the whole community was
thoroughly sifted; none were suffered to remain but such as were of
honest character, and had legitimate right to a residence; the greater
part of the houses were demolished and a mere hamlet left, with
the parochial church and the Franciscan convent. During the recent
troubles in Spain, when Granada was in the hands of the French,
the Alhambra was garrisoned by their troops, and the palace was
occasionally inhabited by the French commander. With that enlightened
taste which has ever distinguished the French nation in their
conquests, this monument of Moorish elegance and grandeur was rescued
from the absolute ruin and desolation that were overwhelming it. The
roofs were repaired, the saloons and galleries protected from the
weather, the gardens cultivated, the water courses restored, the
fountains once more made to throw up their sparkling showers; and
Spain may thank her invaders for having preserved to her the most
beautiful and interesting of her historical monuments.
"On the departure of the French they blew up several towers of the
outer wall, and left the fortifications scarcely tenable. Since that
time the military importance of the post is at an end. The garrison is
a handful of invalid soldiers, whose principal duty is to guard some
of the outer towers, which serve occasionally as a prison of state;
and the governor, abandoning the lofty hill of the Alhambra, resides
in the centre of Granada, for the more convenient dispatch of his
official duties.