life of the Magdalen. The preachers who wish to confess souls that are
afflicted with horror at their sins, represent to them this woman as one
of the most immodest and dissolute that ever existed, to whom, however,
God has shown mercy. And, upon this same prejudice, which is altogether
imaginary, has been founded a reason why the Son of God having been
raised from the dead, appeared to Mary Magdalen before any other person;
for, say they, it is because she had greater need of consolation, having
been a greater sinner than the others.—He who wrote the Practice of
Piety places her with the greatest offenders, even with Manasses, one of
the wickedest of men: and to authorise this error the more, it has been
inserted in the Bible itself. For the argument to the 7th of Luke in the
English version says, that the woman whose sins were in greater number
than those of others,—the woman, who till then had lived a wicked and
infamous life, was Mary Magdalen. But, _1st_, The text gives no name to
this sinner: Where then has it been found? Which of the Evangelists, or
what other authentic writing, has taught us the proper name or surname of
the woman? For she who poured an ointment upon Christ (Matth. xxvi. John,
xii.) was not this sinner, nor Mary Magdalen, but a sister of Lazarus.
All these circumstances show that they are two different stories, two
divers actions, performed at divers times, in divers places, and by
divers persons. _2dly_, Where do we find that Mary Magdalen ever anointed
the feet of our Saviour? _3dly_, Where do we find that Mary Magdalen
had been a woman of evil life? The gospel tells us that she had been
tormented with seven devils or evil spirits, an affliction which might
happen to the holiest person in the world: But we do not see even the
shadow of a word there which marks her with infamy. Why then do we still
adhere to an invention not only fabulous, but injurious to the memory of
a woman illustrious in piety? We ought as well to beware of bearing false
witness against the dead as against the living.
“It is remarkable that neither the sinner (Luke, vii.) nor the adultress
who is spoken of in the 8th of John, are named in the sacred history, any
more than the thief who was converted on the cross. There are particular
reasons, beyond a doubt, and we may in part conjecture them, why the Holy
Spirit has abstained from relating the names of these great sinners,
although converted. It is not then for us to impose them; still less to
appropriate them to persons whom the Scripture does not accuse of any
enormous sins.”
* * * * *
_That Egyptian penitent._—X. p. 97.
St. Mary the Egyptian. This is one of those religious romances which may
probably have been written to edify the people without any intention of
deceiving them. Some parts of the legend are beautifully conceived. An
English Romanist has versified it in eight books, under the title of the
Triumph of the Cross, or Penitent of Egypt. Birmingham, 1776. He had
the advantage of believing his story,—which ought to have acted like
inspiration.
* * * * *
_The dreadful tale!_—X. p. 97.
_Amava el Rey la desigual Florinda
En ser gentil, y desdeñosa dama,
Que quiere amor, que quando un Rey se rinda
Desdenes puedan resistir su llama.
No fue de Grecia mas hermosa y linda
La que le dio por su desdicha fama,
Ni desde el Sagitario a Cynosura
Se vio en tanto rigor tanta hermosura._
_Creciò el amor como el desden crecia;
Enojose el poder; la resistencia
Se fue aumentando, pero no podia
Sufrir un Rey sujeta competencia:
Estendiose à furor la cortesia,
Los terminos passo de la paciencia,
Haziendo los mayores desengaños
Las horas meses, y los meses años._
_Cansado ya Rodrigo de que fuesse
Teorica el amor, y intentos vanos,
Sin que demostracion alguna huviesse,
Puso su gusto en pratica de manos:
Pues quien de tanto amor no le tuviesse
Con los medios mas faciles y humanos,
Como tendria entonces sufrimiento
De injusta fuerça en el riqor violento?_
_Ansias, congojas, lagrimas y vozes,
Amenazas, amores, fuerça, injuria,
Pruevan, pelean, llegan, dan ferozes
Al que ama, rabia, al que aborrece, furia:
Discurren los pronosticos velozes,
Que ofrece el pensamiento aquien injuria;
Rodrigo teme, y ama, y fuerça, y ella
Quanto mas se resiste, està mas bella._
_Ya viste de jazmines el desmayo
Las eludas mexillas siempre hermosas,
Ya la verguença del clavel de Mayo,
Alexandrinas, y purpureas rosas:
Rodrigo ya como encendido rayo,
Que no respeta las sagradas cosas,
Ni se ahoga en sus lagrimas, ni mueve
Porque se abrasse, o se convierta en nieve._
_Rindiose al fin la femenil flaqueza
Al varonil valor y atrevimiento;
Quedò sin lustre la mayor belleza
Que es de una casta Virgen ornamento:
Siguio à la injusta furia la tibieza.
Apareciose el arrepentimiento,
Que viene como sombra del pecado,
Principios del castigo del culpado._
_Fue con Rodrigo este mortal disgusto,
Y quedò con Florinda la vengança,
Que le propuso el echo mas injusto
Que de muger nuestra memoria alcança:
Dizese que no ver en el Rey gusto,
Sino de tanto amor tanta mudança
Fue la ocasion, que la muger gozada
Mas siente aborrecida que forçada._
Jerusalen Conquistada, l. 6. ff. 132.
Lope de Vega quotes scripture in proof of the opinion expressed in this
last couplet. 2 Kings, ch. xiii.
Old Barret tells the story as Ancient Pistol would have done:—
“In Ulit’s time there regalized in Spain
One Roderick, king from the Gothians race’t;
Into whose secret heart with silent strain
Instretcht the ’sturber of hart pudike chast,
Him enamouravizing of a piece,
A piece by Nature quaintly symmetrized,
Enfayred with beauty as Helen fair of Greece:
Count Julian’s daughter of bed-wedlockized,
Ycleaped Caba; who in court surshined
The rest, as Hesperus the dimmed stars.
This piece the king in his Love’s-closet shrined,
Survicting her by wile, gold, gems, or forced jars.”
It is thus related in the fabulous Chronicle:—“_Despues que el Rey ovo
descubierto su coraçon a la Cava, no era dia que la no requiriesse una
vez o dos, y ella se defendia con buena razon: empero al cabo como el Rey
no pensava cosa como en esto, un dia en la siesta embio con un donzel
suyo por la Cava; y ella vino a su mandado; y como en essa hora no avia
en toda su camara otro ninguno sino ellos todos tres, el cumplio con
ella todo lo que puso. Empero tanto sabed que si ella quisiera dar bozes
que bien fuera oyda de la reyna, mas callosse con lo que el Rey quiso
fazer_.”—P. 1. c. 172.
In this fabulous Chronicle Roderick’s fall is represented as the work of
his stars:—“_Y aunque a las vezes pensava el gran yerro en que tocava,
y en la maldad que su coraçon avia cometido, tanto era el ardor que
tenia que lo olvidava todo, y esto acarreava la malandança que le avia
de venir, y la destruycion de Espana que avia de aver comienço para se
hazer; y quiero vos dezir que su constelacion no podia escusar que esto
no passasse assi; y ya Dios lo avia dexado en su discrecion; y el por
cosa que fuesse on se podia arredrar que no topasse en ello._”—P. 1. c.
164.
“Certes,” says the fabulous Chronicler, “he was a Lord of greater bounty
than ever had been seen before his time.—He used to say, that if all the
world were his, he would rather lose it than one friend; for the world
was a thing, which if it were lost, might be recovered; but a friend
once lost could never be recovered for all the treasure in the world.
And because he was thus bountiful, all those of Spain were likewise; and
they had the fame of being the most liberal men in the world, especially
those of the lineage of the Goths. Never a thing was asked at his hands,
whether great or small, to which he could say no; and never king nor
other great lord asked aid of him that he denied, but gave them of his
treasures and of his people as much as they needed. And doubt not, but
that if fortune had not ordered that in his time the lineage of the Goths
should be cut off, and Spain destroyed, there was no king or emperor whom
he would not have brought into subjection; and if the whole world ought
to be placed in the power of one man, (speaking of worldly things,) there
never was, nor will be, a man deserving to possess it, save he alone. But
as envy is the beginning of all evil, and saw how great was the goodness
of this king, she never rested till she had brought about that things
should be utterly reversed, even till she had destroyed him. Oh what
great damage to the world will it be when God shall consent that so much
bounty, and courage, and frankness, and loyalty should be destroyed for
ever! All nations ought to clad themselves in wretched weeds one day in
the week to mourn for the flower of the world, and especially ought the
people of Spain to make such mourning.”—_Chronica del Rey Don Rodrigo_,
p. 1. c. 55.
And again, when the last battle is approaching, he praises the king:—“_Y
el Rey era el mas esforçado hombre de coraçon que nunca se oyo dezir: y
el mas franco de todo lo que podia aver; y preciava mas cobrar amigos
que no quanto tesoro pudiesse estar en su reyno, hasta el dia que creyo
el consejo del traydor del conde Don Julian; y a maravilla era buen
cavallero que al tiempo que el no era rey, no se hallava cavallero que a
la su bondad se ygualasse, y tanto sabed que sino por estas malandanças
que le vinieron, nunca cavallero al mundo de tales condiciones fue; que
nunca a el vino chico ni grande que del se partiesse despagado a culpa
suya_.”—P. 1. c. 213.
The manner in which Florinda calls upon her father to revenge her is
curiously expressed by Lope de Vega:—
_Al escrivirle tiemblan pluma y mano,
Llega el agravio, la piedad retira,
Pues quanto escrive la vengança, tanto
Quiere borrar de la verguença el llanto.
No son menos las letras que soldados,
Los ringlones yleras y esquadrones,
Que al son de los suspiros van formados
Haciendo las distancias las diciones:
Los mayores caracteres, armados
Navios, tiendas, maquinas, pendones;
Los puntos, los incisos, los acentos
Capitanes, Alferez y Sargentos._
_Breve processo escrive, aunque el sucesso
Significar quexosa determina,
Pero en tan breve causa, en tal processo
La perdicion de España se fulmina._
Jerusalen Conquistada, l. 6. ff. 138.
I remember but one of the old poets who has spoken with compassion of
Florinda: It is the Portugueze Bras Garcia Mascarenhas, a writer who,
with many odd things in his poem, has some fine ones.
_Refresca em Covilham a gente aflita,
Nam se sabe que nome entam a honrava;
Muyto deposis foy Cava Julia dita,
Por nascer nella a desditada Cava.
Nam a deslustra, antes a acredita
Filha que a honra mais que hum Rey presava;
Hespanha culpe a força sem desculpa,
Nam culpe a bella, que nam teve culpa._
Viriato Tragico, Canto ii. St. 118.
* * * * *
_Wamba’s wars._—XII. p. 110.
In the valuable history of this king by a contemporary writer, the
following character of the French is given:—
“_Hujus igitur gloriosis temporibus, Galliarum terra altrix perfidiæ
infami denotatur elogio, quæ utique inæstimabili infidelitatis febre
vexata, genita a se infidelium depasceret membra. Quid enim non in illa
crudele vel lubricum? ubi conjuratorum conciliabulum, perfidiæ signum,
obscœnitas operum, fraus negotiorum, vænale judicium, et quod pejus
his omnibus est, contra ipsum Salvatorem nostrum et Dominum, Judæorum
blasphemantium prostibulum habebatur. Hæc enim terra suo, ut ita dixerim,
partu, perditionis suæ sibimet præparavit excidium, et ex ventris sui
generatione viperea eversionis suæ nutrivit decipulam. Etenim dum multo
jam tempore his febrium diversitatibus ageretur, subito in ea unius
nefandi capitis prolapsione turbo infidelitatis adsurgit, et conscensio
perfidiæ per unum ad plurimos transit._”—S. Julian, Hist. Wambæ, §
5.—Espana Sagrada, 6. 544.
* * * * *
_The bath, the bed,
The vigil._—XII. p. 111.
The Partidas have some curious matter upon this subject.
“Cleanliness makes things appear well to those who behold them, even
as propriety makes them seemly, each in its way. And therefore the
ancients held it good that knights should be made cleanly. For even as
they ought to have cleanliness within them in their manners and customs,
so ought they to have it without in their garments, and in the arms
which they wear. For albeit their business is hard and cruel, being
to strike and to slay; yet notwithstanding they may not so far forego
their natural inclinations, as not to be pleased with fair and goodly
things, especially when they wear them. For on one part they give joy and
delight, and on the other make them fearlessly perform feats of arms,
because they are aware that by them they are known, and that because of
them men take more heed to what they do. Therefore, for this reason,
cleanliness and propriety do not diminish the hardihood and cruelty which
they ought to have. Moreover, as is aforesaid, that which appears without
is the signification of what they have in their inclinations within. And
therefore the ancients ordained that the squire, who is of noble lineage,
should keep vigil the day before he receives knighthood. And after
mid-day the squires shall bathe him, and wash his head with their hands,
and lay him in the goodliest bed that may be. And there the knights shall
draw on his hose, and clothe him with the best garments that can be had.
And when the cleansing of the body has been performed, they shall do as
much to the soul, taking him to the church, where he is to labour in
watching and beseeching mercy of God, that he will forgive him his sins,
and guide him so that he may demean himself well in that order which
he is about to receive; to the end that he may defend his law, and do
all other things according as it behoveth him, and that he would be his
defender and keeper in all dangers and in all difficulties. And he ought
to bear in mind how God is powerful above all things, and can show his
power in them when he listeth, and especially in affairs of arms. For in
his hand are life and death, to give and to take away, and to make the
weak strong, and the strong weak. And when he is making this prayer, he
must be with his knees bent, and all the rest of the time on foot, as
long as he can bear it. For the vigil of knights was not ordained to be a
sport, nor for any thing else, except that they, and those who go there,
should pray to God to protect them, and direct them in the right way, and
support them, as men who are entering upon the way of death.”—_Part. ii.
Tit. 21. Ley 13._
“When the vigil is over, as soon as it is day, he ought first to hear
mass, and pray God to direct all his feats to his service. And afterwards
he who is to knight him shall come and ask him, if he would receive the
order of knighthood; and if he answereth yea, then shall it be asked him,
if he will maintain it as it ought to be maintained; and when he shall
have promised to do this, that knight shall fasten on his spurs, or order
some other knight to fasten them on, according to what manner of man he
may be, and the rank which he holdeth. And this they do to signify, that
as a knight putteth spurs on the right and on the left, to make his horse
gallop straight forward, even so he ought to let his actions be straight
forward, swerving on neither side. And then shall his sword be girt on
over his _brial_.—Formerly it was ordained that when noble men were made
knights, they should be armed at all points, as if they were about to
do battle. But it was not held good that their heads should be covered,
for they who cover their heads do so for two reasons: the one to hide
something there which hath an ill look, and for that reason they may well
cover them with any fair and becoming covering. The other reason is, when
a man hath done some unseemly thing of which he is ashamed. And this in
no wise becometh noble knights. For when they are about to receive so
noble and so honourable a thing as knighthood, it is not fitting that
they should enter into it with any evil shame, neither with fear. And
when they shall have girded on his sword, they shall draw it from out the
scabbard, and place it in his right hand, and make him swear these three
things: first, That he shall not fear to die for his faith, if need be;
secondly, For his natural Lord; thirdly, For his country; and when he
hath sworn this, then shall the blow on the neck be given him, in order
that these things aforesaid may come into his mind, saying, God guard him
to his service, and let him perform all that he hath promised; and after
this, he who hath conferred the order upon him, shall kiss him, in token
of the faith and peace and brotherhood which ought to be observed among
knights. And the same ought all the knights to do who are in that place,
not only at that time, but whenever they shall meet with him during that
whole year.”—_Part. ii. Tit. 21. Ley 14._
“The gilt spurs which the knights put on have many significations; for
the gold, which is so greatly esteemed, he puts upon his feet, denoting
thereby, that the knight shall not for gold commit any malignity or
treason, or like deed, that would detract from the honour of knighthood.
The spurs are sharp, that they may quicken the speed of the horse; and
this signifies that the knight ought to spur and prick on the people, and
make them virtuous; for one knight with his virtues is sufficient to make
many people virtuous, and on the other hand, he ought to prick a perverse
people to make them fearful.”—_Tirante il Blanco_, p. 1. C. 19. ff. 44.
The Hermit reads to Tirante a chapter from the _Arbor de battaglie_
explaining the origin of knighthood. The world, it is there said, was
corrupted, when God, to the intent that he might be loved, honoured,
served, and feared once more, chose out from every thousand men one who
was more amiable, more affable, more wise, more loyal, more strong, more
noble-minded, more virtuous, and of better customs than all the others:
And then he sought among all beasts for that which was the goodliest, and
the swiftest, and which could bear the greatest fatigue, and might be
convenient for the service of man; and he chose the horse, and gave him
to this man who was chosen from the thousand; and for this reason he was
called _cavallero_, because the best animal was thus joined to the most
noble man. And when Romulus founded Rome, he chose out a thousand young
men to be knights, and _furno nominati militi porche mille furono fatti
in un tempo cavalleri_.—P. 1. C. 14. ff. 40.
The custom which some kings had of knighting themselves is censured by
the Partidas.—P. ii. T. 21. L. 11. It is there said, that there must be
one to give, and another to receive the order. And a knight can no more
knight, than a priest can ordain himself.
“When the Infante Hernando of Castile was chosen king of Aragon, he
knighted himself on his coronation day:—_De que tots los Barons nobles ho
tengeren una gran maravella com el matex se feu cavaller, qui segons los
dessus dits deyen nenguno pot esser cavaller, sino dones nos fa cavaller
de ma de cavaller qui hage lorde de cavalleria_.”—Tomich. C. 47. ff. 68.
“The qualifications for a knight, cavallero, or horse-soldier, in the
barbarous stage of society, were three: _1st_, That he should be able
to endure fatigue, hardship, and privations. _2dly_, That he should
have been used to strike, that his blows might be the more deadly.
_3dly_, That he should be bloody-minded, and rob, hack, and destroy the
enemy without compunction. The persons, therefore, who were preferred,
were mountaineers, accustomed to hunting,—carpenters, blacksmiths,
stone-cutters, and butchers. But it being found that such persons would
sometimes run away, it was then discovered that they who were chosen for
cavaliers ought to have a natural sense of shame. And for this reason it
was appointed that they should be men of family.”—_Partida, ii. T. 21. L.
2. Vegetius, l. 1. c. 7._
The privileges of knighthood were at one time so great, that if the goods
of a knight were liable to seizure, they could not be seized where he
or his wife were present, nor even where his cloak or shield was to be
found.—_Part. ii. Tit. 21. Ley 23._
* * * * *
_The coated scales of steel
Which o’er the tunic to his knees depend._—XII. p. 111.
Canciani (T. 3. p. 34.) gives a representation of Roland from the
porch of the Cathedral at Verona, which is supposed to have been built
about the beginning of the ninth century. The figure is identified
by the inscription on the sword, ... _Du-rin-dar-da_. The _lorica_,
which Canciani explains, _Vestica bellica maculis ferreis contexta_,
is illustrated by this figure. It is a coat or frock of _scale_-mail
reaching to the knees, and with half sleeves. The only hand which appears
is unarmed, as far as the elbow. The right leg also is unarmed, the other
leg and foot are in the same sort of armour as the coat. The end of a
loose garment appears under the mail. The shield reaches from the chin to
the middle of the leg, it is broad enough at the top to cover the breast
and shoulder, and slopes gradually off to the form of a long oval.
* * * * *
_At every saddle-bow
A gory head was hung._—XIV. p. 127.
This picture frequently occurs in the Spanish Chronicles. Sigurd the
elder, Earl of Orkney, owed his death to a like custom. “Suddenly
clapping spurs to his horse, as he was returning home in triumph,
bearing, like each of his followers, one of these bloody spoils, a large
front tooth in the mouth of the head which hung dangling by his side, cut
the calf of his leg,—the wound mortified, and he died.—The Earl must
have been bare-legged.”—_Torfæus, quoted in Edmonston’s View of the
Zetland Islands_, vol. i. p. 33.
* * * * *
_In reverence to the priestly character._—XV. p. 135.
“At the synod of Mascou, laymen were enjoined to do honour to the
honourable clergy by humbly bowing the head, and uncovering it, if they
were both on horseback, and by alighting also if the clergyman were
a-foot.”—_Pierre de Marca._ _Hist. de Bearn_, l. i. ch. 18. § 2.
* * * * *
_Whom not the spoils of Atabalipa
Could satisfy insatiate._—XVI. p. 142.
Hernando de Soto,—the history of whose expedition to Florida by the Inca
Garcilaso, is one of the most delightful books in the Spanish language.
* * * * *
_Nor wicker storehouse for the autumnal grain._—XVI. p. 144.
“Morales (8. 23. 3.), speaking of the Asturians, mentions with wonder
their chairs, furniture, and granaries of basket-work, ... _las sillas y
otras cosas de servicio recias y firmas que hacen entretexidas de mimbres
y varas de avellano. Y aun a me no me espantaba en aquella tierra tanto
esto como ver los graneros, que ellos llaman los horreos, fabricados
desta misma obra de varas entretexidas, y tan tapidas y de tanta firmeza,
que sufren gran carga como buenas paredes._”
* * * * *
_Covadonga._—XVI. p. 146.
The valley of Covadonga is thus described by the Conde de Saldueña;—and
the description is a fair specimen of his poem;—
_Yace de Asturias, donde el Sol infante
Sus montes con primeras luces baña,
De Covadonga el sitio, que triunfante
Cuna fue en que nacio la insigne España
Vierte en el Sela liquidos cristales
Con Buena y Deba, que de la montaña
Deben la vida a la fragosa copa,
A quien la antiguedad llamò de Europa._
_Aqui la juventud de un bello llano
Compite à flores, luces de la esphera;
Y burlando el Invierno y el Verano
Eterna vive en el la Primavera:
Sobre sus glebas se derrama ufano
El prodigioso cuerno de la Fiera
De Amaltea, y aromas, y colores
Confunden los matices con olores._
_Robustos troncos, con pobladas ramas
Vuelven el sitio rustica Alameda,
Y del Sol no permiten a las llamas
Lo espeso penetrar de la Arboleda:
Pierden sus rayos las ardientes famas,
Pues la frondosidad opuesta veda
La luz al dia, y denso verde muro
Crepusculo le viste al ayre puro._
_Sigeiendo la ribera de Peonia
Al Oriente Estival, y algo inclinado
A la parte que mira al medio dia,
Otro valle se vè mas dilatado:
A la derecha de esta selva umbria
Reynazo corre, que precipitado
Va à dar à Bueña en liquidos abrazos
Su pobre vena en cristalinos lazos._
_Sin passar de Reynazo el successivo
Curso, dexando presto su torrente,
Con el cristal se encuentra fugitivo
De Deba, a quien la Cueba dio la fuente:
La admiracion aqui raro motivo
Vè, formando la senda su corriente,
Pues lo estrecho del sitio peñascoso
Hace camino del licor undoso._
_Hecho serpiente Deva del camino
En circulo se enrosca tortuoso,
Vomitando veneno cristalino
En el liquido aljofar proceloso:
En las orillas con vivaz destino,
En tosigo se vuelve, que espumoso
Inficiona lethal al pie ligero,
Quando le pisa incanto el passagero._