THE ESCORIAL, _May 1, 1853_.
On this busy, bustling day at home, I find myself wandering quietly
and solitary through the untenanted gorgeous palace of the Escorial,
with its minute combinations of convent, royal cemetery, and residence
of the former kings of Spain. My guide is nearly seventy years of age,
and has been blind for the last fifty-six years; yet he is active,
mounts the cupola through the numerous passages, and describes the
particular localities and points of view. This immense edifice measures
seven hundred and forty-four feet by five hundred and eighty feet, and
the entire square covers more than three thousand feet. In the centre
is the chapel, surmounted by a dome. There are, so says the guide,
sixty-three fountains, twelve cloisters, eighty staircases, sixteen
court yards, and three thousand feet of fresco work, commenced in 1553,
and finished in 1584.
The chapel has three naves three hundred and twenty feet long, two
hundred and thirty feet wide, and three hundred and twenty feet to the
top of the cupola. It is built of granite, in fine proportion, and
superb for its simplicity, with richly decorated altars of jasper, and
various marble and bronze gilt statues of great size. The painting,
statuary, frescoes, and other ornaments are in proportion, to give
you a faint idea of this immense work. Philip II., half monk, half
king, died here in 1598, boasting that from the foot of a mountain he
governed half the world with a scrap of paper. The lavish expenditure
of millions upon millions could only have been supplied from newly
discovered America.
From Madrid the distance is eight leagues by diligence, most of the
way over a barren, desert country, where the immense glowing piles are
discovered, at the base of the mountain, with its small village which
is resorted to in summer by the citizens of Madrid, to escape the
heat, glare, and dust of the city. The royal family never visit here,
as it is the resting-place of their deceased relatives. The lawns,
gardens, and promenades are pretty, as is also a miniature country
house, ornamented with marble arabesques, rich paintings, and all the
paraphernalia of a palace. Philip II. accumulated some seven thousand
relics, which are preserved in five hundred and fifteen shrines. The
French carried off much of the bullion of gold, but the exhibition
is still sufficient to satisfy the most fastidious. The Pantheon, or
burial-place, is a vaulted chamber under the high altar, approached
by green and yellow colored jasper staircases, by torchlight; it is
an octagon-formed chamber, thirty-six feet wide, and equally high,
where in niches repose the kings and mothers of kings, the sexes being
on opposite sides. The hosts of monks who were formerly here under
the patronage of the king, no longer exist; and the services to the
departed dead, and the few living who repair here, are performed by a
limited number of priests.
Since I last wrote you from Madrid, I have visited the antiquated
city of Toledo, and the summer residence of the royalty at Aranjuez.
From Madrid to Toledo is twelve leagues, over a dull, dusty road,
with straggling villages; among the number Illescas, which merits
its reputation of having served up a stewed cat to Gil Blas, instead
of a hare; but on approaching the venerable and imposing old city,
the country improves, and is tolerably cultivated. It is built upon
an almost impregnable rock of seven hills, and is two thousand four
hundred feet above the level of the sea; the river Tayos rolls through
the gorge which separates it from the opposite eminence; it has only
one approach by the land side, which is protected by mammoth towers
and castellated walls. The diligence enters on the outside road,
which is of modern construction, and can only pass through the old
gates and the narrow and circuitous lanes by means of cutting places
for the form of the hubs to pass. It was a relief to escape from the
heat, and glare, and dust of Madrid, and find oneself in the elevated,
fresh, and invigorating atmosphere of this old city, with its shaded
terraces and huts, protected from the sun’s rays by tall, substantial,
Moorish-like houses, with clean courts, not unlike those of Seville;
and although it was gloomy and tomb-like, its dilapidated population
having dwindled down from two hundred thousand to fifteen thousand,
it was an agreeable change from the noisy, bustling capital. My eyes
having suffered from the dust, which in Madrid, at this season of
the year, amounts to an epidemic, I wore blue goggles. I went quite
opportunely, however, to see the town in convention, as the following
day the ex-queen Christina and daughters came to see the Cardinal, her
confessor. It being her first visit to this old city, it was quite
a festival day; the priests were in full regalia, and the troops
under arms; high mass was performed in the old cathedral; this, and
the firing of cannon from the towering platform of the Alcazar, the
banners, curtains, and counterpanes suspended from the balconies of
the curious antique Plaza, gave the old city an animated appearance.
Christina, in her gracious, smiling, and captivating manner, responded
to the salutations of the people, who at heart despise her for her
intriguing and audacious disposition. She was remarkably well, and
appears nearly as young as when I saw her in Rome during her exile.
In the heart of the city towers one of the finest cathedrals in
Spain; it is two hundred and four feet wide, and its central nave
is one hundred and sixty feet high. It is a perfect museum of art,
architecture, sculpture, and painting, which cannot well be described
on paper. The illuminated stained glass windows, when seen at sunset,
resembled rubies and emeralds. The view from the tower is very
extensive. The chiming of the many ponderous bells, coming upon you
while in the tower, is deafening. There are various churches and
galleries, of antique and Moorish architecture, which occupy one’s time
to advantage. Toledo, famous for its arms, has still its government
manufactory, which employs about two hundred men; it is situated about
one and a half miles from the city, on the banks of the river, and
is well worth a visit. Although the machinery is dull and heavy, the
work turned out is very superior. The finest armory I have seen was
in Madrid, which has a vast collection, and contains a variety of
ancient as well as modern blades. The collection of horse and warrior
armor is of the choicest and most exquisite composition. The blades
are of fine temper and polish, and so elastic that they can be coiled
like the mainspring of a watch, and packed up. The collection of new
arms in the form of all the antiques, Arab and Turkish, in use, is
very interesting. The introduction of fire-arms was destructive to the
interests of Toledo.
From Toledo I proceeded along the river bank six leagues to Aranjuez,
through a rich agricultural and beautiful country, the property of
the queen; it was sparsely populated, and little productive, from its
unnatural tenure. The shady avenues for nearly a league approaching
the royal abode are agreeable. The court resides here until the
middle of June, when fevers sometimes prevail from the miasma of the
river, then the town is quite deserted, and royalty departs to La
Granza for the summer and autumn, until it returns to Madrid. Nature
was in her prettiest attire, the vast and extensive gardens were
filled with shade-trees of all countries. In the long walks, studded
with thickly covered foliage, among the flowering fruit-trees, the
fountains abundantly supplied with water, the statues and groups of
Neptunes, Tritons, Dolphins, and hosts of allegorical figures, among
the singing of birds, and the murmuring of the cataracts of water, one
is transported as if by enchantment into a fairy land. The workmen were
all busy in getting the grounds in order for the arrival of the queen.
I returned to the capital. The usual display of military took place at
the departure of the queen, whose absence gave me an opportunity of
seeing the royal stables, carriage houses, and harness rooms, which are
among the richest in Europe for equipage. Some of the antique carriages
were superbly decorated with gold and silver. The stable contained two
hundred horses, one hundred and fifty mules, and one hundred and fifty
equipages, which can be turned out on state occasions with appropriate
harness and trappings. The employees in and about the palace are
about eight hundred in number, so a very good idea may be formed of
the expenses of a monarchical government, and an easy solution of the
enormous imposts and taxation. Spain, with a population reduced from
twenty-four millions to thirteen millions, pays the queen two and a
half million of dollars per annum, while the glorious Republic of
double the population, considers twenty-five thousand pretty good pay
for a President. How often, while standing at the gates of the walled
cities, noticing the wrangling between the officials and the hardy
peasantry of the country, who are obliged to submit to the impost
upon every article of production, have I reflected upon our free and
untrammelled farmers at home, enjoying liberty of action, opinion, and
religion, and free from passports and spies. How much we have to be
thankful for, and how much we undervalue the privileges we possess.
I shall proceed across the mountain to La Granja, the last royal seat I
have to visit, and shall continue to the ancient cities of Leyena and
Valladolid.