Rambles in Spain ... Second edition

Front matter

SPAIN *Eng4lrvZA-K-'i ■'■' ■ ■ RAMBLES IV SPAIN Bl HENRY D. INGLIS. A.FTH0B OF " IBBIAND IS 1834 :" " CHANNEL ISLANDS :" " A JOPENBY THEOTOH NOEWAY :" " THE TYEOL :" &C. &C. TWO VOLUMES IN ONE. SECOND EDITION. LONDON . WHITTAKEE AND CO, AVE-MAIilA-LANE ro THE RIGHT HONORABLE HENRY DAVID, EARL OF BUCHAN. My dear Lord, Since I parted from your Lordship, eight years ago, on the bridge of Namur, changes have happened both to you and to myself. You have become a Lord, — I have become an author. When a man acquires a handle to his name, all the world knows it; but when a man begins to handle his pen, it is a chance whether any one knows it but himself. It is very likely, therefore, that your Lordship may be as ignorant upon this point, as I fear the rest of the world are; but it will doubtless surprise your Lordship to be told, that upon you I lay all my sins of authorship.

It was in those daily and delightful strolls on VOL. I. a DEDICATION. VI the banks of the Meuse, that you inspired me with the desire of hunting the wild boar in the forest of Ardennes; and when I went to bury myself there, — at the time that your Lordship sought the busier scenes of Paris, — I carried with me that little green writing-desk and its golden key, the gift of the lamented Mrs. Erskine. Figure to yourself, my Lord, my isolated dwelling, with six feet of snow around my doors, — no companion but my great shaggy dog, and my blazing fagots, and the little green writing-desk upon a table by my side, — and your Lordship will admit, that I could not do otherwise than use the golden key and blot my paper. The dedication of my first book was therefore most certainly due to your Lordship ; but besides its own unworthiness, another reason, applicable to all that I have subsequently written, hindered me from laying at your feet this tribute of affection and respect.

I was then younger than I am now, and probably more foolish ; and asking the notice of the Pubhc under a fictitious name, your Lord ship would have said, "who is this Derwent Conway, who impertinently addresses me, My DEDICATION. VII dear Lord, and subscribes himself my Cousin?" But Spain is a country so associated with romance, that a fictitious name to a book of travels in that country, might almost warrant the conclusion, that the book was altogether a fiction : and so now throwing off this veil, which was unmeaningly assumed, I take this earliest opportunity of making your Lordship's acquaintance in the character of an author. Sweet shades of Ammondell ! I remember them well, — that Gothic bridge, that plantation that skirts the river; where, when a boy, "just let loose from school," I used to be met and welcomed by that fine, grey-headed man, your Lordship's sire, — the elegant, the learned, the witty, the eloquent, the consistent politician, the upright man, the unrequited ; — Ay ! the unrequited ; heaven rest his soul who remembered not his friends in the day of his prosperity.

Chapter I. Biscay

PAGE Departure from Bayonne, the Bidassoa, and entrance into Spain — Precautions against Robbery — Black Mail, and Anecdote — Charming and novel Scenery — Mail travelling in Spain — Vittoria — Spanish Bread — Priests— The Spanish Cloak — Women — Arrival of the Infante Don Francis — a National trait — Spanish Money and Expense of Travelling — Journey through Biscay to Bilbao — Chocolate — Plain of Vittoria — Passage of the Biscayan Mountains — Durango — a Village Misfortune — Biscayan Recreation — The Muleteer's Song — Bilbao — Traits of Spanish Character — Markets — Biscayan Political and Religious Opinions — State of the Inhabitants and mode of Life — Riches of the Corporation of Bilbao — Prices of Provisions — The Campo Santo — The Iglesia de Bigonia and its Superstitions — Trait of Spanish Pride and Generosity — The Convents and their Inmates — The Hospital — Curious Customs, and extraordinary Scene in a Coffee House — Improvement of Land in Biscay, Climate, Diseases, &c. — Peculiar Rights and Privileges of Biscay. - I

Chapter II. Journey From Biscay To Madrid

Wagon travelling — Scenery — Bills of Fare, and Expenses — Second Visit to Vittoria — Departure for Madrid — the Ebro — Privileges of the Military — Old Castile — Husbandry — Burgos — Beggars — Posadas — Traits of Misery in a Castilian Village — New Castile — Quixotic Adventure — The Somo-sierra, and Approach to the Capital — Sketches of the Environs, and Arrival in Madrid — Information for Travellers. - X CONTENTS. PAGE 56 94

Chapter III

, MADRID. Streets and Street Population — Female Dress — The Mantilla, the Fan — Aspect of the Streets of Madrid at different hours — Tbe Siesta — Shops — Good and bad Smells— State ofthe lower Orders — Analysis of the Population — Street Sketches — Sunday in Madrid — The Calle de Alcala — Convents — Street of the Inquisition — Private Apartments in Madrid — The Prado and its Attractions — Ludicrous Incongruities— Spanish Women, and their Claims — The Fan and its uses — Portraits — Inconvenient Exaction of Loyalty — The Philosophy of good walking — The Retiro — Castilian Skies — the Cafe Catalina and its Visitors — Other Coffee Rooms, and Political Reflections — The Botanical Garden, strange Regulation on entering — The Theatres — Spanish Play Bills — Teatro del Principe — The Cazuela and Intrigue — Spanish Comedy — The Bolero — The Italian Company — Cultivation of Music in Madrid — The Guitar — Vocal Music — Spanish Music. ... -

Chapter IV. Madrid

The King, Queen, and Royal Family — Personal Appearance of Ferdinand — A Royal Jeu d 'esprit — The King's Confidence in the People, and Examples— Character of the King — A Carlist's Opinion of the King — Favourites, Calomarde, Alegon, Salsedo, the Duque d'Higar — Rising Influence ofthe Queen — Habits ofthe Royal Family — Court Diversions — Rivalry of Don Carlos — The Queen's Accouchement, and Views of Parties — Detection of a Carlist Plot — The Salic Law — Court Society Persons of Distinction, and Ministerial Tertulias — Habits and Manner of Life of the Middle Classes— A Spanish House, and its Singular Defences — Abstemiousness of the Spaniards — Evening and Morning Visits — Balls and Spanish Dancing— Character of Spanish Hospitality — Spanish Generosity and its origin — Examples of Ostentation — Morals — Gallantry and Intrigue— The Morals of the Lower Orders — Religious Opinions in the Capital, and decline of Priestly Influence— Jesuitical Education — The Influence of the Friars — Causes of the decline of Priestly Influence,' and the continuance of that of the Friars Convent Secrets — Curious ExposS at Cadiz Devotion . in Madrid. - CONTENTS. XI

Chapter V. Madrid

PACE The Profession of a Nun — Reflections — Description of the Interior of a Convent — the Monastic Life — Description ofa Bull-Fight — Sketches of Spanish Character — a Horse Race. - - - ... 137

Chapter VII. Madrid

The Picture Gallery— The Works of Murillo— The Annunciation — The Virgin instructed by her Mother — Landscapes — Velasquez and his Works — Meeting of Bacchanalians— The Forges of Vulcan— Espanoletto, and his Works — Villavicencio — Juanes — Alonzo Cano — Cerezo — Moralez — Juanes' Last Supper — The Modern Spanish School — Aparicio — The Famine in Madrid — Italian Gallery — Flemish School — The Sala Reservada — Statuary — Cabinet of Natural History — Sala Reservada — The Patricians' Dream — The Desengano de la Vido- — Private Collections — The Duke of Liria's Gallery — Churches and Convents — Church of San Isodro — San Salvador — Santa Maria — San Gines — Santiago — San Antonio de Florida — Convent of Las Selesas — De la Enc-u nation — The Franciscans — Santa Isabella — Hidden Pictures — San Pasqual — Santa Teresa — The Palace. - 186

Chapter VIII

Literature — Difficulties to be encountered by Authors — The Book Fair — Digression respecting the Claims of Spain to Gil Bias — Public and Private Literary Societies — Libraries — Obstacles to Improvement, from the State of Society — Female Education — Education for the Liberal Professions — Course of Study for the BaT- — Course of Medical Studies — Charitable Institutions — Consumption of Madrid — Prices of Provisions. - CONTENTS. XII PAGE 234 261 289

Chapter X. The

ESCURIAL— ST. ILDEFONSO— SEGOVIA Journey from Madrid — First View of the Escurial — Philip II. — Situation of the Escurial — The Church — Lucas Jordan — The Relics — The Santa Forma — The Sacristy and its Pictures — A Reverie — The Hall of Recreation — The Library — The Tomb of the Kings — The Manuscript Library — Ignorance and Idleness of the Monks, and Anecdotes — Manner of Life among the Monks — The Palace — Particulars of the Extent and Cost of the Escurial — Pedestrian Journey across the Sierra Guaderrama to St. Ildefonso — The Palace, Waters, and Garden of La Granja — Road to Segovia — Its Remains, and present Condition — Expensiveness of Royal Honours — Return to Madrid. -

Chapter XI. Toledo

Journey from Madrid — Proofs of the backwardness of Spain — Appearance of the Country — Spanish Mule-driving — A Venta — First View of Toledo — Toledo Recreations and Society — Remains of former Grandeur, and Proofs of present Decay — Picturesque Views — The Tagus — Intricacy of Toledo — Bigotry and Priestcraft — Reasons for the Prevalence of Religious Bigotry in Toledo — Proofs of Bigotry — Aspect of the Population — The Cathedral and its Riches — Scene in the Cathedral — The Alcazar — Historical Retrospect — Praiseworthy Institutions of the Archbishop Lorenzana — the University— Toledo Sword Manufactory — The Franciscan Convent — Return to Madrid. -

Introduction

. From the moment when the First Edition of the present Work was published, to the present hour, Spain has continued to be an object of paramount interest. The states of Europe, divided between absolute and constitutional governments, have re garded that country as the arena in which the favourite system of one or the other was ultimately to triumph. To this end, each has afforded secret or open assistance to the party enlisted on the side whicli approximated nearest to its own. The result is yet wavering in the balance; and the Peninsula, at the present time, is more an object upon which the general gaze is fixed, than it was when " Spain in 18-30" first appeared. Since that time, the Author has been removed to another state of existence, in the prime of manhood, — (that event occurred in 1835) — and his well-known intention of adding a chapter to his next edition, — " On the present state and prospects of the Penin sula," — has been frustrated.

This is the more to be lamented, because his knowledge of the country, and acquaintance with the leading men of every party there, would have enabled him to vol. i. b

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. do that justice to passing events, which none else, without qualifications such as he possessed, could perform successfully. His clear and concise description of the state of political feeling in the country was well appreciated in the senate, by Lord Aberdeen, who said of this work, — " It is a work from which I have derived more inform ation than from all the state documents I ever perused." Under these circumstances, the demand of the reader for another edition cannot be a marvel. Not only is there the interest of the subject con tributing to this necessity, but the value attached to a publication by one of no common ability as a writer, and particularly excellent in his topo graphical descriptions, as well as correct in his pictures of men and manners. The simplex mun ditiis, in style ; great faithfulness in delineation ; nothing exuberant or fantastic, but a smooth, equable, well-defined limit in sober description, are characteristics of the author's labours beyond those of any cotemporary traveller.

His works are an impartial record of his impressions ; his views of men and things are well depicted ; his perceptions just; — and all is stamped with the verity, which is alone sufficient to work out for any pen a well merited reputation. Under the assumed name of Derwent Conway. in his " SoUtary Walks through many Lands," the descriptive talents of Mr. Inglis were first con-

INTRODUCTION.

. XV spicuous. His tours in the " Tyrol," " Switzerland, and the Pyrenees," " Norway," and his " Ireland in 1834," have established his character as a traveller of close observation, excellent judgment, and im partial views. His remarks on Ireland have been more than once alluded to in the House of Com mons, as a species of authority. A very interesting work on the Channel Islands was his last produc tion ; the present will perhaps be considered his most elaborate. It is marked throughout with an unobtrusiveness not incompatible with the most manly bearing, and always the accompaniment of the highest order of talent. The first edition of " Spain in 1830," is dated from Barcellona, in January, 1831. In the ninth chapter the author has touched upon the political state of Spain very happily, but the succession of events has rendered the sketch so given that of the particular moment alone.

The changes in the political relations of Spain have been constant during the last six years; and it may serve as a proof of the correctness of our author's descriptions and of the soundness of his conclusions, that nothing which has happened subsequently has contradicted, in the slightest degree, his views of the state of poUtical affairs at the moment he visited the country. Spain is a puzzle to the world; and no one is safe in calculating forthcoming events there for a single hour. However much the spirit of a people may remain unchanged, the

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. XVI names of parties change as they amalgamate into each other, or break into new divisions. At this moment, the Carlists alone, of the three parties described by Mr. Inglis— Carlists, Royalists, and Liberals — remain the same men. For royalists are now Christinos; and the liberalists or constitutionalists of 1830, are mingled in support of the throne with the middle party, and are avowedly aiming at the same end. The exiles under Ferdi nand have been, or are now, members of the queen's cabinet. The traitors of 1830 are, in 1837, the champions of the rights of the crown, and of the fulfilment of the will of Ferdinand VII. The royalist volunteers have long ago disappeared. The feeble ministry of that day is succeeded by a different class, distinguished by better theories of government, and no doubt by good intentions, but equally deficient in energy, irresolute in measures, wanting in moral influence, and unaccountable in mode of action.

The author has detailed, with his wonted fidelity, the relative situation of parties at the time he visited Madrid: the flagrant corruptions of the governing system; the indifference of the lower orders to liberty, and the pernicious influence of a rich priesthood upon the people. A concise view of events, subsequently, will connect them with the author's preconceived opinions, or shew if they were erroneous. It must be premised that when Mr. Inglis visited Spain, the Carlists were a formidable body, kept down by the royalist party

INTRODUCTION.

. XVII and the influence of the king's name. Calomarde, the minister of justice, was really prime minister, for Salmon enjoyed only the name as secretary of state ; Ballasteros managed the finances ; Salagar was minister of the marine, and Salsedo had the post of favourite. The people of the Basque pro vinces desired only to live in ease and enjoyment. The Conde de Espana governed Catalonia with an iron hand, equally the foe of Carlist and Uberal ; while the only other point it may be needful to mention, Malaga, because of a subsequent event there, was ruled by the ferocious Moreno. What a change has come over the scene since ! The beautiful neighbourhood of Bilbao, so well de scribed by Mr. Inglis, has been a land of warfare ; and the constancy of the citizens in the royal cause has borne out the bluntness of the Basque character, and the love of independence attributed to it by the author.

In the beginning of 1831, Spain remained in the same state of tranquillity in which it was when our author quitted that country. There was within her vitals, notwithstanding, a fatal disease at that moment gaining strength, which indepen dently of party efforts, was sufficient to operate revolutions, and overturn empires much better constituted, both physically and morally, than Spain. She was insolvent. The current expenses of the state could no longer be defrayed. The government knew not where to obtain money; and

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. the exchequer had no means of replenishing its coffers. Yet, even when the country remained tranquil, the army was augmented in the midst of the most pressing pecuniary exigencies. It is in this inexplicable mode of contraries, that all the operations of the Spanish government have been, and still are conducted. The excuse was made, that the king had a great dread of efforts on the part of the Constitutionalists; but the existing force, wisely employed, was equal to any isolated outbreak from them, if any were intended upon an enlarged scale, while an unpaid military must yield fresh elements of discontent from their pay being always in arrear, and be likely to prove a new and formidable foe at no distant time. The obedience to absolute power so inherent in the old Spanish character, suppressed mischief from this source to the last moment, but the distress of the government for money necessarily increased ; and Ferdinand refusing to sanction the loans of the Cortes, excluded any hope from foreign jobbers.

The Carlist interest sealed the rich coffers of the church, and it was with great difficulty that state exigencies of the most pressing character could be liquidated. Disturbances broke out at Cadiz, where the governor was murdered ; and there were some discontents and troubles in Leon and Valencia, but these were speedily subdued by the local authorities. A proclamation was issued by Ferdinand toward the close of the year, and

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. XIX military commissioners appointed to punish all who might be concerned in insurrectionary movements. A great deal of blood was shed under this authority, both of guilty, and of only suspected persons. The government opened the trade again between Spain and Gibraltar ; and Ferdinand issued a decree in which all Spaniards who might have emigrated for political offences, were declared fully pardoned. Few ventured to avail them selves of an offer, on which they felt it impossible to place a reliance sufficient to hazard upon its faith their present security ; a distrust in which they were abundantly justified. An event took place this year, which truly exhibited ground for distrust on the part of the exiles. General Torijos, and a few friends, who had some time before left England with the view of joining any body of Constitutionalists in Spain who might make an effort to restore the government of the Cortes, finding, after having hovered about the coast, that the attempt at Cadiz was unsuccessful, and that all efforts would be unavailing for this purpose, domiciled themselves at Gibraltar.

Mo reno the governor of Malaga, framed a stratagem to get Torijos into his power ; and he did this with the privity of the king. Torijos and twenty or more of his friends, among whom was an Englishman named Boyd, fell into the snare. As arranged by Moreno, they sailed for Malaga, where Torijos was informed he would be secretly

INTRODUCTION.

. XX received, and find a party ready to join him. On reaching Malaga, where preparations had been made for the purpose, the general and his party were instantly seized, and shot, without a form of trial. This event happened on the eighth of December, and caused an outbreak of indignation throughout the civilized world, — not indeed at the execution of men, who, if they had landed spon taneously for purposes of disturbance, could have expected no other fate ; but at the moral bearing of a government, which could thus lure men to their doom by an act of treachery ; who were residing quietly on neutral ground ; and had given up all idea of further offence to the Spanish government, from a conviction that the Spanish population was for some time at least content to remain obedient to the absolute king.

With any other people than the Spaniards, the distresses of the administration, from its debts and the ruined state of the finances, would have caused a change of some kind in the system of government, perhaps a new revolution ; but in Spain there is no system of honourable credit to be shaken by state defalcations. The people are poor, and live on very little. Those who were paid by the government, were therefore the principal sufferers, together with the few contractors who had been incautious enough to furnish supplies of a public nature, in expectation of faith being kept with them, — and sufferers they remain to the present hour.

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. XXI Two-thirds of the year 1832 passed away, and nothing of moment occurred in the country, under circumstances which would have shaken any other state in Europe to its foundation. The king's health, which had been declining for some time, at length gave way; and he was supposed to be dying. Then began all kinds of intrigues for the succession. The old Spanish law admitted females to the crown, but the Salic law, subsequently intro duced, prohibited them. In 1789, Charles IV. obtained the secret sanction of the Cortes to the restoration of the ancient law. In 1812 the Cortes restored the Salic law again ; and under the act of the Cortes, Don Carlos was the heir presumptive to the throne. Ferdinand VII. denying all the acts of the Cortes, issued a decree in 18'.0, placing the succession on the same footing as it stood after 1789; and thus made his daughter heiress to his throne.

This daughter was stiU a child; and Don Carlos stood at the head of the church and absolutists, who regarded even the king as a Uberal ; they contended too, with some share of reason, that Ferdinand's restoration of the law of 1789, was not sanctioned by the Cortes; and could not therefore be valid. They got all ready for proclaiming Don Carlos, expecting hourly the king's dissolution; and they even extorted from him in the midst of his suffering, a decree in favour of Carlos. They were for a time dis appointed. The king rallied ; was made acquainted

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. XXII with the state of things, and the designs of his brother. He was indignant at the steps which the ultra-absolutists had taken with himself. He dis placed tbe ministry, sending Calomarde to prison. He recalled Zea Bermudez from England, and made him prime minister ; he dismissed the friends of Don Carlos from their provincial governments; while the people, by the hope that the influence of the queen would restore public credit, raised the funds ten per cent, upon these events. An amnesty was proclaimed ; many members of the old Cortes returned, and were placed in office ; the Carlists lost their power ; and the royalist volunteers, wherever they attempted disturbances, were put down by the regular forces. Madrid welcomed the king and queen with acclamations; and Ferdinand declared the succession of females to the throne valid, stating that during his appre hended mortal agonies, an opposite decree had been extorted from him by the Carlists.

Thus for a time was civil war averted, although some of the Carlists appeared before Toledo, and commanded that city to surrender ; and conspiracies were hatched even in Madrid. The cabinet then became divided within itself, but Zea triumphed; though the minister wished to play a game between the Liberals and Carlists, a certain mode to weaken his government. Don Carlos was banished to Lisbon ; notwithstanding which, some of his friends attempted to seize Sarragosa, but

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. XXIII they were defeated. The minister soon after shewed his aversion to the queen's party in the cabinet, by dismissing them from office, and at tempting an impartial system of rule. The old Cortes were assembled to sanction the decree of female succession, while Don Carlos protested against it from Lisbon. On the twenty-ninth of September the king died of the disease he had been attacked with the year before. The queen was then declared regent, and the young queen immediately proclaimed. The Carlists now raised the standard of revolt openly, though at first with little success. The monks and royalist volunteers were at the head of the disaffected. Navarre and Guipuscoa were the focus of disturbance, which extended itself to Bilbao, where Charles V. and the Carlist cause gained ground, owing to a want of troops in those provinces.

The first step was to disarm the royalist volunteers of Madrid, who surrendered their cannon, but resisted the order of the government for two hours with small arms, although ulti mately they were forced to surrender. Sarsfield was successful in routing the insurgents in the north, and by the end of the year a few only remained together in the fastnesses of the Navarre mountains. Thus far the system of Zea appeared to proceed successfully : the want of system ; the peculiar habitudes of the Spanish people; the igno rance and superstition of the masses, and the

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. XXIV bigotry of the priesthood, contributed to render events uncertain, and every design, however well planned, became very difficult in the execution. The officers of the army were not to be depended upon : corruption was an active agent on all sides; and the utter want of skill to combine operations was no less visible than the disinclination to exe cute them. The reverence for absolutism in Spain, so extensive from rooted habits; and the simple mode of living, with the absence of any principle, save superstition, that might rouse a population so limited in its desires to a state of motiveless action, sufficiently accounted for a good deal of the singular conduct which at first sight seemed so mysterious in Spanish affairs, and so irreconcileable with individual character. The higher classes of the Spanish clergy did not openlv join Don Carlos, because they were in fear for their great riches ; but they secretly favoured him, as did the inferior ecclesiastics and monastic bodies, with both money and influence ; while as their property has been seized upon or endangered, they have displayed greater zeal as Carlists.

The liberals all supported the queen. In endeavouring to steer clear of both parties, the minister Zea very soon fell, from the indifference of both Carlists and liberals towards him. The liberals insisted on having a representative Cortes ; the Carlists on the restoration of plenary despotism : the party w^ich supported neither of these doctrines was necessarily

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. XXV weak, and was bound together rather by office than any marked line of principle ; office in Spain is always respected. Such a party as that which supported Zea must have consisted of the weakest and most irresolute politicians, because the most valuable politicians are characters of decision, and such are certain to belong to a party of clear and definite principles. The Carlists looked upon Zea as an enemy, the Uberals as an impediment to the introduction of good and enlightened government. The crown of Spain could not be secured by a tampering policy, and Zea could effect little good without the assistance of one of the parties opposed to him. At such moments as these, desperate men are certain to act, whether they are men of charac ter and integrity, or not. General Llauder gained his rank by betraying his benefactor Lacy, and had pursued the exiled liberals and Mina with the thirst of an exterminator : he all at once stood forth as the champion of the liberal party, and declared openly that the destruction of the queen's authority would foUow the continuance of Zea in office.

He ad dressed a remonstrance to the queen, in which he vehemently dwelt upon the mischiefs of Zea's ministry, and boldly requested her majesty to dis miss the existing cabinet. The queen was offended at the tone thus assumed by the governor of a pro vince. As much was signified to Llauder ; but he knew he had friends in Catalonia, and he was governor of a province too which confessed there

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. XXVI was too much of truth in what he had stated, and he therefore feared no consequences. Old Castile governed by Quesada, followed the example of Catalonia, and the Regent dismissed Zea, and called Martinez de la Rosa to his place. Rosa did not any more than his coadjutors, rank in the extreme of his party. A constitution was now planned, and an urban militia attempted to be formed, but only of persons pecuniarily qualified. This gave great offence ; in Madrid the Carlists took advantage of the circumstance to appear in arms, but they were quickly compelled to surrender. While this was acting in the capital, the Carlists increased their predatory bands in the north. They amounted to about eight thousand men, commanded by a daring chief, named Zumalacarregui, and seconded by Merino the priest.