California pastoral

Introduction

COMPARATIVE CIVILIZATIONS AND SAVAGISMS.

That which constitutes history, properly so called, is in great part omitted from works on the subject. — Herbert Spencer.

Before penetrating into the mysteries of our modern lotos-land, or entering upon a description of the golden age of California, if indeed any age characterized by ignorance and laziness can be called golden, let us glance at life and society elsewhere on this planet, particularly as it existed in Spain and Mexico, and within the charmed circles of the highest earthly intelligences, these places and conditions being more intimately than any others connected with the spiritual conquest and occupation of Alta California in the eighteenth century.

Great as is the difference between men and races on the globe, we are apt sometimes to make it more than it is. Especially is this the case with regard to mental culture, and the progress of peoples in arts and industries. It is an interesting study to place, side by side, at the same points of time, widely separated societies, and note their outworking of the problem of progress, each independent of and without any knowledge of the existence of the other, and yet both apparently driven forward by the same forces, and building, like bees their cells, upon one model. And nowhere is there a more befitting field for such investigation than in comparing the civilizations and savagisms of Europe and America, more particularly of the Spaniards and the Aztecs, as matters stood just before the discovery by Columbus, and while there was yet no knowledge whatever one of the other.

Glance first at the beo-inninof of the dark ao^e in Europe, which was the end of the first epoch of civilization in that quarter. One mighty wave of progress had swollen up, rolled along the centuries, and subsided, and for a time all was calm. From old age and luxury Roman civilization died, and Germanic barbarism and Christianity assisted at its burial.

Social systems, like creeds and polities, evolve from conditions apparently fortuitous. Before the occupation of western Europe by the Romans, society consisted of small-town agricultural communities, every famiW providing its own necessities, living in a state of independence, paying no taxes, supporting no government, the revenue of states being for the most part obtained from the working of state lands by state slaves. Sometimes a number of these towns would confederate, and the confederations divide their time between cultivating the ground and warring on each other. Every citizen was a soldier and a land-owner, and much of his time was spent in attempting to defend or increase his domain. For every one of these conditions we may find a parallel in the earlier periods of the history of more than one of the American aboriginal nations.

The foundation of our present social structure was laid in Europe by the Romans in the days of republican grandeur. Sending out their armies north and west, they laid under contribution fair provinces and fastened upon the people their laws. In their social structure there was no intelligent middle class; a profligate aristocracy and a cruel populace comprised the republic. All the world besides themselves were barbarians, and if caught were made slaves. In their colonies were but two classes, conqueror and con-

FEUDALISM. 3

quered. Under their systematic devastations and crushing rule, depopulation and desolation followed them. But with the empire arose a protective spirit which spread tranquillity and fostered a species of base culture. The intellect was forced into a hot-house develoj)ment, and codes of manners were established, but under a condition of bondage so servile as to fetter mind and degrade morals. Into this mass of tutored ignorance a martial spirit v/as infused by the fierce tribes from Germany, and a spirit of superstition and bigotry by the churchmen of Rome. Then glowed a redder immorality than ever republic had seen. The Romanized natives of Spain who had more readily adopted, and more rapidly developed, the arts and industries of their masters than the other colonies, at first attempted to raise the barbarous Visigoths to their level. But it is easier to pull down than to build up. Their own social structure was none of the strongest; the preponderance of power v/as wdth the barbarians; the loutish north men bore heavily upon them, and Spain in common wdth all EuroDe lapsed into the age of darkness.

Ancient barriers \vere broken down, and ancient law^s obliterated as by one general act of oblivion. Society, molten, was recast. The lands of Europe were parcelled anew. Conquered provinces were broken into fragments, and distributed among the military chieftains w4io had taken part in the conquest. A multitude of independent states were formed, differing in language and traditions, but all falling into a system of military tenures with singular uniformity. From the ninth to the fourteenth centuries, essentially the same species of feudality, though in modified forms, existed throughout Europe. This uniformity is to be attributed, not to any connivance of the conquerors, who were of widely different stocks and training, but to social necessities, which under like conditions worked out similar results. Phases of European feudalism were scattered all over America, from Alaska to Patagonia, and were formed to some extent ever amon^ the so-called savage nations. The first great law, common to all, both in Europe and America, was that of self- protection. The possession of lands which were won by the sword must be held by the sword. Every land-holder was a soldier, and a feudal kingdom partook more of the character of a military than a civil government. These military sovereignties in the various dismembered provinces were without political system, separate and independent.

In the Old World, the conqueror assuming dominion over the territory allotted him divided it among his chiefs or barons, who in return stood ready with men and arms according to their ability, and at their own cost, to obey the call of their king in order to make or repel an invasion. The nobles, accepting the conditions, built for themselves castles and fortifications, and partitioned their lands among their vassals, who in like manner were bound to do military service according to the pleasure of their lord. The title to lands thus held by feudal tenure was vested in the sovereign, and few other obligations rested upon the occupant than that of attending him in his wars. Captives taken in battle, and freemen who were unable to secure land, sunk into a state of serfdom or villanage. They were employed in tending flocks and cultivating the ground. Their condition was but little better than that of absolute slavery. They were bound to the soil and made to pass with it, but could not be removed from it ; nor did they possess any of the rights pertaining to liberty or property. Thus society during the feudal ages was but a state of vassalage, of greater or less degree.

This system, however well adapted to purposes of offence and defence; was but little calculated to promote internal tranquillity, or lay the foundations of powerful states. Every feudal baron within his own domain was absolute master. Even the king could not interfere to regulate his internal affairs. He

FEUDALISM.

could make war upon liis own account at pleasure, inflict the death penalty upon his vassals, seize and hold the lands of his neighbor, if he possessed the power, with none to question him. All the world lived in barracks. The master of a household was but chief of a band of robbers. To overrun adjacent lands, murder the inhabitants, burn the houses and drive off the cattle, was the ordinary and honorable occupation of life. Following the promptings of ambition or revenge, neighboring barons would for a moment lay aside their hereditary feud, and join against some cUstant or more powerful foe; after which each returned to his ancient quarrel with the other with new vigor. By their bloody contentions the nobles thus kept the country in a state of perpetual fermentation. Husbandmen, in the pursuit of their vocation, tremblingly ventured beyond the precincts of the castle during the day, and at night huddled in small villages beneath its walls. They were moreover obliged to hoJd themselves in readiness to attend their master in his raids at any moment. Marriage among them was discouraged. Soldiers to fight, rather than women and children to feed, was the necessity of the feudal lord. Eedress for injuries rested upon the arm of the injured, and when forms of justice were established, matters w^ere but little changed; for decisions were governed by passion rather than principle, and too often the judge was the criminal, and the accuser his victim.

Social intercourse was prevented; commerce between foreign nations ceased; seas were infested by pirates; every foreigner was an enemy. Medieval regulations made the stranger a vassal of the lord withm whose domain he rested more than a year and a day; shipwrecked mariners were made slaves. The property of strangers was at their death confiscated to the ruler. Highways were filled with banditti, so that travellers could journey only in companies. Laws w^ere made and customs established which almost prohibited distant journeys, so that all knowledge of remote nations was lost. Under these baneful influences population increased but slowly, and increase of such a character, obviously tended to strengthen the baron, make powerless the sovereign, and rivet still tighter the chains of the vassal. Humanity thus restrained became dwarfed. Buddino- civilization withered in such uncongenial climes, and Europe plunged into profound ignorance. But for the Ottoman on the east and the barbarian on the north, the feudal system would not have existed so long in western Europe. Finally it collapsed in a struggle between sovereigns and nobles. And all this while, and later, the people were nothing but the plaything of the rulers, the tools alternately of kings, barons, and priests.

In Spain the feudal system was greatly modified by the eight centuries of Christian warfare, which not only developed Spanish valor and Spanish chivalry to the greatest advantage, but knit the several kingdoms of the peninsula in one common cause. The condition of the Spanish peasantry was improved, rather. than otherwise, by a war in which personal prowess rose above social distinctions; yet the attitude of classes was essentially the same as in France and Germany. Villanage was less known in Castile and Leon than in Aragon, whose institutions and geographical position gave to that kingdom a peculiar physiognomy.

Thus was the humanity of our own civilization caged like wild beasts in a menagerie; penned up in petty principalities, duchies, and baronial provinces; a state of universal antipathies but one remove from savagism. Obviously out of these grim shadows not a step could be made till the partition walls were battered down. Whence was deliverance to come? What mighty power should arise and breathe peace upon the nations, heal innumerable hatreds, and cause thousands of hereditary foes, as one man, to sheathe their bloody

THE CRUSADES. 7

swords and clasp hands like brothers? It was not by the will of man, nor throuoh man's invention, tliat these feudalistic fetters were to be broken; but as ever in human affairs, it was that mysterious power of progress ever working in and round societies. On this occasion that power was Christianity, the religion of all others with which European civilization seemed most inclined to fraternize. An aid in itself to progress, it has been aided and purified thereby. When Aryan paganism gave way to the purer Semitic faith, Christianity became a power mightier than Rome herself — a power destined, in the hands of Roman pontiffs, to rule Christendom long after Rome the mighty had fallen. Csesar and Christ, the sword of Rome and the faith of Rome, were for a time one in purpose and in power; but faith, rising superior to brute force, seized the sword and for a time wielded it in her own interests.

It was the very irony of religion, that frenzied zeal which, during the crusades, gave Christianity the form of chivalry. The martial spirit now became inflamed by fanaticism, and society was profoundly moved.

From the earliest ages of the church, it had been deemed an act of piety for believers in Christ to make a pilgrimage to his tomb, and gaze upon the scenes by which he was surrounded when working out the redemption of man. The right of these pious persons to visit the holy sepulchre was never questioned by the Mohammedans until near the close of the eleventh century, when a series of atrocities were committed by a horde of Turkish invaders which roused all Christendom. The nations of Europe paused in their internecine bickerings, and turned their eyes with one accord toward the east. Durino* the two succeeding^ centuries millions of volunteers came forward and enlisted in holy crusades against the profane infidels. Although extremely disastrous to the crusaders themselves, the effect of this movement on civilization was most beneficial. To join as believers and brethren in a common cause, to turn the arms which for centuries had been drawn only against each other upon a foe of their faith, was to dissolve the insane crystallizations of ages. Chieftains of proud families, who for generations had nourished an inveterate hate one for the other, threw aside their animosities, and joining hands in Christian union if not m Christian love, hurled their united strength against the enemy, "^ji^g with each other in acts of magnanimity. The enlightening benefits of travel and intercourse with the more refined cities of Italy and the east, the awakening of a new faith between man and man, the necessity of acknowledging human rights and duties other than those of power and place, roused the intellect from its long lethargy. A people, which for ten generations had hardly lost sight of the banner wdiich waved from its castle tower, was led forth as from a dungeon to behold scenes hitherto beyond their conceptions. Side by side they marched through new and wondrous regions, where, in place of imps and ogres, creatures of their clouded imaginations, they found a people like themselves, ready to join in promoting a cause in which their wdiole soul was engaged. The doctrine of universal enmity became less defined, and vague conceptions of human relationships arose.

The immediate effect of the crusades was to associate and intermix mankind. Europe became more intimately acquainted with the luxuries and refinement of Asia. The power of the maritime cities Genoa, Pisa, and Venice, whose vessels carried the crusaders eastward, was increased. The absence of feudal lords on their pious wars delivered the land somewhat from contentions; households were split into fragments and scattered, and their independence inspired them to labor. A consciousness of manhood arose in their breasts, and with it came self-respect, wealth, domestic comfort, and social advancement. Population increased; towns were built; manufactories

CHIVALRY. 9

established; and a class between the nobleman and the churl appeared. Serfs who had enlisted in the holy cause on their return were free men. Many of the barons, in setting out on their crusade, had been obliged to part with their landed possessions in order to procure a becoming outfit; many never returned, and of their estates some were bought by the sovereign at a nominal price, others reverted to the crown in default of heirs. Thus, as the feudal aristocracy declined, government centralized, and regal authority gained strength.

Spain, meanwhile, had infidels enough at home; the whole Mohammedan war was but one grand crusade, and petty feudalistic fights were swallowed up in one large fight ; so that neither the feudal system which bound men, nor the holy adventures which liberated them, obtained in Spain as elsewhere throughout Europe. Another phenomenon, however, which grew out of all this, imported into Spain at an early day, findmg there a rich soil, took root, and flourished extravagantly, deeply tinging the character of the nation.

Chivalry, from chevalier, knight, or horseman — we might call it mounted monarchism; now the champion was for Christ, and now for a fair lady — at once defender of the faith, and defender of all things else; protector of the innocent; righter of the wronged; under the banner of the cross, crusader; wandering over the world in quest of adventure, knight-errant.

A strange blending of religion and gallantry, of joustings and justice; a fantastic sentiment fortunate for humanity at this juncture, most fortunate for woman, lifting her up from her low estate, arraying her in brightness, and placing her among the stars, meanwhile toning down man's cragginess, polishing manners, calling up finer instincts , ornamenting, adorning strength with sympathy and valor with constancy, arraying virtue in robes of lovelmess, stripping somewhat from war its ferocity, from vice its hideousness; truly, a nobler fanaticism than that which adds torture to ignorance, and better at all events than the beastly customs of feudalism. Acting in conjunction with the holy adventures, and before the creation of standing armies, chivalry played its part in the great work of civilizing man.

But whence more directly came chivalry? About the middle of the tenth century humane men of the nobler sort, fired by self-sacrificing devotion to an unselfish cause, ingrafted upon certain orders of knighthood the sentiments of protection to the weak, and vindication of the rights of humanity. This chivalrous spirit was fostered by the crusades, and in the eleventh century, tournaments, regulated by fixed laws, were established throughout Christendom. To eradicate the grosser evils of feudalism, to redress wrongs, to vindicate the right, to merit divine favor by meting out fair justice to man, were among the exalted purposes of this romantic sentiment. Hence woman, as the ensemble of all that is lovely and dependent, became the prime object of chivalrous devotion. Here it was that she was first raised from a servile state, and placed beside that divine love of which she is the incarnated essence. Thus we see in the chivalric ideal a blending of things temporal and spiritual ; a materialization of Christianity. It was an outward manifestation of the inner and hidden life of the monastery. For a time this spirit well accorded with the genius of the age; chivalry became the great religious and social inspiration, and all creeds and customs were made to conform to it. Neither is it strange that in this new glow of manhood the sentiment swelled to excess, nor that this excess, like all excesses, brought about reaction and decline. As in the church, that inordinate zeal, which, amidst filthy poverty and selftorture, wrought out joys ecstatic, thus elevating the mind by debasing the body; as the age of asceticism was followed by an age of clerical gluttony — so this

KNIGHT-ERRANTRY. 11

excessive devotion to holy saints and lovely woman wrought out its own destruction, and ended in licentiousness.

The sentiment became chronic; a sort of chivalric slang crept into language ; crusaders were dubbed vassals of Christ; the soldier who at the crucifixion pierced the Saviour's side was pronounced a dastardly knight who thereby disgraced his order; the virgin mother of God was a fair lady, worthy the exalted devotion of every true knight. Even the' most beneficial part of the chivalric ideal, the worship of woman, was carried to such an extreme as in the end to result in a lovelier immorality, and into wickedness rendered all the more seductive from being veiled. Nevertheless, the temporary union of chivalry and Christianity against wickedness in high places could not be other than a great step toward refinement.

The special political and social state of Spain during the Arab invasion, no less than something in the Spanish character itself, contributed to develop a chivalric ideal of more than ordinary vividness. ^^ Spain gives us," says Hegel, ''the fairest picture of knighthood in the middle ages, and its hero is the Cid;" and, adds Schlegel, ''the spirit of chivalry has nowhere outlived its political existence so long as in Spain." For this lofty and more than fanciful species of chivalry, Spain is indebted to the Saracens. It has even been held that they originated the system and taught it to Europe. Sismondi affirms that those "notions on the point of honor, which not only possessed a great influence over the system of chivalry, but even over our modern manners, rather belonged to the Arabians than to the German tribes."

Upon the ruins of the knights templar and hospitaller, who obtained large possession in Spain after their return from the crusades, arose three new chivalric orders; Santiago or St James, Calatrava, and Alcantara. The first of these orders was approved by papal bull in 1175. The story of its origin is briefly as follows: During their struggles with the infidels, the apostle St James had vouchsafed on many occasions to appear in aid and encouragement of the Christians. His body, which had been miraculously discovered, was interred at Compostela, a small town in Galicia. Thither resorted many pilgrims who, in the performance of their pious duty, suffered greatly from the constant annoyances of the Arabs. For the protection of these devout itinerants, several knights and cavaliers united and formed the order of Santiago. The members of this order were distinguished by a white mantle, upon which was embroidered a red cross, shaped as a sword, under which was an escalop shell, this being the device upon the banner of their saint when he appeared to them upon the eve of battle. And many a death-shriek has gone up from the wilderness of America in answer to the terrible battle-cry of the steel-clad Christians: "Santiago y a ellos!" Saint James and at them! The fraternity of Santiago were sworn to obedience, chastity, and community of property. The orders of Calatrava and Alcantara imposed upon their members greater austerity. The obligation of perpetual celibacy was assumed; they were obliged to sit at table in unbroken silence; to eat the plainest food, with but one dish of meat three times a week, and to sleep armed and ready for battle. During the conquest of Granada these chivalric orders vied with each other in presenting an imposing appearance in the field. There always existed between them a generous rivalry; at the first in the loftiness and severity of their vows, and at the last in the skill with which they evaded them.

Chivalry at length met its death at the hand of military art. As early as the fourteenth century knights began to desert their round-table principles, and fight for those who would pay them best. But in Spain the spirit lingered long after the form had departed. Not until Cervantes had published his caustic carica-

WALLED TOWNS. L3

ture, a hundred years and more after America's discovery, was the passion for knight-errantry wholly eradicated from the popular mind. The ridiculous antics of the valorous knight of La Mancha were too much for even the sedate Spaniard to swallow, with all his reverence for the past.

With the building of walled towns there is a new shuffle and a new deal in the game of statecraft. The mail-clad barons and their restless retainers find their match in the stout burghers of the cities. This new order, the French tiers-etat, the English commonalty, is played by the kings against the nobles, and the result is a decline in lawless oppression, and a rise in lawful tyranny. Hitherto every link in the chain which bound men together was forged by injustice. The weak and the wretched, unable to defend themselves, were forced to take refuge within castle walls; and thus the power of the nobles was increased as that of the people diminished. The forming of independent municipal communities, therefore, with a republican form of government, is a long stride forward. Banding and walling themselves in, the commoners are able to bid defiance to their old masters. The sovereign, who is king in name only, regards the rise of this new power with favor ; or if not, he is powerless to oppose it.

The towns become cradles of liberty, a refuge for the oppressed. Slaves and serfs resorting thither, and there remaining unmolested for one year, are free men. Wealth, the precursor of refinement, begins to accumulate; laws are made and the machinery of courts adapted to requirements. To enlarge their influence, municipalities join the sovereign against his barons, or forming leagues among themselves, become independent of both king and nobles.

Kingcraft now becomes an art. Baronial castles are thrown down, burying dead feudalism beneath the ruins. A check is placed upon the growing power of

14 COMPAHAIIVE CIVILIZATIONS AND SAVAGISMS.

the cities, and surging to the opposite extreme monarchy rises into despotism. A divine power, if not a celestial origin, is ascribed to rulers. The king can do no evil; his word is not only law, but righteous law. The doctrine of balancing power arises — first, domestic, the feudal principle balanced by the municipal, with the ecclesiastical held in reserve to be thrown into either side of the scale as the interests of the church dictate; and finally, as petty principalities coalesce, the states thus formed hold each other in check. That brilliant trio, Charles V., Francis L, and Henry YIIL, divide between them Europe and America, then fight each other for the supremacy. These mighty potentates in their lust of pomp and power, actuated by no principle save that of personal aggrandizement, crimson the soil of Europe with the blood of their subjects, and then themselves return to dust.

With artful kingcraft, killing becomes an art. Hitherto men had roamed for prey singly or in small bands ; now they unite and establish rules under which their murderous propensities may be more fully gratified. Time was employed not unequally in pursuing those arts w^hich led to taking and to sustaining life. The und rilled artisan, however, made but a poor soldier, while raids and fiofhtincvs w^ere not the schools of prosperous husbandry, nor were the higher functions of the government less paralyzed by the heterogeneous fragments into which the military force of the nation was split. Grand results can be achieved only by united strength and concerted action. It is only when the resources of the state are firmly grasped and absolutely wielded by one sole sovereign, that tranquillity at home and respect abroad can be maintained. Before armies were established, disputatious cavaliers vacillated, almost at will, between the court and their feudal domains; but however fascinatino^ such a life might be to themselves, it was one little calculated to

STANDING ARMIES. 15

elevate the people, or strengthen the arm of the government. In order to mitigate this evil, the sovereigns of Europe, about the middle of the fifteen tli century, introduced the system of standing armies. During the turbulence and anarchy of feudalism, except in Spain where the several states were obliged to unite against the encroachments of the Arabs, knowledge of military tactics and the manoeuvring of large bodies of troops were in a measure lost. In 1445 Charles VII. of France withdrew from the influence of the barons fifteen hundred men-at-arms, and placed them under pay of the government. His example was followed by other nations, to whom the advantages of the system soon became apparent. The employment of mercenary troops, who adopted arms as a profession, and who were kept in constant training, and under the immediate eye of their king, greatly strengthened the government; while the mass of the people, relieved from sudden and constant calls to do military service, were enabled to prosecute their several vocations with greater advantage to themselves and to the state.

Up to this time the rules of chivalry had prevented gentlemen from appearing upon the field of battle except in full armor and mounted, with all the gaudy paraphernalia of the tournament. And by them the fate of battle was determined; but little dependence was to be placed on undisciplined churls drawn from the baronial estates. All this was now changed by the appearance of a new element in military practice, destined by intensifying war to promote the interests of peace. Gunpowder, an invention of the Chinese, was carried by the Arabs into Spain, whence it spread throughout Europe.

With the use of fire-arms the machinery of war became more complicated, the necessity for discipline was increased; the mounted cavalier, encased in breastplate, helmet, and shield, lost his advantage, and the cavalr}^ became more formidable. But the adop-

16 COMPARATIVE CIVILIZATIONS AND ^AVAGISMS.

tion of any new invention at that time took place but slowly, and not until long after the conquest of America were their ancient implements of warfare laid aside by the Spaniards. A curious medley of death -dealing instruments was displayed upon the battle-fields of the sixteenth century. Cross-bows, battle-axes, pikes, and arquebuses, short-swords, bucklers, daggers, and pistols w^ere placed into the hands of the infantry; while the stately knight, glittering in full armor with lance and sword, sought out some duel better suited to his arm and humor. Besides a clumsy artillery, hurling from various machines balls of stone or iron, there were mounted archers who did good service. The long-bow was a formidable weapon, projecting an arrow two hundred yards through a breastplate or an inch plank. The Saracen knight fought with lance and buckler, mounted on a richly caparisoned horse ; the Saracen footmen with cross-bow, cimeter, spear, and arquebuse.

Fortress walls were scaled by the escaladores, under cover of mantelets, or movable parapets; and for effecting an entrance into walled towns, large wooden towers, provided with ladders, drawbridges, and all the requisite apparatus, were rolled up to the ramparts, whence the attacking party emerged upon the wall-top and descended into the city.

During the wars of Granada, artillery being the arm most necessary for the carrying of fortified places, their catholic majesties gave every attention to the perfection of this weapon. From Valencia, from Barcelona, from Portugal, from Flanders, and from Sicily powder was brought, and with that belonging to the kingdom, deposited in underground magazines. Artillery officers were procured from Italy, France, and Germany; guns were multiplied; their construction was improved, and more convenient proportions given to their caliber. The batteries increased the rapidity and force of their fire ; burning mixtures were brouo^ht