Seven Spanish Cities, and the Way to Them
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
J lL j I li'liili! HiHI Class TTP4I Book- Hl45 Seven Spanish Cities, AND THE WAY TO THEM. BY EDWARD E. HALE, AUTHOR OF "THE MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY," '*TEN TIMES ONE IS TEN," "IN HIS NAME," "THE INGHAM PAPERS," " HIS LEVEL BEST," "HOW TO DO IT," "what CAREER," ETC. " • > BOSTON: LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY, 1899. Copyright, 1883, By Edward E. Hale. 5*fct»W CamfrritJge: PRINTED BY JOHN WILSON AND SON, UNIVERSITY PRESS. PREFACE. WHY should this man write a book about Spain, when he was there so short a time? That is a very fair question. The answer is chiefly personal. In my very earliest days, an uncle, aunt, and cousin of mine, all very dear to me in my babyhood, went to Spain and remained there many years. Their letters from Spain and their Spanish curiosities were among the home excitements of my childhood; and the great red-letter day was the day of their return. Well do I recollect the box of bon-bons they brought me. There were some varieties in it, which I have never seen again to this day. This experience made Spain stand out fromv the map of Europe to my boyish eyes, and I felt a certain surprise that the geographies and the newspapers had so little to tell of it. In after days, there came to me a time when I hoped, for a little while, to be Mr. Prescott's iv PREFACE. reader in his great historical work. That hope was soon disappointed ; but it led me to the study of the Spanish language, and it brought me his kind friendship while he lived. Later yet, the duty next my hand proved to be that of the " South American Editor " of the Boston " Advertiser/' and with it came the neces- sity of tracing the histories of Spanish fortune in America. Beside this, I may say that the great pleasure of my life has been the study of American his- tory, which has, of course, constantly thrown nje back upon the long narratives of Spanish dis- covery. All these personal experiences have specially interested me in Spain. Still, Spain is so much " out of the way," that in two visits to Europe I had never thought it possible even to hurry over it. But, last summer, good luck aided me to make the rapid tour which is described in these pages, under circumstances very favorable. And in the hope that other people, who may be as curi- ous as I was, may be disposed to try the same adventure, I print this little book of travel. Still, it would never have been written, I fear, but for the suggestion of my friend Mr. Guild, himself so entertaining a narrator of travel and PREFACE. v adventure. He said to me, what was very true, after my return, that if I promised to write for his "Bulletin" a sketch of Spain once a week, I should do it ; but that if I promised myself to write a book, I should always mean to and never do it. So I wrote the sketches for his paper, which, with some additions, are here before the reader. I hope they may start some other par- ties on an expedition which shall prove as charming as ours. EDWARD E. HALE. St. Germain en Laye, France, June 7, 1883. CONTENTS. Page Preface iii Introductory 5 Chapter I. Bordeaux, Bayonne, and Roncesvalles 14 II. Bayonne to Madrid 28 III. Cordova 40 IV. Seville 56 V. Palos and Columbus 71 VI. Xeres, Cadiz, and Malaga 80 VII. Granada. The Alhambra .... 93 VIII. Worship in Spain ........ 118 IX. Across the Sierra 134 X. Madrid 155 XL Spanish Politics 166 XII. King and Administration 182 XIII. Perro Paco and the Bulls .... 198 XIV. Toledo 206 XV. Museums in Madrid 218 XVI. Out-Doors Life 228 XVII. Zaragoza 247 XVIII. Northward 263 XIX. Jaca 279 Index 325 SEVEN SPANISH CITIES. INTRODUCTORY. I HAVE wanted to go to Spain ever since I can remember. In this last spring and summer I was able to carry out this wish. My visit was very short, but the circumstances were singularly favorable. From a mass of mixed memoranda, and other material, I am now tempted to select and print these notes, in the hope that they may be of some use to persons intending to travel, and possibly of some amusement to friends of mine who stay at home. The party of which I was one was a party of four, — my sister, my daughter, and a younger friend, beside myself. The ladies are all enthu- siastic in drawing and painting, and the treas- ures of Spanish fine art were for them a great attraction. For me — I have been for forty years hoping to write " The History of the Pacific 6 SEVEN SPANISH CITIES. Ocean and its Shores. " At one and another favorable opportunity I have made collections of material for that history. Last winter I promised to furnish for the new " History of the United States " the chapter on the Discovery of California; in 1880 I had written the chapter on that subject for Gay's " Pictorial History." Be- fore I sent this chapter to the press I was desirous to make some examinations in detail of the doc- uments in Spanish archives relating to Cortez's discovery of California and to the subsequent explorations of different adventurers. I had thus an archaeological object; the ladies had an artistic object; and all of us were glad to be "off soundings," and to have what the English of Dryden's day would have called " a good time." It is said that phrase is lost to the English of to-day. So much the worse for them. New Englanders will understand it. It may as well be said in the outset that we found all we sought in Spain, and very much more. Dear Michael Faraday said once, when he was asked to examine something with a micro- scope, " What am I expected to see?" It seems but fair to the reader of these notes — doubt- ful whether he will go on or whether he will not explore another page — it seems but fair to make such an explanation as I have now INTRODUCTORY. 7 made as to what he is expected to find if he perseveres. All sorts of advice were lavished on me when the little public of my friends fairly found out that I was going. There was a party who were eager that I should go in winter. Another, headed by those who had read " A Summer in Spain," were equally eager that I should go in summer. Another set advised autumn ; and yet a fourth, spring. Privately, in my own mind, I determined that I would go when I could. This plan brought upon me, however, a volley of re- monstrances from those who were sure that May and June were deadly months in Spain. I had information laid before me tending to the belief that annually, in those months, the whole population of Spain died of typhoid fever, and was buried by the survivors. To which infor- mation I replied steadily, that when I came to London I would take advice. " Mr. Lowell would certainly know." It is always well to shield one's self under the shelter of a great name. The constituents were pacified; they soon for- got their own opinions, and I was left to form my own. When I came to London I found that my advisers thought I had better do much as I chose, — as sound advisers are apt to think when they talk to a man of sense. All ended, therefore, in my leaving Paris for Spain on the 8 SEVEN SPANISH CITIES. I oth of May. And the reader who doubts at this point may be reassured when he learns that I crossed the Pyrenees northward on my return — and left Spain for France — on the 27th of June. These notes, therefore, cover a period of only seven weeks. As this is a chapter of introductions, I will here give a few suggestions as to language. I had had to read Spanish more or less since I was sixteen years old. I thought for a week, at that time, that I was to be Mr. Prescott's reader and amanuensis in the preparation of his " History of the Conquest of Mexico. " That hope was dispelled at once ; but it did happen that for six years I was the " South American edi- tor " of the Boston " Daily Advertiser." Many a time at midnight have I manufactured intelligible news out of piles of unintelligible journals which had just been captured by our enterprising news-collectors. Of that life a little sketch was once published by me — not very badly exagger- ated — in the Boston " Miscellany.- 1 In reading American history, of course, I have been obliged to read much Spanish. But I had never talked in that language at all. By way of preparation, then, I took on board the " Germanic " when I " sailed for Europe, Prendergast's " Mastery 1 See page 79 in " The Man without a Country, and other Tales," by E. E. Hale. INTRODUCTORY. 9 hand-book of the Spanish language, and, with the aid of a friend, I began on the voyage. Before I left Spain I could make myself un- derstood, and could follow conversation, and public address more easily, than conversation- I spoke wretchedly, of course. But my expe- rience gives me great confidence in the " Mas- tery system." I had, long before, arrived at great distrust of all the ordinary systems.