kings and the clergy had an equal interest in driving the Mohammedans from Spain. During nearly eight centuries, this compact between Church and State was a necessity forced upon the Spaniards by the peculiarities of their position; and, after the necessity had subsided, it naturally happened that the association of ideas survived the original danger, and that an impression had been made upon the popular mind which it was hardly possible to efface.

Evidence of this impression, and of the unrivalled loyalty it produced, crowds upon us at every turn. In no other country, are the old ballads so numerous and so intimately connected with the national history. It has, however, been observed, that their leading characteristic is the zeal with which they inculcate obedience and devotion to princes, and that from this source, even more than from military achievements, they draw their most favourite examples of virtue.6 In literature the first great manifestation of the Spanish mind was the poem of The Cid, written at the end of the twelfth century, in which we find fresh proof of that extraordinary loyalty which circumstances had forced upon the people.65 The ecclesiastical councils display a similar tendency; for, notwithstanding a few exceptions,

64"More ballads are connected with Spanish history than with any other, and, in general, they are better. The most striking peculiarity of the whole mass is, perhaps, to be found in the degree in which it expresses the national character. Loyalty is constantly prominent. The Lord of Butrago sacrifices his own life to save that of his sovereign," &c. Ticknor's History of Spanish Literature, vol i. p. 133. "In the implicit obedience of the old Spanish knight, the order of the king was paramount to every consideration, even in the case of friendship and love. This code of obedience has passed into a proverb-'mas pesa el Rey que la sangre.' Ford's Spain, p. 183. Compare the admirable little work of Mr. Lewes, The Spanish Drama, London, 1846, p. 120, "ballads full of war, loyalty, and love.'

65 See some interesting remarks in M. Tapia's Civilizacion Española, vol. i. He observes that, though cruelly persecuted by Alfonso, the first thing done by the Cid, after gaining a great victory, was to order one of his captains "para que lleve al rey Alfonso treinta caballos árabes bien ensillados, con sendas espadas pendientes de los arzones en señal de homenage, pesar del agravio que habia recibido." p. 274. And at p. 280, "comedido y obediente súbdito á un rey que tan mal le habia tratado.' Southey (Chronicle of the Cid, p. 268) notices with surprise that the Cid is represented in the old chronicles as "offering to kiss the feet of the king."

á

no other church has been equally eager in upholding the rights of kings.66 In civil legislation, we see the same principle at work; it being asserted, on high authority, that in no system of laws is loyalty carried to such extreme height as in the Spanish codes.67 Even their dramatic writers were unwilling to represent an act of rebellion on the stage, lest they should appear to countenance what, in the eyes of every good Spaniard, was one of the most heinous of all offences.68 Whatever the king came in contact with, was in some degree hallowed by his touch. No one might mount a horse which he had ridden;69 no one might marry a mistress whom he had

66 "Le xvi Concile de Tolède appelait les rois 'vicaires de Dieu et du Christ; et rien n'est plus fréquent dans les conciles de cette époque que leurs exhortations aux peuples pour l'observation du serment de fidélité à leur roi, et leurs anathêmes contre les séditieux." Sempere, Monarchie Espagnole, vol. i. p. 41. Aparte de los asuntos de derecho civil y canonico y de otros varios que dicen relacion al gobierno de la iglesia, sobre los cuales se contienen en todos ellos disposiciones muy útiles y acertadas, la mayor parte de las leyes dictadas en estas asambleas tuvieron por objeto dar fuerza y estabilidad al poder real, proclamando su inviolabilidad y estableciendo graves penas contra los infractores; condenar las heregías," &c. Antequera, Historia de la Legislacion Española, p. 47.

67 "Loyalty to a superior is carried to a more atrocious length_by the Spanish law than I have seen it elsewhere.' "The Partidas (P. 2, T. 13, L. 1) speaks of an old law whereby any man who openly wished to see the King dead, was condemned to death, and the loss of all that he had. The utmost mercy to be shown him was to spare his life and pluck out his eyes, that he might never see with them what he had desired. To defame the King is declared as great a crime as to kill him, and in like manner to be punished. The utmost mercy that could be allowed was to cut out the offender's tongue. P. 2, T. 13, L. 4." Southey's Chronicle of the Cid, p. 442. Compare Johnston's Civil Law of Spain, London, 1825, p. 269, on Blasphemers of the King."

68 Thus, Montalvan, the eminent poet and dramatist, who was born in 1602, "avoided, we are told, representing rebellion on the stage, lest he should seem to encourage it." Ticknor's History of Spanish Literature, vol. ii. p. 283. A similar spirit is exhibited in the plays of Calderon and of Lope de Vega. On the "Castilian loyalty" evinced in one of Calderon's comedies, see Hallam's Literature of Europe, 2d edit. London, 1843, vol. iii. p. 63; and as to Lope, see Lewes on the Spanish Drama, p. 78.

69His Majesty's horses could never be used by any other person. One day, while Philip IV. was going in procession to the church of Our Lady of Atocha, the Duke of Medina-de-las-Torres offered to present him with a beautiful steed which belonged to him, and which was accounted the finest in Madrid; but the King declined the gift, because he should regret to render so noble an animal ever after useless." Dunlop's Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 372. Madame d'Aulnoy, who travelled in Spain in 1679, and who, from her position, had access to the best sources of information, was told of this piece

deserted.70 Horse and mistress alike were sacred, and it would have been impious for any subject to meddle with what had been honoured by the Lord's anointed. Nor were such rules confined to the prince actually reigning. On the contrary, they survived him, and, working with a sort of posthumous force, forbad any woman whom he had taken as a wife, to marry, even after he was dead. She had been chosen by the king; such choice had already raised her above the rest of mortals; and the least she could do was to retire to a convent, and spend her life mourning over her irreparable loss. These regulations were enforced by custom rather than by law. They were upheld by the popular will, and were

of etiquette. "L'on m'a dit que lors que le Roy s'est servy d'un cheval, personne par respect ne le monte jamais." D'Aulnoy, Relation du Voyage d'Espagne, Lyon, 1693, vol. ii. p. 40. In the middle of the eighteenth century, I find another notice of this loyal custom, which, likely enough, is still a tradition in the Spanish stables. "If the king has once honoured a Pad so much as to cross his back, it is never to be used again by any body else." A Tour through Spain, by Udal ap Rhys, 2d edit. London, 1760, P. 15.

To Madame d'Aulnoy, who was very inquisitive respecting these matters, says (Relation du Voyage d'Espagne, vol. ii. p. 411), "Il y a une autre étiquette, c'est qu'après que le Roi a eu une Maitresse, s'il vient à la quitter, il faut qu'elle se fasse Religieuse, comme je vous l'ai déja écrit ; et l'on m'a conté que le feu Roi s'estant amoureux d'une Dame du Palais, il fut un soir fraper doucement à la porte de sa chambre. Comme elle comprit que c'estoit lui, elle ne voulut pas lui ouvrir, et elle se contenta de lui dire au travers de la porte, Baya, baya, con Dios, no quiero ser monja; c'est à dire, Allez, allez, Dieu vous conduise, je n'ai pas envie d'estre Religieuse.' too Henry IV. of Castile, who came to the throne in the year 1454, made one of his mistresses "abbess of a convent in Toledo ;" in this case to the general scandal, because, says Mr. Prescott, he first expelled "her predecessor, a lady of noble rank and irreproachable character." Prescott's Ferdinand and Isabella, vol. i. p. 68.

So

There is, however, one very remarkable old law, in the form of a canon enacted by the third Council of Saragossa, which orders that the royal widows "seront obligées à prendre l'habit de religieuses, et à s'enfermer dans un monastère pour le reste de leur vie." Fleury, Histoire Ecclésiastique, vol. ix. p. 104. In 1065 Ferdinand I. died; and, says the biographer of the Spanish Queens, "La Reyna sobrevivió: y parece, que muerto su marido, entró en algun Monasterio; lo que expressamos no tanto por la costumbre antigua, quanto por constar en la Memoria referida de la Iglesia de Leon, el dictado de Consagrada á Dios,' frasse que denota estado Religioso." Florez, Memorias de las Reynas Catholicas, Madrid, 1761, 4to, vol. i. p. 148. In 1667 it was a settled principle that "les reines d'Espagne n'en sortent point. Le couvent de las Señoras descalças reales est fondé afin que les reines veuves s'y enferment." Discours du Comte de Castrillo à la Reine d'Espagne, in Mignet's Négociations relatives à la Succession

the result of the excessive loyalty of the Spanish nation. Of that loyalty their writers often boast, and with good reason, since it was certainly matchless, and nothing seemed able to shake it. To bad kings and to good kings it equally applied. It was in full strength amid the glory of Spain in the sixteenth century; it was conspicuous when the nation was decaying in the seventeenth century; and it survived the shock of civil wars early in the eighteenth.72 Indeed, the feeling had so worked itself into the traditions of the country, as to become not only a national passion, but almost an article of national faith. Clarendon, in his History of that great English Rebellion, the like of which, as he well knew, could never have happened in Spain, makes on this subject a just and pertinent remark. He says that a want of respect for kings is regarded by the Spaniards as a "monstrous crime" "submissive reverence to their princes being a vital part of their religion."73

d'Espagne, vol. ii. p. 604, Paris, 1835, 4to. This valuable work consists for the most part of documents previously unpublished, many of which are taken from the Archives at Simancas. To the critical historian, it would have been more useful if the original Spanish had been given.

72 See some good remarks on San Phelipe, in Ticknor's History of Spanish Literature, vol. iii. pp. 213, 214, which might easily be corroborated by other testimony; as, for instance, Lafuente, under the year 1710: "Ni el abandono de la Francia, ni la prolongacion y los azares de la guerra, ni los sacrificios pecuniarios y personales de tantos años, nada bastaba á entibiar el amor de los castellanos á su rey Felipe V." (Historia de España, vol. xviii. p. 258); and Berwick (Mémoires, vol. ii. p. 114, edit. Paris, 1778): “La fidélité inouie des Espagnols;" and, nine years earlier, a letter from Louville to Torcy: “Le mot révolte, pris dans une acception rigoureuse, n'a pas de sens en Espagne." Louville, Mémoires sur l'établissement de la Maison de Bourbon en Espagne, edit. Paris, 1818, vol. i. p. 128. See also Memoirs of Ripperda, London, 1740, p. 58; and Mémoires de Gramont, vol. ii. p. 77, edit. Petitot, Paris, 1827. All these passages illustrate Spanish loyalty in the eighteenth century, except the reference to Gramont, which concerns the seventeenth, and which should be compared with the following observations of Madame d'Aulnoy, who writes from Madrid in 1679: "Quelques richesses qu'ayent les grands Seigneurs, quelque grande que soit leur fierté ou leur présomption, ils obéissent aux moindres ordres du Roy, avec une exactitude et un respect que l'on ne peut assez loüer. Sur le premier ordre ils partent, ils reviennent, ils vont en prison, ou en exil, sans se plaindre. Il ne se peut trouver une soûmission, et une obéïssance plus parfaite, ni un amour plus sincère, que celui des Espagnols pour leur Roi. Ce nom leur est sacré, et pour réduire le peuple à tout ce que l'on souhaite, il suffit de dire, 'Le Roi le veut." D'Aulnoy, Voyage, vol. ii. pp. 256, 257.

73"And Olivarez had been heard to censure very severely the duke's

These, then, were the two great elements of which the Spanish character was compounded. Loyalty and superstition; reverence for their kings and reverence for their clergy were the leading principles which influenced the Spanish mind, and governed the march of Spanish history. The peculiar and unexampled circumstances under which they arose, have been just indicated; and having seen their origin, we will now endeavour to trace their consequences. Such an examination of results will be the more important, not only because nowhere else in Europe have these feelings been so strong, so permanent, and so unmixed, but also because Spain, being seated at the further extremity of the Continent, from which it is cut off by the Pyrenees, has, from physical causes, as well as from moral ones, come little into contact with other nations.74 The course of affairs being, therefore, undisturbed by foreign habits, it becomes easier to discover the pure and natural consequences of superstition and loyalty, two of the most powerful and disinterested feelings which have ever occupied the human heart, and to whose united action we may clearly trace the leading events in the history of Spain.

The results of this combination were, during a con

(Buckingham's) familiarity and want of respect towards the prince, a crime monstrous to the Spaniard." "Their submiss reverence to their princes being a vital part of their_religion.' Clarendon's History of the Rebellion, ed. Oxford, 1843, p. 15. For the religion of loyalty, in an earlier period, see Florez, Reynas Catholicas, vol. i. p. 421 : La persona del Rey fue mirada de sus fieles vassallos con respeto tan sagrado," that resistance una especie de sacrilegio."

was

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74 These impediments to intercourse were once deemed almost invincible. Fontenay-Mareuil, who visited Spain in 1612, and was not a little proud of the achievement, says, "Au reste, parcequ'on ne va pas aussy ordinairement en Espagne qu'en France, en Italie et ailleurs; et qu'estant comme en un coin, et séparée du reste du monde par la mer ou par les Pyrénées, on n'en a, ce me semble, guere de connoissance, j'ay pensé que je devois faire icy une petite digression pour dire ce que j'en ay appris dans ce voyage et despuis." Mémoires de Fontenay-Mareuil, in Collection des Mémoires par Petitot, vol. L. p. 169, 1a Série, Paris, 1826. Seventy years later, another writer on Spain says of the Pyrenees, "Ces montagnes sont à nos voyageurs modernes, ce qu'étoit aux anciens mariniers le Non plus ultra et les colomnes du grand Hercule." L'Estat de l'Espagne, Geneve, 1681, Epistre, p. ii. This work, little known, and not much worth knowing, forms the third volume of Le Prudent Voyageur.

VOL. II.

D