Page images
PDF
EPUB

this proud scene of his triumphs, but never by your cortejo shall die! replied the sergeant the old soldiers of Aragon and the Austrias, who assisted to vanquish the French at Salamanca and the Pyrenees. I have heard the manner of riding of an English jockey criticised, but it was by the idotic heir of Medina Celi, and not by a picador of the Madrilenian bull-ring."-pp. 246

-256.

At Madrid Mr. Borrow applied for assist ance in his printing business to our minister, Mr. Villiers (now Lord Clarendon), and from him and his secretary, Mr. Southerne, he received all the support and countenance he could have hoped or expected. The character and manners of the missionary made, we have no doubt, a very favorable impression on those accomplished functionaries, and through their recommendation he at last received a hint that, though a formal license was out of the question, his operations should be winked at. He printed his Bible accordingly, and he also wrote and printed a translation of St. Luke's Gospel into the Gipsy dialect of Spain-a copy of which we have now before us-we believe the first book that ever was printed in any Gipsy dialect whatever. But Mr. Borrow had arrived in Madrid at a very interesting period, and we cannot but extract at some length from the chapter in which he paints from the life the revolution of La Granja and the fate of Quesada.

*

Ho! ho! my lads, get ready your arms, and send four bullets through the fellow's brain.' Munos was forthwith led to the wall, and compelled to kneel down; the soldiers levelled their muskets, and another moment would have consigned the unfortunate wight to eternity, when Christina, forgetting every thing but the feelings with a shriek, exclaiming, 'Hold, hold! I sign, I of her woman's heart, suddenly started forward sign!"

"The day after this event, I entered the Puerta del Sol at about noon. There is always a crowd there about this hour, but it is generally a very quiet, motionless crowd, consisting of listless idlers, calmly smoking their cigars, or listening to or retailing the-in general--very dull news of the capital; but on the day of which I am speaking, the mass was no longer inert. There was much gesticulation and vociferation, and several people were running about, shouting, Vive la constitucion!—a cry which, a few days previously, would have been visited on the utterer been subjected to the rigor of martial law. I ocwith death; the city having for some weeks past casionally heard the words, 'La Granja! La Granja! which words were sure to be succeeded by the shout of 'Vive la constitucion! Opposite the Casa de Postas were drawn up in a line about a dozen mounted dragoons, some of whom were continually waving their caps in the air and joining in the common cry, in which they were encouraged by their commander, a handsome young officer, who flourished his sword, and more than once cried out, with great glee, 'Long live the constitutional queen! Long live the constitution!'

"The Granja, or Grange, is a royal country"The crowd was rapidly increasing, and sevseat, situated amongst pine-forests, on the other side of the Guadarama hills, about twelve leagues uniforms, but without their arms, of which they eral nationals made their appearance in their distant from Madrid. To this place the queen-had been deprived, as I have already stated. regent Christina had retired, in order to be aloof from the discontent of the capital, and to enjoy rural air and amusements in this celebrated re

treat, a monument of the taste and magnificence of the first Bourbon who ascended the throne of Spain. She was not, however, permitted to remain long in tranquillity; her own guards were disaffected, and more inclined to the principles of the constitution of 1823, than to those of absolute

What has become of the Moderado government?? said I to Baltasar, whom I suddenly observed amongst the crowd, dressed, as when I had first seen him, in his old regimental great-coat and and others put in their place?' foraging-cap; 'have the ministers been deposed,

666

tailor; 'not yet; the scoundrels still hold out, "Not yet, Don Jorge,' said the little soldierrelying on the brute bull Quesada and a few inmonarchy, which the Moderados were attempt-fantry, who still continue true to them; but there ing to revive again in the government of Spain. is no fear, Don Jorge; the queen is ours, thanks Early one morning, a party of these soldiers, to the courage of my friend Garcia; and if the headed by a certain Sergeant Garcia, entered her brute bull should make his appearance-ho! ho! apartment, and proposed that she should sub- Don Jorge, you shall see something!-I am prescribe her hand to this constitution, and swear solemnly to abide by it. Christina, however, who pared for him, ho! ho! And thereupon he half was a woman of considerable spirit, refused to opened his great-coat, and showed me a small comply with this proposal, and ordered them to gun, which he bore beneath it in a sling, and then, withdraw. A scene of violence and tumult ensued, moving away with a wink and a nod, disappeared amongst the crowd. but, the regent still continuing firm, the soldiers at length led her down to one of the courts of the palace, where stood her well-known paramour Munos, bound and blindfolded. 'Swear to the constitution, you she-rogue vociferated the swarthy sergeant. Never said the spirited daughter of the Neapolitan Bourbons. Then

Embéo e Majaró Lucas; Brotoboro Randado andré la Chipe Griega, acana Chibado andre o Romano, ò Chipe es Zincales de Sesé. 1837. 12mo.

advancing up the Calle Mayor, or principal street, "Presently I perceived a small body of soldiers which runs from the Puerta del Sol, in the direction of the palace: they might be about twenty in number, and an officer marched at their head with a drawn sword; the men appeared to have been collected in a hurry, many of them being in fatigue-dress, with foraging-caps on their heads. On they came, slowly marching; neither their officer nor themselves paying the slightest atten

tion to the cries of 'Long live the constitution!' words, Quesada! Quesada! The foot soldiers save and except by a surly side-glance; on they stood calm and motionless; but the cavalry, with marched, with contracted brows and set teeth, the young officer who commanded them, distill they came in front of the cavalry, where they played both confusion and fear, exchanging with halted, and drew up in a rank. each other some hurried words. All of a sudden that part of the crowd which stood near the mouth of the Calle de Carretas fell back in great disorder, leaving a considerable space unoccupied, and the next moment Quesada, in complete general's uniform, and mounted on a bright bay thorough-bred English horse with a drawn sword in his hand, dashed at full gallop into the area, in much the same manner as I have seen a Manchegan bull rush into the amphitheatre when the gates of his pen are suddenly flung

"Those men mean mischief,' said I to my friend D, of the Morning Chronicle; but what can those cavalry fellows behind them mean, who are evidently of the other opinion by their shouting: why don't they charge at once this handful of foot people, and overturn them? Once down, the crowd would wrest from them their muskets in a moment. You are a Liberal: why do you not go to that silly young man who commands the horse, and give him a word of counsel in time?'

"D—— turned upon me his broad, red, goodhumored English countenance, with a peculiarly arch look, as much as to say . . . . . (whatever you think most applicable, gentle reader): then taking me by the arm, 'Let us get,' said he, 'out of this crowd, and mount to some window, where I can write down what is about to take place, for I agree with you that mischief is meant.' Just opposite the post-office was a large house, in the topmost story of which we beheld a paper displayed, importing that apartments were to let; whereupon we instantly ascended the common stair, and having agreed with the mistress of the étage for the use of the front room for the day, we bolted the door, and the reporter, producing his pocket-book and pencil, prepared to take notes of the coming events, which were already casting their shadow before.

What most extraordinary men are these reporters of the English newspapers! Surely, if there be any class of individuals who are entitled to the appellation of cosmopolites, it is these, who pursue their avocation in all countries indifferently, and accommodate themselves at will to the manners of all classes of society: their fluency of style as writers is only surpassed by their facility of language in conversation, and their attainments in classical and polite literature only by their profound knowledge of the world, acquired by an early introduction into its bustling scenes. The activity, energy, and courage which they occasionally display in the pursuit of information are truly remarkable. I saw them during the three days at Paris, mingled with canaille and gamins behind the barriers, whilst the mitraille was flying in all directions, and the desperate cuirassiers were dashing their fierce horses against those seemingly feeble bulwarks. There stood they, dotting down their observations in their pocket-books, as unconcernedly as if reporting the proceedings of a reform meeting in Finsbury-square; whilst in Spain, several of them accompanied the Carlist and Christino guerillas in some of their most desperate raids, exposing themselves to the danger of hostile bullets, the inclemency of winter, and the fierce heat of the

open.

"He was closely followed by two mounted officers, and at a short distance by as many dragoons. In almost less time than is sufficient to relate it, several individuals in the crowd were knocked down, and lay sprawling beneath the horses of Quesada and his two friends, for, as to the dragoons, they halted as soon as they had entered the Puerta del Sol. It was a fine sight to see three men, by dint of valor and good horsemanship, strike terror into at least as many thousands. I saw Quesada spur his horse repeatedly into the dense masses of the crowd, and then extricate himself in the most masterly manner. The rabble were completely awed and gave way, retiring by the Calle del Comercio and the street of Aleala. All at once Quesada singled out two nationals who were attempting to escape, and, setting spurs to his horse, turned them in a moment, and drove them in another direction, striking them in a contemptuous manner with the flat of his sabre. He was crying out "Long live the absolute Queen!" when, just beneath me, amidst a portion of the crowd which had still maintained its ground, perhaps from not having the means of escaping, I saw a small gun glitter for a moment, then there was a sharp report, and a bullet had nearly sent Quesada to his long account, passing so near to the countenance of the general as to graze his hat. I had an indistinct view for a moment of a well-known foraging cap* just about the spot from whence the gun had been discharged, then there was a rush of the crowd, and the shooter, whoever he was, escaped discovery amidst the confusion which arose.

"As for Quesada, he seemed to treat the danger from which he had escaped with the utmost contempt. He glared about him fiercely for a moment, then leaving the two nationals, who sneaked away like whipped hounds, he went up to the young officer who commanded the cavalry, and who had been active in raising the cry of the Constitution, and to him he addressed a few words with an air of stern menace; the youth evidently quailed before him, and, probably in obedience to his orders, resigned the command of the party, and rode slowly away "We had scarcely been five minutes at the with a discomfited air; whereupon Quesada diswindow, when we heard the clattering of hors-mounted and walked slowly backwards and fores' feet hastening down the Calle de Carretas. As the sounds became louder and louder, the cries of the crowd below diminished, and a species of panic seemed to have fallen upon all; once or twice, however, I could distinguish the

summer sun.

wards before the Casa de Postas with a mien
which seemed to bid defiance to mankind.
"This was the glorious day of Quesada's ex-
* Mr. Borrow means the little tailor's cap.

istence, his glorious and last day. I call it the Calle d'Alcala capable of holding several hunday of his glory, for he certainly never before dred individuals. On the evening of the day in appeared under such brilliant circumstances, question, I was sitting there, sipping a cup of the and he never lived to see another sun set. No brown beverage, when I heard a prodigious action of any conqueror or hero on record is to noise and clamor in the street: it proceeded be compared with this closing scene of the life from the nationals, who were returning from of Quesada; for who, by his single desperate their expedition. In a few minutes I saw a courage and impetuosity, ever before stopped a body of them enter the coffee house, marching revolution in full course? Quesada did: he arm in arm, two by two, stamping on the stopped the revolution at Madrid for one entire ground with their feet in a kind of measure, and day, and brought back the uproarious and hostile repeating in loud chorus as they walked round mob of a huge city to perfect order and quiet. the spacious apartment, the following grisly His burst into the Puerta del Sol was the most stanza: tremendous and successful piece of daring ever

Ta ra ra

[What comes a-clattering down the street?
'Tis the bones of Quesada.-Dog's meat! dog's
meat!]-

witnessed. I admired so much the spirit of theQue es lo que abaja por aquel cerro? Ta ra ra. "brute bull,” that I frequently, during his wild Son los huesos de Quesada, que los trae un perroonset, shouted "Viva Quesada !" for I wished him well. Not that I am of any political party or system. No, no! I have lived too long with Rommany Chals and Petulengres* to be of any politics save gipsy politics; and it is well known that, during elections, the children of Roma side "A huge bowl of coffee was then called for, with both parties so long as the event is doubt- which was 'placed upon a table, around which ful, promising success to each; and then, when gathered the national soldiers. There was sithe fight is done, and the battle won, invaria-lence for a moment, which was interrupted by a bly range themselves in the ranks of the victorious. But I repeat that I wished well to Quesada, witnessing, as I did, his stout heart and good horsemanship. Tranquillity was restored to Madrid throughout the remainder of the day; the handful of infantry bivouacked in the Puerta del Sol. No more cries of Long live the Constitution' were heard; and the revolution in the capital seemed to have been effectually put down. It is probable, indeed, that, had the chiefs of the moderado party but continued true So much for Madrid and its Patriots in to themselves for forty-eight hours longer, their February, 1836. We perceive that we cause would have triumphed, and the revolu- have filled our alloted space, and must tionary soldiers at the Granja would have been therefore conclude abruptly with a page glad to restore the Queen Regent to liberty, and to have come to terms, as it was well known from Mr. Borrow's account of his first visit that several regiments who still continued loyal to Seville. It appears that the world conwere marching upon Madrid. The moderados, tains one character more who has wandered however, were not true to themselves that as oddly as himself.

very night their hearts failed them, and they

voice roaring out 'El panuelo! A blue ker-
chief was forthwith produced: it was untied,
and a gory hand and three or four dissevered
fingers made their appearance: and with these
the contents of the bowl were stirred up. 'Cups!
cups! cried the nationals. 'Ho, ho, Don
Jorge !" cried Baltasarito, 'pray do me the fa-
vor to drink upon this glorious occasion.""
p. 301.

fled in various directions-Isturitz and Galiano "I had returned from a walk in the country, to France, and the Duke of Rivas to Gibraltar: on a glorious sunshiny morning of the Andaluthe panic of his colleagues even infected Que-sian winter, and was directing my steps towards sada, who, disguised as a civilian, took to flight. my lodging; as I was passing by the portal of a He was not, however, so successful as the rest, but was recognized at a village about three leagues from Madrid, and cast into the prison by some friends of the constitution. Intelligence of his capture was instantly transmitted to the capital, and a vast mob of the nationals, some on foot, some on horseback, and others in cabriolets, instantly set out. "The nationals are coming," said a paisano to Quesada. "Then," said he, "I am lost ;" and forthwith prepared himself for death."

The catastrophe is indicated with the skill of a real ballad-poet :

"There is a celebrated coffee-house in the

* This Gipsy word, it seems, is half-Sanscrit, and signifies Lords of the Horseshoe.' Mr. Borrow adds, "It is one of the private cognominations of 'The Smiths,' an English Gipsy clan." Their school of politics is an extensive one.

large gloomy house near the gate of Xeres, two individuals dressed in zamarras emerged from the archway, and were about to cross my path, when one, looking in my face, suddenly started back, exclaiming, in the purest and most melodious French-What do I see? If my eyes do not deceive me-it is himself. Yes, the very same as I saw him first at Bayonne; then long subsequently beneath the brick wall at Novogorod; then beside the Bosphorus; and last at-at -oh, my respectable and cherished friend, where was it that I had last the felicity of seeing your well-remembered and most remarkable physiognomy?"

[ocr errors]

Myself. It was in the south of Ireland, if I mistake not. Was it not there that I introduced you to the sorcerer who tamed the savage horses by a single whisper into their ear? But tell me what brings you to Spain and Andalusia, the last place where I should have expected to find you?

"Baron Taylor. And wherefore, my most respectable B****? Is not Spain the land of the arts, and is not Andalusia of all Spain that portion which has produced the noblest monuments of artistic excellence and inspiration? Come with me, and I will show you a Murillo, such as . .. But first allow me to introduce you to your compatriot. My dear Monsieur W., turning to his companion (an English gentleman, from whom I subsequently experienced unbounded kindness at Seville), allow me to introduce you to my most cherished and respectable friend, one who is better acquainted with gipsy ways than the Chef des Bohemiens à Triana, one who is an expert whisperer and horse-sorcerer, and who, to his honor I say it, can wield hammer and tongs, and handle a horseshoe, with the best of the smiths amongst the Alpujarras.

THE EAST AND SOUTH OF EUROPE.

From Blackwood's Magazine for January 1843.

A Steam-voyage to Constantinople, by the
Rhine and Danube, in 1840-41, and to
Portugal, Spain, &c. By the Marquis of
Londonderry. In 2 vols. 8vo.

We have a very considerable respect for the writer of the Tour of which we are about to give extracts in the following pages. The Marquis of Londonderry is certainly no common person We are perfectly aware that he has been uncommonly abused by the Whigs-which we regard as almost a necessary tribute to his name: that he has "In the course of my travels I have formed received an ultra share of libel from the various friendships, but no one has more inter- Radicals-which we regard as equally to ested me than Baron Taylor. To accomplish- his honor; and that he is looked on by all ments of the highest order he unites a kindness the neutrals, of whatever color, as a perof heart rarely to be met with. His manners are naturally to the highest degree courtly, yet sonage too straightforward to be managed he nevertheless possesses a disposition so pliable by a bow and a smile. Yet, for all these that he finds no difficulty in accommodating things, we like him the better, and wish, as himself to all kinds of company. There is a says the old song

"We had within the realm,
Five hundred good as he."

mystery about him, which, wherever he goes, serves not a little to increase the sensation naturally created by his appearance and manner. Who he is no one pretends to assert with down- He is a straightforward, manly, and highright positiveness: it is whispered, however, spirited noble, making up his mind without that he is a scion of royalty; and who can gaze fee or reward, and speaking it with as little for a moment upon that most graceful figure, fear as he made it up; managing a large that most intelligent but singularly-moulded countenance, and those large and expressive eyes, without feeling as equally convinced that he is of no common lineage as that he is no common man? He has been employed by the illustrious house to which he is said to be related, in more than one delicate and important mission, both in the East and the West. He was now collecting master-pieces of the Spanish school of painting, which were destined to adorn

the saloons of the Tuileries. Whenever he
descries me, whether in the street or the desert,
the brilliant hall or amongst the Bedouin hai-
mas, at Novorogod or Stamboul, he flings up his
arms and exclaims, O ciel! I have again the
felicity of seeing my cherished and most respect
able B
"-p. 318.

and turbulent population with that authority which derives its force from good intention; constant in his attendance on his parliamentary duty; plain-spoken there, as he is everywhere; and possessing the influence which sincerity gives in every part of the world, however abundant in polish and place-hunting.

His early career, too, has been manly. He was a soldier and a gallant one. His mission to the allied armies, in the greatest campaign ever made in Europe, showed that he had the talents of council as well as of the field; and his appointment as ambassador to Vienna, gave a character of spirit, which it had seldom exhibited before, and and even of splendor, to British diplomacy which it is to be hoped it may recover with as little delay as possible. as little delay as possible.

We hope that we ourselves shall soon see again in print 'our cherished and most respectable Borrow;' and meantime congratulate him sincerely on a work which must vastly increase and extend his repu-perfluous time. Instead of giving way to We even like his employment of his su tation-which bespeaks everywhere a noble the fooleries of fashionable life, the absurdiand generous heart-a large and vigorous ties of galloping after hares and foxes, for nature, capable of sympathizing with every-months together, at Melton, or the patronthing but what is bad-religious feelings age of those scenes of perpetual knavery deep and intense, but neither gloomy nor which belong to the race-course, the Marnarrow-a true eye for the picturesque, quis has spent his vacations in making tours and a fund of racy humor.

to the most remarkable parts of Europe. It is true that Englishmen are great travellers, and that our nobility are in the habit of

wandering over the Continent. But the world knows no more of their discoveries, if they make such, or of their views of society and opinions of Governments, if they ever take the trouble to form any upon the subject, than of their notion of the fixed stars. That there are many accomplished among them, many learned, and many even desirous to acquaint themselves with what Burke called "the mighty modifications of the human race," beginning with a land within fifteen miles of our shores, and spreading to the extremities of the earth, we have no doubt. But in the countless majority of instances, the nation reaps no more benefit from their travels than if they had been limited from Bond street to Berkeley square. This cannot be said of the Marquis of Londonderry. He travels with his eyes open, looking for objects of interest and recording them. We are not now about to give him any idle panegyric on the occasion. We regret that his tours are so rapid, and his journals so brief. He passes by many objects we should wish to see illustrated, and turns off from many topics on which we should desire to hear the opinions of a witness on the spot. But we thank him for what he has given; hope that he will spend his next autumn and many others as he has spent the former; and wish him only to write more at large, to give us more characters of the rank with which he naturally associates, draw more contrasts between the growing civilization of the European kingdoms and our own; and adhering to his own straightforward conceptions, and telling them in his own sincere style, give us an annual volume as long as he lives.

Steamboats and railways have produced one curious effect, which no one anticipated. Of all the levellers they are the greatest. Their superiority over all other modes of travelling, crowds them with the peer as well as the peasant. Cabinets, and even queens, now abandon their easy, but lazy, equipages for the bird-like flight of iron and fire, and though the "special train" still sounds exclusive, the principle of commixture is already there, and all ranks will sweep on together.

The Marquis, wisely adopting the burgeois mode of travelling, set forth from the Tower Stairs, on a lovely morning at the close of August 1840. Fifty years ago, the idea of a general, an ambassador, and a peer, with his marchioness and suite, embarking on board the common conveyance of the common race of mankind, would have been regarded as an absolute impossibility; but the common sense of the world has now

decided otherwise. Speed and safety are now judged to be valuable compensations for state and seclusion; and when we see majesty itself, after making the experiments of yachts and frigates, quietly and comfortably return to its palace on board a steamer, we may be the less surprised at finding the Marquis of Londonderry and his family making their way across the Channel in the steamer Giraffe. Yet it is to be remarked, that though nothing can be more miscellaneous than the passengers, consisting of Englishmen, Frenchmen, Germans, Yankees; of Jews, Turks, and heretics; of tourists, phy sicians, smugglers, and all the other diversities of idling, business, and knavery; yet families who choose to pay for them, may have separate cabins, and enjoy as much privacy as possible with specimens of all the world within half an inch of their abode.

The voyage was without incident; and after a thirty hours' passage, the Giraffe brought them to the Brill and Rotterdam. It has been an old observation that the Dutch clean every thing but themselves; and nothing can be more matter of fact, than that the dirtiest thing in a house in Holland is generally the woman under whose direction all this scrubbing has been accomplished. The first aspect of Rotter dam is strongly in favor of the people. It exhibits very considerable neatness for a seaport-the Wapping of the kingdom; paint and even gilding is common on the outsides of the shops. The shipping, which here form a part of the town furniture, and are to be seen everywhere in the midst of the streets, are painted with every color of the rainbow, and carved and ornamented according to such ideas of taste in sculpture as are prevalent among Dutchmen; and the whole exhibits a good specimen of people who have as much to struggle with mud as if they had been born so many eels, and whose conceptions of the real color of the sky are even a shade darker than our own.

The steamboats also form a striking fea ture, which utterly eluded the wisdom of our ancestors. The are here, bearing all colors, from all the Rhenish towns, smoking and suffocating the Dutch, flying past their hard-working, slow-moving craft; and bring ing down, and carrying away, cargoes of every species of mankind. The increase of Holland in wealth and activity since the separation from Belgium, the Marquis regards as remarkable; and evidently having no penchant for our cousin Leopold, he declares that Rotterdam is at this moment worth more solid money than Antwerp,

« PreviousContinue »