Gatherings From Spain Part 23

[Sidenote: SPANISH STOCK.]

Here, alas! the pen must be laid down; an express from Albemarle-street informs us, that this page must go to press next week, seeing that the printer's devils celebrate Christmas time with a most religious abstinence from work. Many things of Spain must therefore be left in our inkstand, filled to the brim with good intentions. We had hoped, at our onset, to have sketched portraits of the Provincial and General Character of Spanish Men--to have touched upon Spanish Soldiers and Statesmen--Journalism and Place Hunting--Mendicants, Ministers and Mosquitoes--Charters, Cheatings, and Const.i.tutions--Fine Arts--French and English Politics--Legends, Relics, and Religion--Monks and Manners; and last, not least--reserved indeed as a bonne bouche--the Eyes, Loves, Dress, and Details of the Spanish Ladies. It cannot be--nay, even as it is, "for stories somehow lengthen when begun," and especially if woven with Spanish yarn, even now the indulgence of our fair readers may be already exhausted by this sample of the _Cosas de Espana_. Be that as it may, a.s.suredly the smallest hint of a desire to the flattering contrary, which they may condescend to express, will be obeyed as a command by their grateful and humble servant the author, who, as every true Spanish Hidalgo very properly concludes on similar, and on every occasion, "kisses their feet."

_Postscript._--In the first number of these Gatherings, at page 38, some particulars were given of Spanish Stock, derived, as was believed, from the most official and authentic sources. On the very evening that the volume was published, and too late therefore for any corrections, the following obliging letter was received from an anonymous correspondent, which is now printed verbatim:--

_London, 30th November, 1846._

SIR,

I HAVE just perused your valuable and amusing work, 'Gatherings from Spain;' but must own I felt somewhat annoyed at seeing so gross a misrepresentation in the account you give of the national debt of that country; the amount you give is perfectly absurd. You say it has been increased to 279,033,089_l._--this is too bad. Now I can give you the exact amount. The 5 per cents. consists of 40,000,000_l._ only; the coupons upon that sum to 12,000,000_l._; and the present 3 per cents. to 6,000,000_l._; in all, 58,000,000_l._, and their own domestic debt, which is very trifling. Now this is rather different to your statement; besides, you are doing your book great injury by writing the Spanish Stock down so; more particularly so, as there is no doubt some final settlement will be come to before your second Number appears [?].

The country is far from being as you misrepresent it to be--bankrupt. She is very rich, and quite capable of meeting her engagements which are so trifling--if you were to write down our Railroads I should think you a sensible man, for they are the greatest bubbles, since the great South Sea bubble. But Spanish is a fortune to whoever is so fortunate as to possess it now. I am, and have been for some years, a large holder, and am now looking forward to the realization of all my plans, in the present Minister of Finance, Senor Mon, and the rising of that stock to its proper price--about 60 or 70.

I should, as a friend, advise you to correct your book before you strike any more copies, if you wish to sell it, as a true representation of the present existing state of the country. Your book might have done ten years ago, but people will not be gulled now; we are too well aware that almost all our own papers are bribed (and, perhaps, books), to write down Spanish, and Spanish finance, by raising all manner of reports--of Carlist bands appearing in all directions, &c. &c. &c. &c., which is most absurd--the Carlists' cause is dead.

[Sidenote: THE AUTHOR'S POSTSCRIPT.]

I hope, Sir, you will not be offended with these lines, but rather take them as a friendly hint, as I admire your book much; and I hope you will yourself see the falsity of what has been inserted in a work of amus.e.m.e.nt, and correct it at once.

I remain, Sir, Your obedient and humble Servant, A FRIEND OF TRUTH.

_To ---- Ford, Esq._

It is a trifle "too bad" to be thus set down by our complimentary correspondent as the inventor of these startling facts, figures, and "fallacies," since the full, true, and exact particulars are to be found at pages 85 and 89 of Mr. Macgregor's Commercial Tariffs of Spain, presented to both Houses of Parliament in 1844 by the command of Her Majesty. And as there was some variance in amount, the author all through quoted from other men's sums, and spoke doubtingly and approximatively, being little desirous of having anything connected with Spanish debts laid at his door, or charged to his account. He has no interest whatever in these matters, having never been the fortunate holder of one farthing either in Spanish funds or even English railroads. Equally a friend of truth as his kind monitor, he simply wished to caution fair readers, who might otherwise mis-invest, as he erroneously it appears conceived, the savings in their pin-money. If he has unwittingly stated that which is not, he can but give up his authority, be very much ashamed, and insert the antidote to his errors.

He sincerely hopes that all and every one of the bright visions of his anonymous friend may be realized. Had he himself, which Heaven forfend!

been sent on the errand of discovery whether the Madrid ministers be made, or not, of squeezable materials, considering that Astraea has not yet returned to Spain, with good governments, the golden age, or even a tariff, his first step would have been to grease the wheels with _sovereign_ ointment; and with a view of not being told by ministers and cashiers to call again to-morrow, he would have opened the _negocio_ by offering somebody 20 per cent. on all the hard dollars paid down; thus possibly some breath and time might be economised, and trifling disappointments prevented.

London: Printed by WILLIAM CLOWES and SONS, Stamford Street

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The word _Gabacho_, which is the most offensive vituperative of the Spaniard against the Frenchman, and has by some been thought to mean "those who dwell on Gaves," is the Arabic _Cabach_, detestable, filthy, or "qui prava indole est, moribusque." In fact the real meaning cannot be further alluded to beyond referring to the clever tale of _El Frances y Espanol_ by Quevedo. The antipathy to the Gaul is natural and national, and dates far beyond history. This nickname was first given in the eighth century, when Charlemagne, the Buonaparte of his day, invaded Spain, on the abdication and cession of the crown by the chaste Alonso, the prototype of the wittol Charles IV.; then the Spanish Moors and Christians, foes and friends, forgot their hatreds of creeds in the greater loathing for the abhorred intruder, whose "peerage fell" in the memorable pa.s.ses of Roncesvalles. The true derivation of the word _Gabacho_, which now resounds from these Pyrenees to the Straits, is blinked in the royal academical dictionary, such was the servile adulation of the members to their French patron Philip V. _Mueran los Gabachos_, "Death to the miscreants," was the rally cry of Spain after the inhuman butcheries of the terrorist Murat; nor have the echoes died away; a spark may kindle the prepared mine: of what an unspeakable value is a national war-cry which at once gives to a whole people a shibboleth, a rallying watch-word to a common cause! _Vox populi vox Dei._

[2] _Razzia_ is derived from the Arabic _Al ghazia_, a word which expresses these raids of a ferocious, barbarous age. It has been introduced to European dictionaries by the Pelissiers, who thus _civilize_ Algeria. They make a solitude, and call it peace.

[3] Faja; the Hhezum of Cairo. Atrides tightens his sash when preparing for action--Iliad xi. 15. The Roman soldiers kept their money in it.

Ibit qui _zonam_ perdidit.--Hor. ii. Ep. 2. 40. The Jews used it for the same purpose--Matthew x. 9; Mark vi. 8. It is loosened at night. "None shall slumber or sleep, neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed."--Isaiah v. 27.

[4] The dread of the fascination of the evil eye, from which Solomon was not exempt (Proverbs xxiii. 6), prevails all over the East; it has not been extirpated from Spain or from Naples, which so long belonged to Spain. The lower cla.s.ses in the Peninsula hang round the necks of their children and cattle a horn tipped with silver; this is sold as an amulet in the silver-smiths' shops; the cord by which it is attached _ought_ to be braided from a black mare's tail. The Spanish gipsies, of whom Borrow has given us so complete an account, thrive by disarming the _mal de ojo_, "_querelar nasula_," as they term it. The dread of the "_Ain ara_"

exists among all cla.s.ses of the Moors. The better cla.s.ses of Spaniards make a joke of it; and often, when you remark that a person has put on or wears something strange about him, the answer is, "_Es para que no me hagan mal de ojo_." Naples is the head-quarters for charms and coral amulets: all the learning has been collected by the Canon Jorio and the Marques Arditi.

[5] The _garanon_ is also called "_burro padre_" a.s.s father, not "_padre burro_." "_Padre_," the prefix of paternity, is the common t.i.tle given in Spain to the clergy and the monks. "Father jacka.s.s" might in many instances, when applied to the latter, be too morally and physically appropriate, to be consistent with the respect due to the celibate cowl and ca.s.sock.

[6] When George IV. once complained that he had _lost_ his royal appet.i.te, "What a sc.r.a.pe, sir, a _poor_ man would be in if he _found_ it!" said his Rochester companion.

[7] The very word _Novelty_ has become in common parlance synonymous with danger, change, by the fear of which all Spaniards are perplexed; as in religion it is a heresy. Bitter experience has taught all cla.s.ses that every change, every promise of a new era of blessing and prosperity has ended in a failure, and that matters have got worse: hence they not only bear the evils to which they are accustomed, rather than try a speculative amelioration, but actually prefer a bad state of things, of which they know the worst, to the possibility of an untried good. _Mas vale el mal conocido, que el bien por conocer._ "How is my lady the wife of your grace?" says a Spanish gentleman to his friend. "_Como esta mi Senora la Esposa de Usted?_" "She goes on without Novelty"--"_Sigue sin Novedad_," is the reply, if the fair one be much the same. "_Vaya Usted con Dios, y que no haya Novedad!_" "Go with G.o.d, your grace! and may nothing new happen," says another, on starting his friend off on a journey.

[8] Forks are an Italian invention: old Coryate, who introduced this "neatnesse" into Somersetshire, about 1600, was called _furcifer_ by his friends. Alexander Barclay thus describes the previous English mode of eating, which sounds very _ventaish_, although worse mannered:--

"If the dishe be pleasaunt, eyther flesche or fische, Ten hands at once swarm in the dishe."

[9] The kings of Spain seldom use any other royal signature, except the ancient Gothic _rubrica_, or mark. This monogram is something like a Runic knot. Spaniards exercise much ingenuity in these intricate flourishes, which they tack on to their names, as a collateral security of authenticity. It is said that a _rubrica_ without a name is of more value than a name without a rubrica. Sancho Panza tells Don Quixote that his rubrica alone is worth, not one, but three hundred jacka.s.ses. Those who cannot write rubricate; "_No saber firmar_,"--not to know how to sign one's name,--is jokingly held in Spain to be one of the attributes of grandeeship.

[10] "Chacun fuit a le voir naitre, chacun court a le voir mourir!"--_Montaigne._

[11] Halla.r.s.e en _Cinta_ is the Spanish equivalent for our "being in the family way."

[12] Recopilacion. Lib. iii. t.i.t. xvi. Ley 3.

[13] The love for killing oxen still prevails at Rome, where the ambition of the lower orders to be a butcher, is, like their white costume, a remnant of the honourable office of killing at the Pagan sacrifices. In Spain butchers are of the lowest caste, and cannot prove "purity of blood." Francis I. never forgave the "Becajo de Parigi"

applied by Dante to _his_ ancestor.