Expelled from Spain | Page 9

said the priest, "is always called Murviedro."
"It is ridiculous to do so," I replied; "common sense forbids us calling a
thing old which was once young enough. That's as if you would tell me
that New Castille is really new."
"Well, Old Castille is more ancient than New Castille."
"No so. New Castille was only called so because it was the latest
conquest; but as a matter of fact it is the older of the two."
The poor priest took refuge in silence; shaking his head, and evidently
taking me for a madman.

I tried vainly to find Hannibal's head, and the inscription in honour of
Caesar Claudius, but I found out the remains of the amphitheatre.
The next day I remarked the mosaic pavement, which had been
discovered twenty years before.
I reached Valentia at nine o'clock in the morning, and found that I
should have to content myself with a bad lodging, as Marescalchi, the
opera manager, had taken all the best rooms for the members of his
company. Marescalchi was accompanied by his brother, a priest, whom
I found decidedly learned for his age. We took a walk together, and he
laughed when I proposed going into a cafe, for there was not such a
thing in the town. There were only taverns of the lowest class where the
wine is not fit to drink. I could scarcely believe it, but Spain is a
peculiar country. When I was at Valentia, a good bottle of wine was
scarcely obtainable, though Malaga and Alicante were both close at
hand.
In the first three days of my stay at Valentia (the birthplace of
Alexander VI.), I saw all the objects of interest in the town, and was
confirmed in my idea that what seems so admirable in the descriptions
of writers and the pictures of artists loses much of its charm on actual
inspection.
Though Valentia is blessed with an excellent climate, though it is well
watered, situated in the midst of a beautiful country, fertile in all the
choicest products of nature, though it is the residence of many of the
most distinguished of the Spanish nobility, though its women are the
most handsome in Spain, though it has the advantage of being the seat
of an archbishop; in spite of all these commodities, it is a most
disagreeable town to live in. One is ill lodged and ill fed, there is no
good wine and no good company, there is not even any intellectual
provision, for though there is a university, lettered men are absolutely
unknown.
As for the bridges, churches, the arsenal, the exchange, the town hall,
the twelve town gates, and the rest, I could not take pleasure in a town
where the streets are not paved, and where a public promenade is

conspicuous by its absence. Outside the town the country is delightful,
especially on the side towards the sea; but the outside is not the inside.
The feature which pleased me most was the number of small one-horse
vehicles which transport the traveller rapidly from one point to another,
at a very slight expense, and will even undertake a two or three days'
journey.
If my frame of mind had been a more pleasant one, I should have
travelled through the kingdoms of Murcia and Grenada, which surpass
Italy in beauty and fertility.
Poor Spaniards! This beauty and fertility of your land are the cause of
your ignorance, as the mines of Peru and Potosi have brought about
that foolish pride and all the prejudices which degrade you.
Spaniards, when will the impulse come? when will you shake off that
fatal lethargy? Now you are truly useless to yourselves, and the rest of
the world; what is it you need?
A furious revolution, a terrible shock, a conquest of regeneration; your
case is past gentle methods, it needs the cautery and the fire.
The first call I paid was on Donna Pelliccia. The first performance was
to be given in two days. This was not a matter of any difficulty, as the
same operas were to be presented as had been already played at
Aranjuez, the Escurial, and the Granja, for the Count of Aranda would
never have dared to sanction the performance of an Italian comic opera
at Madrid. The novelty would have been too great, and the Inquisition
would have interfered.
The balls were a considerable shock, and two years after they were
suppressed. Spain will never make any real advance, until the
Inquisition is suppressed also.
As soon as Donna Pelliccia arrived, she sent in the letter of introduction
she had received from the Duke of Arcos, three months before. She had
not seen the duke since their meeting at Aranjuez.

Madam," said Don Diego, the person to whom she was commended,