Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1858-1860, 1858-11-23
To EDIron OF EvAsorrIsr:-~My ageis Six
The Escorial.

requires q perfect understanding OF the
character of the country in which it was
built. and of the monarch who built il. The
| traveller who gazes on it's long lines OF cold
! gray stone. scarcely broken by an ornament
| feels dreary sensation creeping over him,
while he contrasts IL with the lighter and
more graceful edifices to which his eve has
| been accustomed. Bnt be may read in this
the true expression of the founders character.
! Philip did not aim at the beautiful. much
less at the festive and cheerful. The feelings
which be desired to raise in the spec ator were
| of that solemn. indeed somhre- complex'on
| which corresponded best with his own religi-
| ous faith.
Whatever defects may be charged on the
Escorial. il IL impossible to view il from a
distance. and see the mighty pile as il
| energies from the gloomy depth Of the noun
tains. without feeling how perfectly IL con-
| forms in its aspect to the wild and melancholy
scenery of the sierra. Nor can one enter the
| cOnsecretrd precincts, without contrasting the
genius of the place, aud experiencing sensa-
| tions Of a mysterious awe as he wanders
| through the desolate halls. which fancy
peoples with the solemn images of the past.
The architect of the bnlding was embarrass-
ed by more than one difficulty of very
peculiar kind. 1t ia not simply a monastery
that he was TO build. The same edifce. as
we have seen. was 10 comprehend at once a
easy problem to reconcile Objects so discor-
dant, and infuse into them a common
principle Of unity 1t is no reproachh to the
builder that he did not perfctly succeed in
this and that the palace should impair the
predominant tone of feeling raised by the
other parts Of the structure. looking in fact
like an excrcscence, rather than anintegral
portion of the edifce.
Another difficulty, of more whimsical
nature. imposed on the architect, was the
necessity of accommodating the plan of the
building TO the form of grdirOn-as typical
of the kind of martyrdOm suffered by the
patron saints of the + CORRAL Thus the long
lines of closters with their intervening
courts served for the bars of the instrument.
The four lofty spires at the corners of the
monastery. represented it's legs inverted; and
the palace. extending its slender length
on the east. furnished the awkward handle.
1t is impossible for language to convey any
ADEQUATE idea of a work of art. Yet archi-
lecture has this advantage over the sister arts
of design. that the mere statement of the
dimensions helps us much in forming con-
cpption of the work. A few of these dimen-
siOnS will serve to give an idea of the mag
nitude of the edifce. They are reported to
us by Los Santos, JerOnynite monk. who
has left one of the best accounts of the
EScorial
The main building, or monastery. he es-
Inmates at seven hundred and forty Castlian
feet in lrgth by five hundred and eighty in
breadth. It's greatest height. measured to the
central cross above the dome of the great
church. is three hundred aud fifteen feet. The
whole circumference of the E.cOrial. incu-
ding the palace. he reckons at two thousand
nine hundred aud eighty feet. or near three
fifths of mile. The patient inquirer tells us
there were no less than twelve thousand doors
and windows in the building; that the weight
Of the keys alone amounted TO fifty drrob1s,
or twelve hundred and fifty pounds; and,
finally. that there were sixty eight fountains
playing in the halls and courts of this enor-
nous pile.
The cost of its construction and interior
decoration, we are informed by Father
Siguenca. Amounted to very near six millions
Of ducats Siguenca was prior of the mon
astcry. and had access, Of course, to the best
sources of information. That he did not
exaggerate, NAV be inferred from the fact
that he was desirous to relieve the building
from the impn tatiun of any excessive eXpen-
diture incurred in its ertction,-a common
theme of complaint. it seems, and one that
was urged with strong marks of discomfort
by contemporary writers. Probably no sin
gle edifice ever contained such an amount
and variety of inestimable treasures as the
EScorial-so many paintings and sculptures
by the greatest mastcrs.-sO many articles OF
exquisite workmanship, composed of the
most preciOus materials. 1t would he mis-
take to suppose that, when the binding was
finished, the labors of Philip were at an end.
One might almost say they were but begun.
The caskct was completed: hut the remainder
of his days was to b. passed in filling it with
the rarest and richest gems. This was a
labor never to be completed 1t was to he
bequeathed to his Successors, who, with more
or less taste. but with the revenues of the
Indies at their disposal. continued to lavish
them on the establishment of the EScorial.
Philip the Second set the example. He
omitted nothing which could give a value,
real or imaginery, to his museum. He gath
cred at an immrnse cost several hundred
cases of the bones of saints and martyrs, de-
posting them in rich silver shrnes. of elab-
crate workmanship. He coil cted four thou
sand volumes. in various languages. especially
the ORR ntal, as the basis of the fine library
Of the Escorial.
The care Of successive princes. who con-
tinued TO sp nd there part of every year.
preserved the palace-monastery and its con-
tents from the rude touchof time But what the
hand of Time had spared. the hand of vio-
Ience destroy d. The French, who in the
early part Of the present century swept like a
horde of Vandals over the Peninsula, did not
overlook the Escorial- For in it they saw the
monument designed to commemorate their
own humliating defeat. A body of Dragons
under La Houssaye burst into the monastery
in the winter of 1908: and the ravages of
few days demolished what it had cost years
and the highest efforts of art to construct
The apprehension Of similar violence from the
Carlists. in 1887, led to the removal of the
finest paintings to Madrid. The EScorial
ceased to be a royal residence. Tenantless
and unprotected, it was left TO the fury of the
blasts which sWept down the hills of the
The traveller who now visits the place will
find its condition very different from what il
was in the beginning of the century. The
bare aud mildewed walls no longer glow with
the magical tints of Raphael and Ii ian, and
the sober pomp of the Castilian school. The
exquisite specimens of art with which the
halls were filled have been wantonly demol-
ished, or more frequently piltered for the sake
Of the rich materials. The mouks so long
the guardians of the place. have shared The
fate of their brethren elsewhere, since the
suppression of religious houses. aud their ven
cradle forms have disappeared. Silence and
solitude reign throughout the courts, undis-
turbed by any sound save that of the cease
less winds. which seem 10 be ever chanting
their melancholy dirge over the faded glories
OF the Escorial. There is little now to re-
mind one of the palace or of the monastery.
OF the three Obj cts TO which the edifce was
devoted, one only survives,-that of a mauso-
leum for the royal line If Castillo. The spirit Of
the dead broods over the place. of the scelD-
tired dead. who lie in the same dark chamber
where they have lain for centuries, uncon-
scious of the changes that have been going on
all around them.
Too Soon.
The Republican Banner appears to think