Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1870-06-14
Journeyings in Spain.

Seeming so to a Frenchman, an Amer
ican might be pardoned if he believed
it land in which two and two make
six, or any other number. Ancient
Iberia is certainly region of the un-
expected. 1t is full of surprises and
disappointments. Nothing ever hap.
pens there as one supposes it will,
and the knowledge of to-day is ever
contradicted by the experience of to-
morrow. For more than three cen
turies the country has been an enigma,
politically, religiously, and socially,
that no other European nation could
solve; and its present condition aug
ments its anomaly. Where else could
we hope to find a queen without a
dominion, and a kingdom. without a
king? They who have never visited
Spain may wonder; but those who
have been there will be incapable of
new surprises. The land where yes
means no. and Immediately next
week'-where inn keepers assure you
that they have every delicacy, when
they know they are besieged with
starvation-where there are rivers
without bridges, and bridges without
rivers-where highwaymen rob you
of your last escudo, and then piously
commend your soul to God-where
'princely hospitality signifies feas for
bed-fellows and garlic for breakfast
the land where all these and many
other contradictions soon prepare you
for whatever may happen.
Land of romance and superstition,
of chivalry and bigotry, of Lope de
Vega and Cervantes. of Cortez and
the Cid. of Moorish refinement and
Gothic rudeness, of the Alhambra and
the inquisition, of heroism and perse-
cution, of art and assassination, Of po-
etry and intrigue, of splendor and
squalor, we have all, at some time,
built gorgeous castles upon your
mountain sides. and viewed with rap.
ture our broad estates watered by the
Xenil and Guadalquivir. We shall
never see you as you appeared to US
in our youthful dreams, for the out
ward eye dispels the vision of imagi-
nation ruthlessly and forever. Your
moonlight will never fall so soft, even
in Andalusia, nor your guitars drop
such sweetness, though under the tow
ers of Seville, as came to Us when re-
verie blosSomed in the rich soil of the
heart. The splendors Of Cordova's S
cathedral will lessen when we stand
in its marble aisles; and the nighten,
gales will never ell the evening with
such music as they did before our
wandering feet had borne US to the
ancient palace of the Moorish kings.
When first went whirling over
the soil lin America we should call ii
creeping,) in the midst Of cigarette.
smoke that made the compartment
look like a miniature edition of the
Blue Grotto Of Capri. and when try
ing to smile serenely at the three sal
low oabalieros opposite, who sat dig
ni6edly smoking me to death, l heard
at the station, 'Valladolid,' Madrid,
Seville Granada roared out in gut
turals fragrant with garlic, my noble
castles crumbled, and the raw wind o.
the Sierras swept down and chilled
my buds of sentiment to death.
If quite different from what fancy
and romance and fancy had painted
it, | was very glad to see Spain, an(
my memory of it is still most welcome
Three things | have found necdful te
satisfactory visit-patience, polite
ness, and peasetas.
Armed with these l could be mild
ly seraphic on trains that seemed a
If they would never start, and coul(
inquire unnoved for accommodations
at the homeliest posada.
As all travellers know, the impres
sion a strange country makes depend
largely on what they see first or th'
way they enter it. To visit Spain ad
vaitageously it is best to go as
did, from France across the Pyrenees
instead of going, as many do, from
Cadiz through picturesque Andalusi;
to the less favored provinces, endin:
with the dreariness and sterility o
the CASTLES. No two cities on tn
continent are more different than Par
is and Madrid and such quaint ant
curious towns as Nittoria, Burgos
aud Valiadolid prepared me for tn
strange kingdom had entered.
No person need be told when h
has crossed the confines of the Frenc
Empire. Having done so, saw a
once l was among another people
almost in another world. No NOR
, the vivacious and mercurial name
of the Gaul greeted me; but in it
stead the grave and measured depor
ment of the representative of half
dozen races. The train on whic
l travelled, though the creation {
: French capital, seemed affected by tn
soil and atmosphere of Spain. II
speed was retarded it was hampere
with delays at every station; it b.
o came the victim of endless formalitie
and threatened never to untangl
themselves. | discovered l must III
dergo certain accumulating proce:
4 of mind as we'll as of body. Tt
! mood and bearing that had served n
elsewhere on the continent would NJ
< support me there. l had found tn:
n pretended loss of temper and assume
violence of manner are beneficial
Y France, Germany, and Italy; but
b Spain they only defeat the tourist
ends.
D Peninsular travel is favorable
s one Of the highest christian virtue
J. resignation. This is less difficult
t practice the moment one discovers
5, is absolutely necessary: Job wou
:, have found his sphere in Spain;
(, least, the need of exercising his cha
= acteristic quality. If the patient a
It the strong, they who have done Spa
e, should have few weaknesses. I a
o confident that l have an outward call
ness and degree of selfdiscipline
n never owned before l crossed t
It Pyrcnces. have had my patien
y tried all the way from Pamplona
= Cadiz, from Badajoz to Barcelor
d and though l may have lost my te
per, never advertised for its retur