Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-02-11
SPANISH BEGGARS.
Gen. sherman and Prince Fred Among
the MendtcantS of the EscuriaI.

the MendtcantS OF the EScuriaA.
Madrid Correspondence New York World.
The beggars, you must know, are an in
stitutiOn at the Escurial. From the moment
you plant your foot in the palace to the mo-
ment you depart they never leave you.
They use the most endearing expressions to
coax cent out of you. They don't call
you "Sir" or "Madame," but they address
you as ''My dear little sirI'' "My dear little
ladyIr They invoke all sorts of blessings
on you in anticipation. They try to stir up
your religious sentiment by telling you that
'GOd will repay you!" "Tbe Virgin and the
Saints will repay you!" All this for an
ochayo, the fourth part of a Cent-an
"ochavitO," as they call it-that is to say,
''dear little ochavo!" Their perseverance is
astounding. If their cOuntrymen only dis
played equal perseverance in the ordinary
affairs of life, Spain would be different
country. The importantly these beggars
display is something awful. The Irish are
nothing to them. At the Escurial they
swarmed. They attacked us on all sides,
as the mosquitoes do ''away down South"
Col. Audenreid thought the best way to
get rid of them at first was to yield to
their demands and give them money. No
greater mistake could probably have been
made. The news spread like wildfre
throughout the whole begging community,
and at every step we took we were be-
sieged by the whining impOrtuni les of rag
ged men, ragged women and ragged chill
dren, with babies Gd Hbitlma. They tracked
us everywhere-tO the hotel where
we breakfasted and dined; they escorted us
to the door of the great temple itself; they
met us as we emerged; they accompanied
us to the Palace of the Principe; they wait
ed for us till we came out; they led the
way for us to the depot as we prepared to
depart; they even took kind farewell of us
on the platform. After we had done sight
seeing and returned to our hotel, a fresh
crowd of little ragamuffins gathered around
the door. By this time our charitable funds
and our temper were alike exhausted. We
refused them anything. They pleaded,
they urged. One of the boldest followed
us into the dining room of the hotel. She
was slip-shod, dirty-looking girl of some
ten or eleven summers. Of course we look
ed daggers at her. The waiter resented
her attempt to pOach on his vineyard by
summary election. As she was put out of
the door, l heard her exClaim, "What a
shame! haven't we been waiting for the
gentlemen ever since this morning?' Gen.
Sherman seemed to me to escape much of
their opportunities. l can only account for
it by their being made aware, through that
uDluCky &C. or generosity of Col. Auden-
reid, at the depot, that the gallant Colonel
was the treasurer of the party. This sys-
TEN of begging is nowhere so annoying as
in SpaiE, and it has its origin not so much
in real distress as in superstition. To
give so much day to the poor is a duty
of religion, and, the duty performed, the
Spanish conscience is clear. Hence it is
that you will see the portico and steps of
every church crowded with beggars. No
policeman or guardian civil ever thinks of
sending them away. You will notice the
piOus ladies, who have been to mass or to
confession, always give money to those
Cringing medicants on their way out. The
ceremony within would not be complete if
the donation without were withheld. In
Madrid the beggaTs were fearful nuisance
at the time of the revolution. Queen Isa-
bella was, indeed, a nursing mother to her
government, nursing father to them. Get
into an alteration with one of them, and
no policeman would take your part. If
you spoke roughly you were
answered with redoubled impOrtuni-
ty. If your temper Overcame
your charity and you ventured to indulge a
little "muscular Christianity" to rid yourself
of them, you instantly found the passers-by
first aghast and then angry, not at the beg
gar, but at you. The result was you al
ways came off second best. After the rev.
olution the evil continued. Poor Prim was
a terrible victim. L have often walked with |
him, during the first months of the revolu-
ton, the short distance between the Puerto |
del Sol and bis house, and he was a terrible
object of attack. His look was stern, yet
they minded it not. Often and often he de- |
clared he would give nothing, but ere he |
reached his home he would have parted |
with every cent in his pocket.