Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1882-05-30

some of the instructive novels which b
subsequently published. What acc
dent, or more properly what fortuitou
circumstance, gave rise to the idea {
his Don Quikote is unknown; for hi
having, while travelling through tn
province of La Manoha, become en-
gagged in disputes with some of the in
habitants, and his being, on that &C
count, for short time imprisoned, can
at most, be only supposed to have sug
gested the idea of making that prOvinc
the scene of the first part of his 70
nance. Some fortunate circumstance
which cannot now be traced, seems Il
have impressed Cervantes, who wa
then in his fiftieth year, with the con
sciOusness of the true bent of his genius
The commencement of Don Quixott
was first published at Madrid in 1906
but the enthusiastic reception which
this original romance experienced from
the Spanish public produced very little
change in the authors fortune; for the
folly, which felt itself disturbed in ite
security, united with envy in seeking to
trace in the work illusions of an often
sive kind.
Cervantes accordingly continued poor,
and had now to contend with exas-
perated enemies. Those enemies i'm
agined they had completely defeated
him, when an unknown writer of their
own party, under the name of Avel.
laneda, published q continuation of Don
Quixote, full of invective against the
original author. Precisely at the pc.
riod when this continuation appeared,
Cervantes published the sequel of his
instructive novels, which he dedicated
to the Count of Lemos. In that noble
man he found protector who never
Withdrew his favor, and who, as it ap-
pears, afforded him support in various
ways. Pecuniary necessity seems, how
ever, to have urged him, as last re.
source, to write for the stage. The latest
works of Cervantes were the genuine
continuation and completion of Don
Quixote-the Journey to Parnassus,
which was first published in 1914, and
finally the romance of Persiles and Sig
ismunda, for which, q few days previous
to his death, (Cervantes died on the
same day as Shakespeare, April %, 1861
he wrote dedication to the Count of
Lemos. From various passages in the
prefaces and introductions to these last
works, it is obvious how highly Ger
vantes priced that celebrity. which, af.
ter many abortive efforts, he had at
length obtained in his old age. But
even where his vanity is not disguised,
it is easy, from the candid tone in which
he speaks of himself, to recognize the
man of firm and upright spirit. the de-
clared enemy of every sort of affecta.
ton, and the honest and liberal judge
of himself and of others. He died in
poverty, though not in extreme want,
at Madrid, in .1616, in the sixty-ninth
year of his age. He was buried private
ly, without any kind of distinction, and
not even a common tombstone marks
the spot where the ashes of Cervantes
repOse.
Were we to arrange the works of
Cervantes according to their merits, the
first place must be assigned to Don
Quixote. which is moreover entitled to
the supremacy, in as much as it is single
in its kind, and without peer in the
peculiar class of composition it 80 hap
PLY and ably repsesents. Every INTEL
ligent reader, who has been entertained
with the adventures of the gallant old
knight, will readily agree that the most
natural features were introduced and
well sustained in the extremely discern
ing and satirical manner of the true
reader of human nature, who so honestly
portrayed the ruling hobby of the Pc
riod SO faithfully described.
To enter into description of the con-
tents of this universally known mater
piece, or to give circumstantial analy-
sis of its plan, would be equally super
f1uOus. A few words, however, On the
happy and original idea which forms
the foundation of the whole work may
here be introduced. 1t has often been
said, though the opinion has perhaps
not been fully weighed. nor even ex-
pressed with sufficient precision, that
the venerable knight of La Mancha is
the immortal representative of all men
of exalted Imagination, who carry the
noblest enthusiasm to pitch of folly !;
because, with understandings in other
respects sound, they are unable to resist
the fascinating power OF self decep-
ton, by which they are induced to re-
gard themselves as beings of a superior
order. We know men about us-see
them every day-whe are the greatest
heroes in their own imagination; they
are the owners in fee simple of immense
possessions of self -conceit: they appear
to be contented and happy, and they
condescend to live in this Ito them)
very ordinary world without seeing
much of it +; and they even bear the pres
ence, and often the contact of common,
ordinary people 1t is also true they
may never be properly appreciated in
the little world they live in, but their
capacities for pleasure and enjoyment
are none the less, for they live within
themselves and their oa0n greatness. And
at last. when the final, dread summons
comes-for death is one of the things
even the great cannot escape-they will
die as they lived and then, in the great
Account Book of Eternity, will be
summed up the column of all their
would>be greatness with naught but
ciphers. This is the only terminus to
the route patronized by such travellers.
To be Continued.