New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-01-28
SOME FEMININE ROMANCE.
LEGENDARY STUDIES OF ROYALTY AND
PALACE LIFE.
OLD COURT LIFE IN SPAIN. BY Frances Mimic
Eliot. Two Volumes PIP. Kill Si0; VII So'.

These are pleasant books to read. as good as
novel any day But they are neither history nor
romance. They lack the perspective tnat 'he h'e'e
succession Of events produces in history II must
be clear to any that the society or NIsIs''''C
Iberia must have been very different from that OK
medieval Spain after the growth OF the teudai
/ military system. In the sense understood at the
/ crusadns period there no knights among the
Vlslgoths The very evolution OF the word knight
in English. and OF its synonyms In other languages
shows that the idea which they expressed was SLOW
| " perfected. The VlsIgohc warrior. when he TOOK
on anything like a civilized aspect must nave Deeh
a copy more or less accurate OF the Roman solder.
Now the Roman soldier was the most businessnke
and proeaic Of cuthroats. The fancieS or chivairy
would have caused him unbounded amusement FER
haps the Goth not 81 practical as ms Roman
mode but he certainly had littlr OF those rehhe-
ments in warfare and in court life which character
ize their successors But in these rather comica VOL
ur,as tho .be,,ed knight" Is in full bloom among
, b,rbarans who had only yesterday put off their
Garments Of rawh!ie. The courtesy In the palace
! Of Roderich j. the same In kind and degree WIN
that exhibited by the courts OF Castle ana Arason'
The last OF the Goths is sort Of preliminary ed'-
ton OF Pedro the Cruel. with the same asiutehes-
the same versatility % countenance. the same cyni-
cal Indifference 70 the torture and death or others
Essentially the figure OF RoIerich - here depleted
! "a identical with the Roderck OF Sir Walter Scouts
poen. OF course nobody can decide how much OF
truth there Is in the legend OF Rodcrichs relations
10 the daughter OF Julian. nor Of the aters reasons
for Joining the Arabs their invasion OF the span
| ,sh Peninsula Bui surely II an effort be made to
realize the actual condition of society In which these
Incidents are supposed to have taken place IL woud
be better to strike an average between o.d Roman
! civilization ard Teutonic simplicity than 10 trust
e,I,npses through the dlstor,lng medium OF Spanish
chlya!ry Tho Gothic supremacy seemed Ike
golden age TO Catholics. VINO resented the presence
Of the Arabs and their Moorish successors. But the
| hIalgo would really have found himself az much
out OF place at the capital Of Roderch as IN the
granada Of the Moslems.
Even tho church dlgnltaries Of the Gothic period
ar. represented as polished characters IN the
pages Of these volumes than they probably were.
Il IS doubtful II the violence 81 their proceedings. -
! Ike those u the rough warriors with whom they
hal - deaf masked by the impenetrlo!e calm
Of the IDEAL nqulsitor who witnesses the writings
| or his victim without even twitch OF the eyeld'
The profound duplIcl,y OF the Spanish prelate must
I have been the growth OF ages. When one remem-
bers how readily those cary bishops turned To fight
ing one nnds II difficult - credit them with the
cold suavlty or the medl;atel s,ernness easily as
sumel b. the priests ~ a more cultivated race.
! When the author describes IN" bood-curllng way
IN which a certain Gothic Archbishop OF Toledo con-
| Quoted himself In the prison with his victim. how
his prlest!y robe dropped around him with heavy.
patrician grace" how his eyes burned with an evi
fire." how he stood like phantom over the pros
,r,t. king" she u surely creating legend rather
than reporting historic facts. The simplicity ~ the
age al not warrant such theatrical scenes. super
sttion was not - refined that II had to be siimu-
lated by the sight Of all these accessories. picture
historically accurate Of the Gothic priesthood would
put them nearer the level OF the pagan III" ilcnc
man who had preceded them by only few genera
| tons ~ course the View taken Of all matters ~
! this SORT IN this volume e that probably Of most
| peop.e Tell any one 10 think of an event IN the
| AGO and he al himself
| the romance land created By Sir Walter Scott and
peopled with phantoms by his successors. Nobody
| ever thinks Of comparing the eighteenth century
| with the nineteenth. The contrasts are too great
But the notion reflected IN popular writings Is that
every century OF the medieval period was just like
the rest.
| Thus these volumes cannot be called history. But
they have too much OF the chronicle in them 10 be
| romance. They history seen through glass
darkly and interpreted much as the Individual fancy
| Of the author dictates. There are passages OF dra-
| matte dialogue and episodes Of love and hate that
| would 1T into a novel. But the stories. after ALL
have the rregularlty OF real He rather than the
artificial rise and fall OF fiction ON the other hand
the personages are often artistic creations rather
than portraits OF people who once lived Ii Is DIM
| cul, TO recognize that cunning mailman. Pedro the
| Cruel Of Castle. In the sardonIc youth. whose
| crimes are here 50 lightly treated. The true story
| OF his career makes the flesh creep of him who
| reads But here II Is passed 50 lightly and deity
that the horror OF II hardly attracts attention and
something almost like pity Is awakened when 1t
| ends in Pedros murder. Legend often deals thus
| with It's themes but history cannot do IT, and ro-
| nance Is not usually careful Of the past. The
| manner in which the character Of Pedro IL softenei
To the likeness Of humanity Is admirable. BY dwell
ng on his love for Maria de Padi!la. all that can
| be said Is said TO awaken respect for his memory.
and at las, begins to think that tradition was
right I'm ascrblng the later OF Spain to his
fpif Al
| ers was Don Juan de Mahlra the original hero Of
Mozart's opera "Don Giovanni" TO him p!ctur-
esque chapter is here devoted and he too. energies
looking quite snowy innocent. In View OF all The
crimes that have been charged against him.
In dealing with the royalties Of later times the
author has depended less on legend Her View OF
Moorish culture and Of Ferdinand and Isabella Is
substantially tina; OF Irving and Prescott and It
must therefore be correct outline. II not In detail
The times were themselves romantic enough with
out additional color. Indeed IL Is Largely to this
period that owe our misconceptlon or the
aes that preceded The last days OF chivalry
were It's best days. far as the Imagination was
concerned Europe and particularly spain, which
had for ages suffered the pinch OF poverty began
10 be rich beyond the dreams Of avarice. Knight
hood took n beauty as II lost It's usefulness
II could now be made costly. since II was less SUB
feet to wear and than it had been In the past
Neither Europe nor Spain had ever looked upon a
the Moors. nor upon princes so divinely fortunate
as Ferdinand and Isabella. whose faithful servants
had recovered a kingdom for them and had added
TO II a world hitherto unknown Columbus. man
not much used to courts. figures In this narrative or
old Spain. The brilliant line OF kings and queens
and mobiles from Roderick the Goth down to Ferdi-
nand reminds Of the Goth's own vision as Scott
has told H. or as 1t Is related In these pages The
air resounds with the clamor OF bate or with the
shreks OF tortured victims. The opposing hosts are
ever In movement hear the rush and tramp or
horses becoming ever clearer the blast OF trum-
pet and clarion shriller and louder, the clash or
swords and maces, the thud of battle-axes striking
together. the whistle OF ghosy arrows through the
air. and the hurting Of iances and darts. while phsn-
tom drums rumble as by thousands with the UNDER
note Of war"