The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-09-02

SaldmancS ana CeryanteS ia flu8lde,
is now almost extinct. The ugly black cos
tune of the order is yet worn, but the box
wood fork and spoon, stuck in the cooked
hat. are nowadays only for ornament and
are no longer used to fish out udbits from
the cauldron of the convent kitchen. Since
the construction of railroads in this part
OF Spain has destroyed the business OF the
muleteers, the troops of rollicking youths
that formerly overran these provinces
clearing the larders of the ventas and
arousing the ire OF jealous husbands. have
entirely disappeared. There is a Spanish
proverb which compares a student without
a guitar to a comet without tail; and
truly, one is as conceivable as the other
in Salamanca. every student has more or
less musical ability, and the performance OF
the experts would win applause from the
lend men" of any minstrel show. Poor as
they always are, and often hungry, his
beloved guitar 60 first, his cloak. his coat
but never his music maker until reduced
to the pangs Of starvation. The municipal
authorities of Salamanca have no jurisdic-
ton over the university, which has Its own
government and courts. The old-time
beadles charged with preserving the peace,
have hard time of it to keep in order the
madcap students whom another Castillian
saying calls THE Bedouins Of guitar and
dagger" 1t is said that the university
discipline is very lax, only nominal at
tendance at the lectures being expected
The sole and indispensable requisite to
graduation is a thorough knowledge OF
Latin in which the candidate for degree
must be so proficient as to read and write
1t with the same facility as he does his
native tongue. The doctors of the various
faculties are distinguished by tassels upon
their caps-red, blue, green. yellow or white.
each department of science having its Pc
culiar color-and funny it looks to see
driedup, leathery old gentleman stalking
solemnly about. with cap perched rakishly
on one side Of his bald head, gaudy
bunch of silk dangling above his nose.
cRUMBLING COLLEGES.
The university buildings cover great deal
of ground but everything about them in
dicates the decayed fortunes of the vener-
able institution. You enter by way OF the
library, whose facade alone-a triumph or
the decorative and heraldic styles worth
an architects visit to Spain. 1t Is of the
richest period of Ferdinand and Isabella.
the creamy stone having been as wax in the
hands Of the artists, who evolved maze
Of scrolls and tracery, amid medallions and
badges innumerable. The inscriptions are
in Greek-"The Kings of the University,
and this to the Kings" That dilapidated
portion which answers to "the schools
Of Oxford-begun in the year 1415, in the
romantic age Of Juan ii, patron of htera-
ture and the troubadour-has a gorgeous
Picturesque front and a curious convoca-
ton house. Nowadays the students are
lodged in private houses and come up here
for their Glasses" The little square be-
hind it. surrounded by collegiate buildings,
is much like any other college quad"
only UNNECESSARILY shabbier and more
melancholy. In the center is statue of the
famous ecclesiastical poet, Fra Luiz de
Leon, who is numbered among the emf
nent students here, with Cervantes, Cardi-
nal Ximenes, Saarverdra and others of
whom the world has heard, now long re-
turned to mother earth Over the door OF
each lecture room is tablet, denoting the
particular science which is, or was, or
ought to be taught therein. Inside of
each room is pulpit for the lecturer, and
rows of benches for the students, with
sort of ledge before them, on which to
write their notes. The handsome library is
lined with Louis XIV book cases and gal
lery, smaller room being devoted to a
vast and most interesting collection of IL
lumina ted manuscripts and books-mostly
collected from confscated monasteries.
Among the most remarkable are illumi-
mated Manuscript Of the fifteenth century,
"Libro de las Claras Virtuesas mujeres"
(Book of the Graces and Virtues of Wom-
en). by Don Alvaro de Luna; original let
tiers and manuscript books of Fra de Leon;
a volume of the Lords prayer. in ane hun
bred and fifty-seven Languages, ordered by
the first Napoleon. and many rare works
prohibited by the liber expurgatorius-all
Of which the librarian will show you with
boundless pride and patience. Passing
through several tapestry-draped, musty-
smelling rooms, you come to the Sala del
Claustro-a rather modern looking saloon
in which the doctors and heads of the
houses assemble in conclave. A student
about to 'wrangle' or dispute" is shut up
here twenty-five hours. with sentinel on
guard at the door. to give him time and
opportunity to consider his subject.
Next in interest in the line of colleges is
the old Colegio Mayor de Santiago Apostal,
now called the Irish College," founded
more than four centuries ago. Here a
score Of Irish students are always in train
ing for the priesthood. There are dozens
of others. all built at incredible expense
by the most skillful artisans of their age
and all now comparatively untenated. with
empty courts and echoing corridors.
BEFRIENDED COLUMBUS.
Even more interesting in an historical
point of view is the Dominican Monastery
of San Esteben. in the Gale de Colon Geo
lumbus street'), SO called in memory of
the great admiral, who once resided in it,
When the wise doctors of the university
found Columbus's scheme for discovering
another continent vain, impracticable and
resting on grounds too weak to merit the
support Of the government"-the friars of
San Esteben, under Deza, the inquisitor,
approved and upheld the homeless genius
and entertained him several weeks with
generous hospitality. In gratitude for the
same Columbus used the first virgin gold
imported from the new world in gliding the
retablo of the Dominican church, and most
gorgeous it still Is in appearance, as seen
under the dark elliptical arch Of the coro.