which he endeavours to excite in his pupil for the titles and dedications of books. Thus he presents to the wondering child a treatise on sacred geography, by a German author, with a dedicatory epistle To the only three hereditary sovereigns in heaven and earth-Jesus Christ; Frederic-Augustus, Electoral Prince of Saxony; and Maurice - William, hereditary Prince of Saxe-Zeitz.' 'But listen, my children,' exclaims the dominie, 'and you shall shortly hear something much superior! Here are the titles which explain the states of which Jesus Christ is hereditary prince. He is the crowned Emperor of the Celestial Host; His Majesty, the Chosen King of Sion; Grand Pontiff of the Christian Church; Archbishop of Souls; Elector of the Truth; Archduke of Glory; Duke of Life; Prince of Peace; Knight of the Gates of Hell; Hereditary Ruler of Nations; Lord of Assize, &c. &c. &c.' It is to be feared that, though this tyro and his teachers are imaginary beings, there was too much reality in the taste on which their history is founded.

When the young Gerund has finished his studies, he becomes a preaching friar, and takes for his model the senior of his convent, Friar Blas, of whom a masterly portrait is given. He is a vain man, labouring especially for the applause of the women, of whom his audience is chiefly composed, and whom he endeavours to charm by the elegance of his hood and gown. He commands attention by beginning a sentence which seems blasphemous or heretical, and in the conclusion, which is somewhat delayed, he explains in a natural manner that which has caused so much amazement. On one occasion he exclaims-'To your healths, gentlemen!' and when the congregation are ready to burst into laughter, he solemnly adds-'this is no subject for mirth; for to your healths, to mine, and to that of the whole world, has the Saviour contributed by his glorious incarnation. It is an article of faith, and I prove it thus-" Propter nos homines, et nostram salutem descendit de cœlo et incarnatus est.""* Whereat a murmur of applause ran through the church.

By and by Friar Gerund himself begins to preach, and his father sends for him to deliver his first public sermon in his native village. 'Friar Gerund,' says the author, describing his progress from the house to the church, 'drew on himself the eyes of all that could see him he walked gravely forward, his body erect, his head elevated, his eyes tranquil, mild, and benignant; making, with dignity and reserve, inclinations of his head to the right and to the left to those who saluted him with their hats; nor did he forget to take out his white cambric handkerchief, with silk

* Quoted from the Nicene Creed.

tassels at the four corners, to wipe away the perspiration that never broke, and afterwards his silk handkerchief, of rose-colour on one side and pearl on the other, to blow his nose when he had no occasion.' On his arrival at the church, the mass is sung by the licentiate Quixano, and two curates in the neighbourhood serve him as dean and sub-dean. The choir is composed of three village sacristans; and as there is no organ, its place is advantageously supplied by two bagpipes from Galicia, which Gerund's father has hired expressly for the occasion, on the terms of twenty reals to each player, with abundance of eating and drinking. opening of the sermon is worth translating

The

"If the Holy Ghost has spoken the truth by the mouth of Jesus Christ, what an unhappy wretch am I! I must be lost and utterly confounded, for he has declared that no man can preach or prophesy in his own country-Nemo propheta in patriâ sud. How rash, then, have I been to come forward as a preacher in mine! But pause for one moment, my brethren; for to my great consolation I find that all men are not alike subjected to the truths of the evangelist-Non omnes obediant evangelio—and who knows but this may be one of those numerous theorems which, according to the opinion of a great philosopher, are written only to terrify us―ad terrorem?

‹ These, my brethren, are the first fruits of my oratorical labours, the exordium of my pulpit duties; or, to suit myself to the meanest capacity, this is the first of all my sermons, according to the holy Scripture, which saith-primum sermonem feci, O Theophile! But whither doth the bark of my discourse direct its voyage? Hearken to me, oh my friends; everything around me betokens a happy issue. On every side I perceive prophetic glimpses of felicity. If the history of the evangelist is worthy of our credence, the Anointed himself preached his first sermon in the very place where he received the holy ablution of the waters of baptism. It is true that the narrative of the evangelist does not expressly declare this, but tacitly conveys it. The Saviour received the frigid purificationbaptizatus est Jesus; and the azure taffety curtain of heaven was rent asunder-et ecce aperti sunt cali; and the Holy Spirit descended in the shape of a fluttering dove—et vidi Spiritum Dei descendentem sicut Columbam. Behold, the Messiah receives the baptism! the veil of the celestial regions is rent! The Holy Ghost descends on his head! And are not the blessed vestiges of that vision here for us to trace? Does not the Heavenly Dove hover around the head of the sacred preacher ?

'But it is superfluous to explain, when the words of the oracle are themselves so clear. It is further declared that Jesus, when he was baptized, retired to the desert, or that he was led thither by the devil -ductus est in desertum ut tentaretur a Diabolo. He continued there for some time; there he watched, and prayed, and suffered temptation; and the first place to which he went was to preach in a field

in the country-stetit Jesus in loco campestri. How can I fail to recognise in this history the events of my own life? I was baptized in this illustrious parish; I withdrew into the desert of religious seclusion, if the devil indeed did not lead me thither-ductus a Spiritu in desertum ut tentaretur a Diabolo. And what else can a man do in the desert of a convent than watch, and pray, and fast, and endure temptation? And I escaped from this desert to preach! To preach where? In loco campestri! Yes, my friends, in a country place, even at Campazas; a place which calls to our recollection the fields of Damascus, which awakens envy in the plains of Pharsalia, and overwhelms in oblivion the fields of Troy-et campus ubi Troja fuit!'

Though Father Isla thus ridiculed the bombast of the monks, he was a man even scrupulous and rigid in his own religious profession. All the rules of true pulpit eloquence are incidentally laid down in his work, by introducing the superiors of Friar Gerund as endeavouring by wise advice to induce him to change his style. But the zeal of the author could not save him from the animosity of the mendicant friars, who considered themselves the principal objects of the satire. They discovered him under the fictitious name which he had assumed in the title-page, and the book was condemned by the Inquisition. This, however, did not hinder its reputation; and the 'History of Friar Gerund' is justly regarded as the most eminent production of Spanish genius in the eighteenth century.

Father Isla wrote, besides, an abridgment of Spanish History, which is much esteemed. He also, by a skilful translation, gave or restored to his country the well-known romance of 'Gil Blas,' which is supposed to have been originally borrowed by Le Sage from a Spanish manuscript in the library of the Escurial. It is difficult otherwise to conceive how a Frenchman, entirely unacquainted with the country, should have been able to paint so faithfully the intrigues, the manners, and the customs of Spain at the court as well as in the city, and in public as well as in private life. The style of Isla is always correct and elegant; and he never offends against the strictest delicacy and propriety, as was too much the case with the French comic writers of his age. On the expulsion of the Jesuits from the Peninsula, he retired to Bologna in Italy, where he died in 1783.

LA HUERTA AND SEDANO.

Towards the close of the eighteenth century the lingering affection for national literature seemed to revive within the little circle of Spanish authors. The mere correctness acquired from the imitation of the French ceased to satisfy them, and they longed to see it subordinated to become but the vehicle of Spanish genius. The first who ventured openly to advocate these views was the patriotic Vicente Garcia de la Huerta, a member of the Spanish Academy, and librarian to the king. None but a man so accredited by his literary position could have hoped successfully to oppose the fashionable opinion on this subject. In other respects La Huerta was scarcely equal to the task he had undertaken. He was a man of genuine poetic feeling, but as a critic, by no means competent to contend in argument with men of Luzan's coolness and systematic knowledge. He did not understand the true principles on which Spanish poetry might have been defended against French criticism; but feeling served him in some measure instead of judgment, and he abandoned theory whenever he could not reconcile it to his taste. He endeavoured to stir up the national pride of his countrymen, and attacked the admired 'Coryphæi' of the French Parnassus with a degree of bitterness which might have brought his taste into question, had he not proved himself a poet before he entered the lists as a critic. A piscatory eclogue, which he had read at a distribution of academic prizes in 1760, had attracted the attention of the public; and his romances in the ancient style, his commentaries, and his sonnets, were remarkably successful. But he had greater difficulties to overcome in endeavouring to restore the fame of the Spanish drama. He was not poet enough to advance in the course in which Calderon himself had halted; but as the plays of that dramatist were still regarded with approbation, he wrote a prologue for one of them, and at length, believing he could rely on a certain portion of public favour, he brought forward his first essay in dramatic art. This was the tragedy of 'Rachel,' which was intended to unite the brilliancy of Spanish poetry with the dignity of the French tragic style, without confining it to the conventional forms of the French drama.

The public seconded his patriotic intentions with the utmost enthusiasm. It was represented at every theatre in Spain; even before it was printed, above two thousand copies were taken in manuscript, and many were sent to America. In vain did the Gallicists rise in opposition; he answered their quibbles with

haughty contempt, while to a patronising public he always addressed himself with the utmost modesty.

La Huerta's 'Rachel' cannot be considered as a masterpiece, but it is a noble effort of national feeling, endeavouring to restore the credit of the Spanish drama. The subject is taken from the early history of Castile. Alphonso IX., who was defeated by the Moors in the terrible battle of Alarcos in 1195, was attached to a beautiful Jewess, whom both the nobles and the people agreed in condemning as the cause of the calamities that had befallen the monarchy. They implore him to overcome a passion which they regard as dishonourable to the nation; and while the king is hesitating between his duty to his people and his love for the fair Jewess, the spirit of discontent breaks out in open rebellion. Rachel is surprised in the palace while the king is out hunting, and her base counsellor Reuben kills her to save his own life. But he himself is slain by the king on his return from the chase. The tragedy is divided into three acts or jornadas, according to ancient Spanish usage; but in other respects this great opponent of the French drama has not kept himself free from its rules. The dialogue proceeds uniformly in iambic blank verse, without the introduction of sonnets or redondillas; and there are no striking scenes, although the deaths at the conclusion are represented on the stage. The language is dignified throughout, and in several scenes the pathos is complete; but the characters are indifferently managed. The beautiful heroine appears so seldom, that we gain little acquaintance with her; Reuben is a stupid, contemptible Jew, whose lamentations in the moment of peril border on the ludicrous; and the feeble character of the king, changing his resolution on every new impression, often approaches caricature. The author has, however, succeeded admirably in the characters of two Spanish grandees-the one a base courtier, named Manrique; the other, Garcia de Castro, a personification of the high and honourable spirit of ancient Spanish chivalry.

In another piece, called 'Agamemnon Vengado,' Huerta made a successful attempt to embody a classic subject in the romantic form. Here he approached a step nearer Calderon, by mixing with his iambics octaves and lyric verses.

After he had unquestionably acquired the right of pronouncing an opinion on the literature of his country, La Huerta published his Teatro Español,' a selection from the incalculable store of Spanish dramas. Above three-fourths of it are Comedies of the Cloak and Sword,' chiefly from the pen of Calderon; and he has not admitted a single play of Lope de Vega, or any of the 'Autos Sacramentales.' His view was to select only those Spanish comedies which are distinguished for elegance in execu