While Philip, following the course of his predecessors, was wasting the blood and treasure of Spain in order to propagate religious opinions, 60 the people, instead of rebelling against so monstrous a system, acquiesced in it, and cordially sanctioned it. Indeed, they not only sanctioned it, but they almost worshipped the man by whom it was enforced. There probably never lived a prince who, during so long a period, and amid so many vicissitudes of fortune, was adored by his subjects as Philip II. was. In evil report, and in good report, the Spaniards clung to him with unshaken loyalty. Their affection was not lessened, either by his reverses, or by his forbidding deportment, or by his cruelty, or by his grievous exactions. In spite of all, they loved him to the last. Such was his absurd arrogance, that he allowed none, not even the most powerful nobles, to address him, except on their knees, and, in return, he only spoke in half sentences, leaving them to guess the rest, and to fulfil his commands as best they might.61 And ready enough they were to obey his slightest wishes. A contemporary of Philip, struck by the universal homage which he received, says that the Spanish did not merely love, not merely reverence, but absolutely adore him, and deem his commands so

soberbia en las penas del Infierno, donde conoce con el castigo perpetuo el engaño de su vida." pp. 83, 84.

60 One of the most eminent of living historians well says, "It was Philip's enthusiasm to embody the wrath of God against heretics." Motley's Dutch Republic, vol. ii. p. 155. "Philip lived but to enforce what he chose to consider the will of God." p. 285.

61 "Personne vivante ne parloit à lui qu'à genoux, et disoit pour son excuse à cela qu'estant petit de corps, chacun eust paru plus eslevé que lui, outre qu'il sçavoit que les Espagnols estoient d'humeur si altiere et hautaine, qu'il estoit besoin qu'il les traittast de cette façon; et pour ce mesme ne se laissoit voir que peu souvent du peuple, n'y mesme des grands, sinon aux jours solemnels, et action necessaire, en cette façon; il faisoit ses commandemens à demy mot, et falloit que l'on devinast le reste, et que l'on ne manquast à bien accomplir toutes ses intentions; mesmes les gentilshommes de sa chambre, et autres qui approchoient plus près de sa personne, n'eussent osé parler devant luy s'il ne leur eust commandé, se tenant un tout seul à la fois près de la porte du lieu où il estoit, et demeurant nud teste incessamment, et appuyé contre une tapisserie, pour attendre et recevoir ses commandemens." Mémoires de Cheverny, pp. 352, 353, in Petitot's Collection des Mémoires, vol. xxxvi. Paris, 1823.

sacred, that they could not be violated without offence to God." 62

That a man like Philip II., who never possessed a friend, and whose usual demeanour was of the most repulsive kind, a harsh master, a brutal parent, a bloody and remorseless ruler,-that he should be thus reverenced by a nation among whom he lived, and who had their eyes constantly on his actions; that this should have happened, is surely one of the most surprising, and, at first sight, one of the most inexplicable facts in modern history. Here we have a king who, though afflicted by every quality most calculated to excite terror and disgust, is loved far more than he is feared, and is the idol of a very great people during a very long reign. This is so remarkable as to deserve our serious attention; and in order to clear up the difficulty, it will be necessary to inquire into the causes of that spirit of loyalty which, during several centuries, has distinguished the Spaniards above every other European people.

One of the leading causes was undoubtedly the immense influence possessed by the clergy. For, the maxims inculcated by that powerful body have a natural tendency to make the people reverence their princes more than they would otherwise do. And that there is a real and practical connexion between loyalty and

2 These are the words of Contarini, as given in Ranke's Ottoman and Spanish Empires, London, 1843, p. 33. Sismondi, though unacquainted with this passage, observes in his Literature of the South of Europe, vol. ii. p. 273, London, 1846, that Philip, though "little entitled to praise, has yet been always regarded with enthusiasm by the Spaniards." About half a century after his death, Sommerdyck visited Spain, and in his curious account of that country he tells us that Philip was called "le Salomon de son siècle." Aarsens de Sommerdyck, Voyage d'Espagne, Paris, 1665, 4to, pp. 63, 95. See also Yañez, Memorias para la Historia de Felipe III., Madrid, 1723, p. 294. "El gran Felipe, aquel Sabio Salomon." Another writer likens him to Numa. "Hacia grandes progresos la piedad, á la qual se dedicaba tanto el Rey Don Felipe, que parecia su reynado en España lo que en Roma el de Numa, despues de Rómulo." Miñana, Continuacion de Mariana, vol. ix. p. 241. When he died, 'celebradas sus exequias entre lágrimas y gemidos." vol. x. pp. 259, 260. We further learn from Vanderhammen's Filipe Segundo, Madrid, 1632, p. 120 rev., that the people ascribed to him " una grandeza adorable, y alguna cosa mas que las ordinarias á los demas hombres."

superstition, appears from the historical fact that the two feelings have nearly always flourished together and decayed together. Indeed, this is what we should expect on mere speculative grounds, seeing that both feelings are the product of those habits of veneration which make men submissive in their conduct and credulous in their belief.63 Experience, therefore, as well as reason, points to this as a general law of the mind, which, in its operation, may be occasionally disturbed, but which holds good in a large majority of cases. Probably the only instance in which the principle fails is, when a despotic government so misunderstands its own interests as to offend the clergy, and separate itself from them. Whenever this is done, a struggle will arise between loyalty and superstition; the first being upheld by the political classes, the other by the spiritual classes. Such a warfare was exhibited in Scotland; but history does not afford many examples of it, and certainly it never took place in Spain, where, on the contrary, several circumstances occurred to cement the union between the Crown and the Church, and to accustom the people to look up to both with almost equal reverence.

By far the most important of these circumstances was the great Arab invasion, which drove the Christians into a corner of Spain, and reduced them to such extremities, that nothing but the strictest discipline and the most unhesitating obedience to their leaders, could have enabled them to make head against their enemies. Loyalty to their princes became not merely expedient, but necessary; for if the Spaniards had been disunited, they would, in the face of the fearful odds against which they fought, have had no chance of preserving their national existence. The long war which ensued, being both political and religious, caused an intimate alliance between the political and religious classes, since the

63"Habits of reverence, which, if carried into religion, cause superstition, and if carried into politics, cause despotism." Buckle's History of Civilization, vol. i. p. 616.

kings and the clergy had an equal interest in driving the Mohammedans from Spain. During nearly eight centuries, this compact between Church and State was a necessity forced upon the Spaniards by the peculiarities of their position; and, after the necessity had subsided, it naturally happened that the association of ideas survived the original danger, and that an impression had been made upon the popular mind which it was hardly possible to efface.

Evidence of this impression, and of the unrivalled loyalty it produced, crowds upon us at every turn. In no other country, are the old ballads so numerous and so intimately connected with the national history. It has, however, been observed, that their leading characteristic is the zeal with which they inculcate obedience and devotion to princes, and that from this source, even more than from military achievements, they draw their most favourite examples of virtue.64 In literature the first great manifestation of the Spanish mind was the poem of The Cid, written at the end of the twelfth century, in which we find fresh proof of that extraordinary loyalty which circumstances had forced upon ⚫ the people.65 The ecclesiastical councils display a similar tendency; for, notwithstanding a few exceptions,

"More ballads are connected with Spanish history than with any other, and, in general, they are better. The most striking peculiarity of the whole mass is, perhaps, to be found in the degree in which it expresses the national character. Loyalty is constantly prominent. The Lord of Butrago sacrifices his own life to save that of his sovereign," &c. Ticknor's History of Spanish Literature, vol. i. p. 133. "In the implicit obedience of the old Spanish knight, the order of the king was paramount to every consideration, even in the case of friendship and love. This code of obedience has passed into a proverb-'mas pesa el Rey que la sangre." Ford's Spain, p. 183. Compare the admirable little work of Mr. Lewes, The Spanish Drama, London, 1846, p. 120, “ballads full of war, loyalty, and love."

66

65 See some interesting remarks in M. Tapia's Civilizacion Española, vol. i. He observes that, though cruelly persecuted by Alfonso, the first thing done by the Cid, after gaining a great victory, was to order one of his captains para que lleve al rey Alfonso treinta caballos árabes bien ensillados, con sendas espadas pendientes de los arzones en señal de homenage, á pesar del agravio que habia recibido." p. 274. And at p. 280, "comedido y obediente súbdito á un rey que tan mal le habia tratado." Southey (Chronicle of the Cid, p. 268) notices with surprise that the Cid is represented in the old chronicles as offering to kiss the feet of the king."

no other church has been equally eager in upholding the rights of kings.66 In civil legislation, we see the same principle at work; it being asserted, on high authority, that in no system of laws is loyalty carried to such extreme height as in the Spanish codes.67 Even their dramatic writers were unwilling to represent an act of rebellion on the stage, lest they should appear to countenance what, in the eyes of every good Spaniard, was one of the most heinous of all offences.68 Whatever the king came in contact with, was in some degree hallowed by his touch. No one might mount a horse which he had ridden;69 no one might marry a mistress whom he had

66

66 "Le xvi Concile de Tolède appelait les rois vicaires de Dieu et du Christ;' et rien n'est plus fréquent dans les conciles de cette époque que leurs exhortations aux peuples pour l'observation du serment de fidélité à leur roi, et leurs anathêmes contre les séditieux. Sempere, Monarchie Espagnole, vol. i. p. 41. Aparte de los asuntos de derecho civil y canonico y de otros varios que dicen relacion al gobierno de la iglesia, sobre los cuales se contienen en todos ellos disposiciones muy útiles y acertadas, la mayor parte de las leyes dictadas en estas asambleas tuvieron por objeto dar fuerza y estabilidad al poder real, proclamando su inviolabilidad y estableciendo graves penas contra los infractores; condenar las heregías,” &c. Antequera, Historia de la Legislacion Española, p. 47.

....

67 66 Loyalty to a superior is carried to a more atrocious length by the Spanish law than I have seen it elsewhere." "The Partidas (P. 2, T. 13, L. 1) speaks of an old law whereby any man who openly wished to see the King dead, was condemned to death, and the loss of all that he had. The utmost mercy to be shown him was to spare his life and pluck out his eyes, that he might never see with them what he had desired. To defame the King is declared as great a crime as to kill him, and in like manner to be punished. The utmost mercy that could be allowed was to cut out the offender's tongue. P. 2, T. 13, L. 4." Southey's Chronicle of the Cid, p. 442. Compare Johnston's Civil Law of Spain, London, 1825, p. 269, on Blasphemers of the King."

68 Thus, Montalvan, the eminent poet and dramatist, who was born in 1602, "avoided, we are told, representing rebellion on the stage, lest he should seem to encourage it." Ticknor's History of Spanish Literature, vol. ii. p. 283. A similar spirit is exhibited in the plays of Calderon and of Lope de Vega. On the "Castilian loyalty" evinced in one of Calderon's comedies, see Hallam's Literature of Europe, 2d edit. London, 1843, vol. iii. p. 63; and as to Lope, see Lewes on the Spanish Drama, p. 78.

69His Majesty's horses could never be used by any other person. One day, while Philip IV. was going in procession to the church of Our Lady of Atocha, the Duke of Medina-de-las-Torres offered to present him with a beautiful steed which belonged to him, and which was accounted the finest in Madrid; but the King declined the gift, because he should regret to render so noble an animal ever after useless." Dunlop's Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 372. Madame d'Aulnoy, who travelled in Spain in 1679, and who, from her sition, had access to the best sources of information, was told of this piece