the latter works of Lope himself are not altogether free from the infection. The origin of his dispute with Cervantes is unknown, and the existence of any open warfare between them is with don Lewis de Haro along one of the principal streets of Madrid, the coach was stopped, and he by name was requested to get out upon some important business. He had scarce reached the carriage step in his haste to descend, when he received a blow near the heart, and in attempting to follow the assassin he fell lifeless and bloody on the ground. No inquiry was made, no suit was instituted, and one of the principal men of the country was thus openly murdered in the streets of the capital without any public notice being taken of the crime. Quevedo seems to attribute this murder to the vengeance which a dissolute life, a satirical muse, and a sarcastic tongue, might naturally excite; but the rashness of the attempt, the impunity of the assassin, and the unusual supineness of the police, joined with other circumstances, have given rise to a suspicion that it was perpetrated at the instigation of the court. Gongora, in whose ambiguous phrases it always seems that "More is meant than meets the ear," says that the hand was treacherous, but the impulse sovereign. There is indeed a tradition current in Spain, which, could it be ascertained, would leave little doubt to whose jealousy and revenge the count fell a victim. It is said that Philip IV., having imperceptibly glided behind the La in some measure problematical. Huerta, the editor of a late collection of Spanish plays, and himself no despicable dramatic writer, in a zealous defence of Lope accuses Cervantes very queen in a passage of the palace, clapped his hands before her eyes with the intention of surprising or alarming her. She was off her guard, and having often permitted such liberties, and probably yet greater, to Villa Mediana, exclaimed, Que quieres, Conde?-What would you, Count? and thus inadvertently betrayed the familiarities which had passed between her and a person of that title. She thought however that she had quieted the king's suspicions, when upon being questioned on her exclamation, and discovering her husband, she reminded him that he was count of Bar. celona. But the king, who only affected to be contented with this explanation, was soon satisfied of her attachment to Villa Mediana, and in the space of a few days he fell a victim to his ambitious gallantry. Of this queen, sister to our Henrietta Maria, a more idle story is related of a grandee setting fire to the palace for the pleasure of touching her person in rescuing her from the flames. Yet more idly this story is told of Villa Mediana, though he died several years before the fire at the Buen Retiro, which most probably gave rise to this anecdote. I am more inclined to give credit to the account which shows, that in order to approach the royal beauty, it was not necessary to have recourse to such desperate expedients. unjustly of detraction and malignity. Wherever Cervantes has mentioned the poet in his printed works, he has spoken of his genius not only with respect but admiration. It is true that he implies that his better judgment occasionally yielded to the temptation of immediate profit, and that he sometimes sacrificed his permanent fame to fleeting popularity with the comedians and the public But in saying this, he says little more than Lope himself has repeatedly acknowledged; and throughout his works he speaks of him in a manner which, if Lope had possessed discernment enough to have perceived the real superiority of Cervantes, would have afforded him as much pleasure as the slight mixture of censure seems to have given him concern. The admirers or rather the adorers of Lope, who had christened him the Phoenix of Spain, were very anxious to crush the reputation of Cervantes. With this view they excited rivals on whom they lavished extravagant praises; they at one time decried novels and romances, and at another extolled all those who wrote them, except the one who was most deserving of their praise. If the sonnet published in the Life prefixed to Don Quixotte of Pellicer be genuine, Cervantes was at length provoked to attack more directly the formidable reputation of their idol. In this sonnet, which contains a sort of play upon words, by the omission of the last syllable of each, that cannot be translated, the works of Lope are somewhat severely handled; a sonnet compiled in four languages from various authors is ridiculed, the expediency of a sponge is suggested, and he is above all advised not to pursue his Jerusalem Conquistada, a work upon which he was then employed. Lope, who parodied the sonnet of Cervantes, rejected his advice, and published that epic poem, in which his failure is generally acknowledged even by his most fervent admirers. Marino the Italian poet must however be excepted; who, as he does not hesitate in his funeral eulogium to prefer the Angelica to the Orlando Furioso, and the novels of Lope to those of Boccace, could not decently exempt Tasso from this act of general homage, and makes his poem bow submission to the Spanish Jerusalem Conquistada. Cervantes, though discouraged by Lope, and decried by his admirers, had moderation or prudence enough to acknowledge his merits in his Viage del Parnasso, and still more strongly in the prologue* to * Nasarre, the editor of the eight comedies of Cervantes, considers them as parodies of Lope de Vega, and maintains that his description of a bad play alludes to a particular composition of our author. But Nasarre's opinions are too paradoxical to have any weight, and those who will give themselves the trouble of examining his assertions will find them still less deserving attention or respect. |