Full text of "The Spanish journal of Elizabeth, lady Holland"
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disgusted with the number and servility of their salu- tations, which were rendered not to us but to our equipage. yth, Aldea Gallega. — Mr. Chamberlain came over from Lisbon, and wished us to return with him ; this I declined, as the boats were not large. He returned the next evening with proper conveyances, and we all set off with the evening tide ; reached Lisbon within three hours. Took possession that night of our house at St. Isabel, close to the church. Having been so dreadfully ill, I had no courage to keep notes of anything that occurred. As soon as I could bear the exertion of moving, we made an ex- cursion to As Caldas, Alcobaga, Marinha Grande, and Batalha. 24th Feb. 1805, Alcobaga. — The convent is large, and remarkably clean ; the apartments of the monks, who are Bernardines, are commodious : the garden and cenador 1 very prettily situated. The library is considerable, contains many gifts from travellers, and several from the inhabitants of the British Islands. Their revenue is very 1 Summer-house. 184 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Feb. great. The present Abbot is general of the order in Portugal, but he is not a mitred Abbot. We had a splendid dinner in the Sala de los Reyes, at which he presided with several others of the fraternity and did the honors very much in the style of a high-bred, polished man of the world. A very large part of the convent is set aside for strangers, and a suite of spacious rooms appropriated solely for the use of the Royal family. We lodged in a house belonging to the convent, kept for the purpose of receiving women, they not being allowed to enter the convent. However I was permitted to visit every part of the convent without difficulty, the Abbot telling me no doors were closed and I had but to walk straight on ; he kept out of the way whilst I walked over the interior, that he might not appear to sanction an irregular proceeding. The refectory is large and cool ; the magazines well provided with provisions of every sort, and upon the whole, it is by far the best and least dis- gusting convent I ever saw. The reports of the luxuries of monks being excessively exaggerated, poverty and filth are in general all one finds and often very scanty fare. 25th. — Batalha is a more recent foundation than Alcobaca, and much poorer. In some of the chapels behind the high altar are the monuments of several of the kings of Portugal, and of some private individuals, one belonging to the family of the Duke de la Foens, also the coffin of John II, and his body still entire. This was opened to us while the monks sang a requiem. Mr. Allen examined the body very accurately ; he described the skin of the hands, feet, and breast as dry and shrivelled, the skin of the face not preserved, nor the teeth, but their sockets are entire. From the momentary glimpse I bestowed upon the disgusting object, he appears to have been under the common i8o 5 ] MARINHA GRANDE 185 size ; there is a small gold crown on his head, and he is dressed in royal robes. 1 28th. — Marinha Grande, where we have been most hospitably entertained for these last three days, is a modern village built within the last 40 years by Mr. Stephens, an Englishman, who established a glass manu- factory here under the protection of the P. Governt., with great advantage to Portugal, as well as to his own private fortune. He enjoys the privilege of taking for the use of the manufacture decayed pine trees from the adjacent forest, but Villaverde, the present Minister of State, threatens to deprive him of this privilege, in which case the manufacture must decline, and will probably soon go to ruin. There are, at present, 24 workmen employed in the glass house ; the sand prin- cipally used is brought from ye Isle of Wight, and the barilla from Alicant, and the potash from Russia or North America ; so that, except the pines and salt of tartar from Oporto, none of the rude materials are the produce of Portugal. Crystal glass is the only sort made here, and in such quantity as to supply the whole demand of Portugal and the chief demand of the Bresils. The house is commodious : the present proprietor is brother of the founder of the establishment, who died about 2 years ago. He had an Opera house fitted up here, in which Portuguese and Italian operas were represented once a month. The actors were chiefly the young people employed about the works, whom he had instructed in music and dancing for this purpose. These representations have ceased since his death, but every night a tolerable concert was given by the person who resides in the house, and superintends the work. 4th March. — Returned to Lisbon. Found children well. 1 Dom John's body was exhumed and cut to pieces by the French, and the tomb destroyed. 186 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [March Progress of spring very striking. Weather excessively hot, quite oppressive. Having resolved upon trying the effects of the baths of As Caldas upon baby's leg and Ld. Hd.'s fingers, we sent over to secure a house, which being done, we set off on March 13th. March 14th. — Reached As Caldas very late at night. Found very excellent and convenient accommodation ; we had the whole inn to ourselves, and by dint of green baize, a few additional tables, and a sofa we contrived to feel as comfortable as if we had been magnificently lodged. News arrived that the French fleet had escaped from Brest, and it was necessary to send the information to England. Accordingly Ld. Robt. 1 was obliged to hasten the sailing of the packet, and as Ld. Hd. wished to get home in time to attend the debate upon the Catholic Question, which was fixed for the 9th of May, we resolved to go, and in 13 hours were ready to sail ! A wonderful exertion. We embarked in the Walsingham, Capt. Roberts, at 12 o'clock at night. We engaged the whole packet, and took B. Frere with us. The weather was tolerably fine till towards midday ; our passage across the bar was rough and dangerous ; a frigate followed us, but lost her bowsprit and was compelled to return. The winds were contrary the first seven days. We were pur- sued by a large ship, which from its black studding-sails was supposed to be an enemy. The equipage were alarmed, and the captain put out great oars in order to paddle away, but the darkness of the night was a better assistant. A few days after we were in a heavy gale, in the midst of which an enemv's schooner bore down 1 Lord Robert Stephen Fitzgerald (1765-1833), sixth son of James, first Duke of Leinster. He was Minister at Lisbon at this time, having succeeded Mr. Hookham Frere. He married, in 1792, Sophia Charlotte, daughter of Captain Fielding, R.N, l8o5 ] RETURN TO ENGLAND 187 upon us ; the terror was universal. The heavy sea on which we were heaved exposed our hulk to their guns, but she never approached near enough to hurt us, and the storm drove her away from us. Thus after a boisterous and anxious voyage of 14 days, we landed safely in Falmouth Harbour. The newspapers we received by the boats which came out to us, brought the intelligence of the vote in the H. of Commons against Ld. Melville. Holland House. — We stopped at Mr. Marsh's at Winter- slow a couple of nights, and on May 6th arrived within these venerable walls. My mother, Mr. Fox, Ly. Bess- borough, and Gen. Fitzpatrick, and various others, came to greet our return. I liked to see them mightily, but a return to this country always damps my spirits. The first two months was a tourbillon, and I could very little methodize my thoughts. Poor Ld. Lansdown died ; he had eagerly wished to see Ld. Hd., but that very desire agitated and even hastened his end. 1 Bartholomew Frere was sent, in July, Secretary of Legation under Mr. Jackson at Berlin. Mouravieff came to England, and passed upwards of a month, indeed all the time he remained in England, here. Lds. Lorn and Minto staid nearly the whole month of August and part of September, off and on. Knight's book a very general topic ; liked by Mr. Fox, roughly handled by General Fitzpatrick. 2 He differs with Knight on most of his opinions, and admires the sublime and beautiful. The title of the book is erroneous, pretending to be an analy- tical enquiry, whereas it contains nothing but desultory remarks upon literary subj ects. The character of Achilles, he allows, is well drawn, but that is a theft from Beattie's Essays. 1 He died on May 7. - An A nalytical Inquiry into the Principles of Taste, by Richard Payne Knight, the connoisseur and collector of coins. 188 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL Ld. Webb Seymour, the Duke of Somerset's brother, dined here. He is sedately handsome, very dark, and resembling the two brothers Wycombe and Petty. When he speaks, his countenance brightens, and denotes more indulgence than his cast of features at first indicates. He is more sensible than his brother, clear and distinct in delivering his ideas, and tho' absorbed in les hautes sciences is yet tolerant to the pursuits of others. He resides chiefly in Scotland. It is a singular taste to prolong the toils of a University education ; he has extended his to seven years. Professor Playfair is his magnet. DESCRIPTIONS AND SAYINGS OF PEOPLE IN SOCIETY IN SPAIN, 1804 Alava had been an aide-de-camp of Gravina's ; he is nephew to the Grand Inquisitor, a young naval officer, and a remarkably handsome man. He was formerly a favorite with the Q., and some enemies of the Prince of ye Peace invited him to throw himself again in her way to revive her former inclination. This project did not succeed, so he is included in the desterrados at dinner at my house. Serra, who is himself in an honorable but marked exile, asked him (in consequence of being aware of the failure of his project) when he should return to Madrid. Was answered by Alava, ' About the time you set off to Paris.' * He was at the Filipine Isles with his uncle, who was formerly Governor there, and returned by the way of Mexico. Abuses Branciforte (brother-in-law of the P. of the P.) who was Viceroy of Mexico during his stay in that country. Laments the want of a good harbour on ye north coast of New Spain : Vera Cruz is a very bad one. Many excellent harbours on ye South Sea, Acapulco, &c. Some miners from Germany were sent lately to Mexico in order to improve the methods of working the mines, but after several trials, they confessed that the methods used in the country were better than their own. Simpler and better contrived machinery has been lately introduced into the mines, so as to diminish greatly the consumption of the mules. No 1 See ante, p. 104, 189 igo LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [1804 mines wrought on acct. of Crown. Several of the pro- prietors of mines immensely rich. Capmany. Estates of Medinaceli are by far ye greatest in Spain, include n cities and 800 pueblos, 1 of which 300 are in Cataluha ; produce at present £130,000 a yr., but under proper management they would produce more than double that sum. Governt. is at a vast expense in promoting ye arts and sciences and literature, but without effect in consequence of various causes. A man is sent abroad at ye public expense to study science or literature or acquire some useful art. He returns, finds no means of prosecuting ye art which he has acquired with so much pains, is employed to teach a parcel of boys who have no use for it, and is prohibited from publishing, or after being permitted to publish is sent into banishment for having expressed himself with too much freedom. A few such examples, and they are too many, destroy all ye efforts of ye Governt. to improve and enlighten ye country. The expenses of the Court are going on without any abatement. The carriers and muleteers forced into the Royal service in the last journey to Badajoz are not yet paid for their labor and loss of mules : and ye miserable peasants were robbed of their poultry, corn, fodder, &c, and forced to quit their harvest work to mend ye roads. Olive trees, it is positively asserted, were cut down in some places for fuel, because no other wood could be obtained. All the abuses of former purveyance for the senor subsist at this day. Houses, castles, and provisions are liable to be seized for the use of the Court and the most petty officer belonging to it, at the price which they choose to fix ; and this price not paid till the miserable creditor has lost double in hanging about the Court to solicit pay- 1 Villages. EXACTIONS OF THE COURT 191 ment. The King's journeys, even to the sitios, is regularly preceded by an embargo upon mules, and the same method is taken to procure mules whenever they are wanted for any other purpose ; and ye hire, instead of being regulated by the current price, is fixed by a tasa. A similar tax is fixed on houses at ye sitios and Madrid or wherever ye King moves with his Court, and it is sufft. that a house is empty, to force the proprietor to let it to the person who gets an order to that purpose from ye Governt. Soler, the Minister of Finance, retains his place because he has no scruples how he obtains money for the Royal coffers. About a year since, the parish of St. Martin applied to Governt. for permission to repair and decorate their parish church. They were asked how they expected to provide funds for so expensive a work as they proposed to undertake ; they incautiously answered that besides expecting aid from the charity of the pious, they had provided a sum of 500,000 reals to begin with. Soler praised their foresight, and that very evening sent an order for the money, saying that his Majesty had resolved to take the repairs of their church into his own hands. Pellicer is a supple and servile adherent of the great, be they what or whom they may. He is at present librarian to the P. of ye Peace. He owes his fortune to a lucky marriage with the rich widow of a mule harness- maker, and the stall is still kept by him in ye Plaza Mayor. He is held in great contempt by his brother authors for his meanness and sordidness of character and ye laborious trifling of his pursuits. Capmany says of him, that he collects of past ages all those anecdotes, and those only, which no person would care to know of the present. Great indifference amongst the tradesmen as to 192 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [ l8 o 4 obtaining and finishing work. No inducement, however urgent, will engage them to work on a day they have been used to devote to pleasure. No work on dias de fiesta, media-fiesta, or on Mondays. One of the principal joiners in Madrid finds it more economical to indent tradesmen in Germany for 4 years, bring them and re- turn them at his own expense, than to employ Spaniards. M. Bourke said this. Mallo 1 is a native of Caraccas ; he was a garde-du- corps, in very indigent circumstances, and reduced to very low company when ye Q. took a fancy to him. So much so, that Sapia had made one of his countrymen break off his acquaintance with Mallo, as a person whom it was not creditable to be seen with. He is a man of no sort of talents, hero de boudoir. Saavedra encouraged the connection, and wished to use Mallo as a prop. Indeed many agree that Saavedra was more occupied during his Administration with intrigues to main- tain himself in place than with doing service to his country. Duke of Infantado, about 35 yrs. old, slender, light figure, with a stronger northern tint in his complexion than Spanish hue. Fond of mechanics, chemistry, and agriculture. Has attempted the introduction of manu- factories on his estates, and is at present occupied with improving them by planting, inclosing, &c. Very high independent spirit, and of course ill seen, from that circumstance, at Court. Very agreeable conversation, and the manners of a man of the world. He was educated at Paris, and his preceptor was Cavanilles. He served in the war against France, and distinguished himself. He resides chiefly at Madrid, but frequently visits his estates. He is one of the greatest proprietors of the mesta. The family name of Infantado is Mendoza, but 1 See ante, p. 87. DUKE OF INFANTADO 193 the present family are the male descendants of the great D. of Alba. Don Manuel de Toledo. His brother, a very handsome, graceful, young man ; perfectly Spanish in his complexion and features, and an admirable specimen of the national character. Very much addicted to the same pursuits with his brother, of whom he is extremely fond. They are both attached to their mother, who is the Dsse. Dow. Infantado, nee Psse. de Salm, and sister of P. Emanuel and Mde. de Stahremberg, &c. She has built a most delicious residence for herself at the extremity of the city looking down upon the Rio, extensive gardens, magnificent terrace, and a tennis court. The house is upon a Paris model, and is quite perfect. She lived at Paris, and built the Hotel formerly called by her name on the Place de Louis XV, and now occupied by Lucchesini, &c. Her jointure is about £10,000 pr. ann. P. Emanuel de Salm. Her brother, who in conse- quence of his marriage had come into Spain in ye beginning of the reign of Charles III, served some time in S. army, and had a Commanderie of Montesa bestowed upon him. He has not been in Spain these thirty years till last winter. Madame de Montijo. Widow about 50 ; head of the family of Portocarrero. Has an uncommon share of wit and talent and a satirical bent, which she is apt to indulge at the expense of the Court, for which she has a most undisguised contempt and dislike. Suspected of being inclined towards Jansenism, and is at the head of many charitable institutions. Was much connected with and is still extremely attached to Jovellanos, whose cause she has maintained with great ardor and firmness during his cruel persecution. She has great quickness Directory: textos diversos textos diversos -> Ignacio Darnaude Rojas-Marcos ufólogos, contactados y espiritualistas Download 4.2 Mb. Share with your friends:
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