Chapter XI (4)

In these terms does Cervantes speak of himself in his captivity; and so often are writers accused of boasting that this might have been brought forward as a proof of his vanity merely, but that we have another testimony in a book named "Topography and general History of Algiers, by Father Diego de Haedo[60]," a contemporary; and his account, though not full enough to satisfy our curiosity, yet proves that Cervantes spoke of his deeds with no exaggeration; and that, to attain his liberty, he incurred every risk, and endured a thousand hardships and perils with dauntless courage. As Cervantes often alludes to himself, it is strange that he did not write an account of his years of captivity; but the truth is, that, though we may be led to mention ourselves, it is ever a tedious task to write at length on the subject: recollections come by crowds; hopes baffled, our dearest memories discovered to have a taint, our lives wasted and fallen into contempt even in our own eyes: so that we readily turn from dispiriting realities to such creatures of the imagination as we can fashion according to our liking. But to return.

The account above given of the situation of the captives refers to those best off. The rest were either employed as galley slaves, or in other hard labours. Among the latter Cervantes was probably numbered, as Haedo mentions that his captivity was one of peculiar hardship. Driven to resistance by his sufferings, Cervantes several times endeavoured to obtain his liberty. [Sidenote: 1576. Ætat. 29.] His first attempt was made in conjunction with several others, under the design of reaching Oran (a town of Africa, then in possession of Spain,) by land. He and his comrades even contrived to get out of the town of Algiers; but the Moorish guide whom they had engaged deserted them, and they were obliged to return and deliver themselves up to their masters.

Some of his companions, and among them ensign Gabrièl de Castañeda, were ransomed in the middle of the year 1576. Castañeda took letters from the captive brothers to their father, Rodrigo Cervantes, describing their miserable situation. He instantly sold or mortgaged his little property, and, indeed, every thing he possessed, even to the dowry of his daughters, who were not yet married; the whole family being thus reduced to penury. [Sidenote: 1577. Ætat. 30.] The entire sum, unhappily, did not suffice for the redemption of both brothers. Miguel accordingly gave up his share to secure the freedom of Rodrigo, who was set free in August, 1577. He promised at parting to get an armed vessel equipped at Valencia or the Balearic isles, which, touching at a place agreed on, near Algiers, would facilitate the escape of his brother and other captives; and he carried with him to this effect several letters from men of high birth, now fallen into the miserable condition of slaves, to various persons in power in Spain.

Meanwhile Cervantes was arranging another plan for escape, nay, he was far advanced in its execution at the time of his brother's departure. The alcayd Hassan, a Greek renegade, possessed a garden three miles from Algiers, close to the sea: in this garden Juan, a slave from Navarre, had contrived to dig a cavern; and here, under the conduct of Cervantes, a number of runaway captives hid themselves till an opportunity should offer for final evasion. Some of them had taken up their abode in the cave since the month of February, 1577: it was dark and damp, but it proved a safe asylum. The numbers increased till they amounted to fifteen. They had only two confidants, both Christians. Juan, the gardener of the alcayd Hassan, who worked near the mouth of the cave, and kept watch for them; and another, a native of Villa de Melilla, a small town of Barbary, subject to the king of Spain. He had become a renegade when a boy, and then again turned Christian, and was now captured for the second time. This man, who was commonly surnamed el Dorador, or the Gilder, had it particularly in charge to supply the fugitives with food and necessaries, buying them with the money given him, and bringing them secretly to the cavern.

The runaways had now been hidden for seven months: the confinement was irksome and unhealthy, and they never breathed the free air of heaven except in the dead of night, when they stole out for a short time into the garden. They often incurred the greatest dangers,--as Haedo says, "what these men suffered in the cavern, and what they said and did, would deserve a particular account." Several fell sick, and all endured incredible hardship; while through all they were supported and encouraged by the firmness and dauntless courage of Cervantes. In the month of September, an opportunity offered itself, as they hoped, for effecting their ultimate escape. A Mallorcan captive, of the name of Mana, accustomed to the sea, and well acquainted with the coast of Barbary, was ransomed; and the captives of the cave agreed with him that he should hire a vessel, either in Mallorca or Spain, and bring it to the neighbourhood of the garden by night, where they could unperceived embark, and sail for their native country. When this was arranged, Cervantes, who had hitherto thought that he served his friends best by remaining in Algiers, made his escape and repaired to the cavern, and remained there.

Viana performed his part with celerity and success. He hired a brigantine at Mallorca, and arrived with it at Algiers on the 28th of September. As had been concerted, he made, in the middle of the night, for the part of the coast where the garden and the cavern were situated. Most unfortunately, however, at the moment when the prow of the brigantine bore down on shore, several Moors passed by, and, perceiving the vessel, and that the crew were Christians, gave the alarm, crying out "Christians! Christians! a vessel! a vessel!" When those on board heard this they were obliged to put out to sea again, and to give up their attempt for that time.

The captives in the cave were, however, undiscovered; and they still put their trust in God, and believed that Viana as a man of honour, would not fail them; and though suffering through sickness, confinement, and disappointment, they still supported themselves with the hope of succeeding at last in their attempt. Unfortunately the Dorador turned traitor. The ill success of Viana's attempt perhaps made him imagine that all would be discovered and he be implicated in the dangers of the enterprise, while, on the other hand, he hoped to gain large rewards from the masters of the runaway slaves by giving them up. Two days only after Viana left the coast, he sought an audience with the dey, declared his wish to turn Mahometan, and asked his permission; while, as a proof of his sincerity, he offered to betray into his hands fifteen Christian captives, who lay concealed in a cavern, expecting a vessel from Mallorca for their deliverance.

The dey was delighted with this account. As a tyrant, he resolved, against all custom and right, to appropriate the runaways to himself; so sending immediately for Bashi, the gaoler of the bagnio, he commanded him to take a guard, and, guided by the renegade, to seize on the Christians hidden in the cave. Bashi did as he was ordered; and, accompanied by eight mounted Turks and twenty-four on foot, armed, for the most part, with muskets and sabres, he, guided by the traitor, repaired to the garden. The first man they seized on was the gardener; they then made for the cave, and captured all the Christians.

The traitor Dorador had mentioned Cervantes, whom Haedo names "a distinguished hidalgo of Alcalá de Hernares," as the originator and the heart and soul of the whole enterprise. He, therefore, was singled out to be more heavily ironed than the rest; and when the dey, seizing on the whole number as his own, ordered them to be carried to the bagnio, he detained Cervantes in the palace, and, by entreaties and terrible menaces, tried to induce him to declare the true author of their attempt. His motive in this was to implicate, if possible, a friar of the order of mercy, established at Algiers as redeemer of slaves for the kingdom of Aragon, on whom he desired to lay hands for the purpose of extorting money.

But all his endeavours were vain; and though his merciless disposition gave Cervantes every cause to apprehend a cruel death, he, with undaunted firmness, continued to reiterate that the whole enterprise originated in, and was carried on by, himself, heroically incurring the whole blame, and running the risk of the heaviest punishment. Finding all his endeavours fail, the dey sent him also to the prison of the bagnio.

As soon as these circumstances became known, the former masters of the captives claimed each his slave: the dey resisted where he could; but he was obliged to give up three or four, and among them Cervantes, who was restored to the Arnaout Mami, who had originally captured him. The alcayd Hassan hastened also to the dey to obtain leave to punish the gardener, who was hung with his head downwards, and left to die. Cervantes, meanwhile, returning to his old state of slavery, was by no means disposed to submit to it. Ardent and resolute, his schemes for procuring his liberation were daring in the extreme. Many times he reiterated his attempts, and ran risk of being impaled or otherwise put to death; and how he came to be spared cannot be guessed, except that the gallantry of his spirit excited the respect of his masters, and, perhaps, associating the ideas of bravery and resolution with noble birth, it was supposed that in the end he would be ransomed at a high price.

[Sidenote: 1578. Ætat. 31.]

Soon after Hassan Aga himself purchased him from Mami, either hoping to gain through his ransom, or to keep a better watch over his restless attempts. At one time he sent letters through a Moor to don Martin de Cordova, governor of Oran; but this emissary was taken, and brought with his despatches before the dey. The unfortunate man was condemned to be impaled, and Cervantes was sentenced to the bastinado; but, from some undiscovered influence, his punishment on this occasion, as well as every other, was remitted.[61]

[Sidenote: 1579. Ætat. 32.]

This ill success did not daunt his courage. In September, 1579, he formed acquaintance with a Spanish renegade, the licentiate Giron, born at Granada, who had taken the name of Abd-al-Rhamen. This renegade was eager to return to his native country, and reassume the Christian faith. With him Cervantes concerted a new plan of escape: they had recourse to two Valencian merchants, established at Algiers,--Onofrio Exarch; and Bathazar de Torres: they assisted in the plot; and the former contributed 1500 doubloons for the price of an armed frigate with twelve banks of oars, which Abd-al-Rhamen bought under the pretence of going on a cruise as corsair. The vessel was ready, and the captives were on the alert to get on board, when they were betrayed. Doctor Juan Blanco de Paz, a Dominican monk, for the sake of a reward, denounced the scheme to the dey.

Hassan Aga at first dissimulated: his desire was, as in the former instance, though then frustrated, to confiscate the slaves to the state, by which means he should become possessed of them; nevertheless it became known that they were betrayed; and Onofrio, fearful that if Cervantes were taken, he would be tortured into making confessions injurious to him; offered to buy him at any price and send him to Spain. Cervantes refused to avoid the common peril. He had escaped from the bagnio, and was hidden at the house of one of his old military comrades, the ensign Diego Castillano. The dey made a public proclamation of him, threatening with death any one who afforded him refuge. Cervantes, on this, delivered himself up, having first secured the intercession of a Murcian renegade, Morato Raez Matrapillo, who was a favourite with Hassan Aga. The dey demanded the names of his accomplices of Cervantes, and threatened him with immediate execution if he refused. Cervantes was not to be moved; he named himself and four Spanish gentlemen already at liberty, but fear of death extracted no other word. Despite his cruelty there must have been a touch of better things about Hassan Aga. He was moved by the constancy and fearlessness of his captive: he spared his life, but imprisoned him in a dungeon, where he was kept strictly guarded and chained. The ensign Luis Pedrosa, an ocular witness of his countryman's conduct, exclaims on this, that his noble conduct deserved "renown, honour, and a crown among Christians."

The dey had now become thoroughly frightened. Cervantes's late plots were not limited merely to the attainment of freedom; he aimed at raising the whole captive population in revolt, and so gaining possession of Algiers for the crown of Spain. Hassan Aga, in his fear, was heard to exclaim, that "he only held his city, fleet; and slaves secure, while he kept that maimed Christian in safe custody."

The courage and heroism of Cervantes excited the respect of the friars of the Order of Mercy, who resided at Algiers for the purpose of treating for the ransom of the Christian captives. This order had been established as far back as the twelfth century by pope Innocent III. It was originally founded by two French hermits, who, dedicated to a holy life in solitude, believed themselves called upon by God to take more active service in the cause of religion. They repaired to Rome, and were well received by pope Innocent, who saw the benefits that might arise to Christianity from the pious labours of these men. He instituted an order, therefore, whose members were to dedicate themselves to the liberating of Christian slaves out of the hands of the infidels. It was called the order of the most Holy Trinity, for the Redemption of Captives. At first its labours were probably most in use to ransom crusaders, taken prisoners in the wars of Palestine. Africa afterwards became the scene of their greatest labours and dangers: various members of the order were regularly appointed, and resided in Algiers, for the purpose of carrying on treaties for the ransom of captives in particular. Each kingdom of Spain had its peculiar holy officer, a sort of spiritual consul, who transacted all the affairs of redemption and liberation for the unfortunate slaves.

Cervantes's case was peculiar: distinguished among his fellow slaves, the dey paid him the inconvenient compliment of rating his ransom highly, and set the price of 1000 golden crowns on him; application was made in Spain, and it was endeavoured to collect his ransom. His father was now dead, and his mother, donna Leonora, a widow, could only contribute 250 ducats, his sister 50 more. This sum was placed in the hands of the friars Juan Gil and Antonio de la Vella, who arrived in Algiers in May, 1580, for the purpose of treating for the redemption of various captives. For a long time they were unable to bring the dey into any terms with regard to Cervantes: the sum of 1000 golden ducats was exorbitant, yet during several months he refused to take less. At last he received an order from the sultan, which appointed him a successor, and enforced his return to Constantinople. At first he threatened to take Cervantes, whom he kept on board his galley, with him; and the friars raised their offers to prevent this disaster: at last he agreed to receive 500 golden crowns as his ransom: on the 19th of September, 1580, the bargain was completed. Hassan sailed for Constantinople, and Cervantes was set on shore at Algiers, free to return to Spain.[62]

The first use, however, that he made of his liberty was to refute, in the most determined manner, certain calumnies of which he was the object. The traitor, Juan Blanco de Paz, who falsely pretended to belong to the inquisition, cast on him the accusation of betraying the conspiracy, and of causing the exile of the renegade Giron. The moment that Cervantes was free he entreated father Juan Gil to examine the whole affair. In consequence, the apostolic notary, Pedro de Ribera, drew out twenty-five questions, and received the depositions of eleven Spanish gentlemen, the most distinguished among the captives, in answer. These examinations, in which all the events of Cervantes's captivity are minutely recounted, give besides the most interesting details concerning his understanding, his character, the purity of his life, and the devoted sacrifices he made to his companions in misfortune, which gained for him so many friends.

Viardôt, who has seen this document, not mentioned by any other author, cites among the depositions that of don Diego de Benavides. Having made inquiries, he says, on his arrival at Algiers concerning the principal Christian captives, Cervantes was mentioned to him as honourable, noble, virtuous, of excellent character, and beloved by all the other gentlemen. Benavides cultivated his friendship, and he was treated so kindly, that he says, "he found both a father and a mother in him." The carmelite monk, Feliciano Enriquez, declared, that having discovered the falsehood of an accusation made against Cervantes, he, in common with all the other captives, became his friend; his noble, Christian, upright, and virtuous conduct raising a sort of emulation among them. Finally, the ensign Luis de Pedrosa declares, "that of all the gentlemen resident at Algiers, he knew not one who did so much good to their fellow captives as Cervantes, or who showed a more rigid observance of the point of honour; and that in addition, all that he did was adorned with a peculiar grace, through his understanding, prudence, and forethought, in which few people could equal him."

Such was the natural elevation of Cervantes over his fellow-creatures, when, all being placed on an equality, the qualities of the soul alone produced a difference of rank. It inspires infinite contempt for the arbitrary distinctions of society when we find this prince and leader among his fellows was, when restored to his native country, depressed by poverty and obscured by want; and when we find no spirit of repining displayed during his after life, though he had dignity of soul to assert his worth, we are impelled to give Cervantes as high a place for moral excellence as his genius has secured for him in the world of intellect.

[Sidenote:1581. Ætat. 34.]

Cervantes landed in Spain early the following year. He so often expresses the excessive joy imparted by a restoration to freedom, that we may believe that his heart beat high with exultation when he set his foot on the shores of his native country. "On earth," he says, "there is no good like regaining lost liberty." Yet he arrived poor, and if not friendless yet his friends were poor also. His mother's purse had been drained to contribute to his ransom. As a literary man he was not known, nor, indeed, had he written any thing since he left Spain eleven years before. He evidently did not at first look upon literature as a resource by which to live. He was still a soldier in heart, and such he became again by profession, though it would seem that his long captivity erased the recollection of, and deprived him of all reward for, his past services.

At this time Portugal had been recently conquered by the duke of Alva. It was now tranquil, but still occupied by Spanish troops. This army was in preparation to attack the Azores, which still held out. Rodrigo de Cervantes, after his ransom, had re-entered the service. His brother found himself obliged to follow his example. That he had no powerful friend is proved by the circumstance that he again volunteered. Maimed of a hand, in a manner which proved his gallantry, while Algiers still rang with the fame of his intrepidity and daring, poverty in his native country hung like a heavy cloud over him. We must, however, at this period consider that he was not known as the author of Don Quixote, and a man of genius; he had shown himself only as a gallant soldier of fortune. Such he continued to be. He served in three campaigns. In the summer of 1581 he embarked in the squadron of don Pedro Valdes, who had orders to make an attempt on the Azores, and to protect the commerce of the Indies. [Sidenote:1582. Ætat. 35.] The following year he served under the orders of the marquis de Santa Cruz, and was in the naval battle which that admiral gained on the 25th of July, within sight of the island of Terceira, over the French fleet, which had taken part with the Portuguese insurgents. It is asserted, that beyond a question Cervantes served in the regiment of the camp-major-general, don Lope de Figueroa. This corps was composed of veterans, and was embarked on board the galleon San Mateo, which took a distinguished part in the victory. [Sidenote:1583. Ætat. 36.] In the campaign of 1583 he and his brother were at the taking of Terceira, which was carried by assault. Rodrigo distinguished himself greatly on this occasion, and was one of the first to spring on shore; for which, on the return of the fleet, he was promoted to the rank of ensign.

It is characteristic of Spanish manners that, although only serving in the ranks, Cervantes mingled in the society of the nobles of Portugal. He was an hidalgo and, as such, freely admitted to the circles of the well born, despite his poverty. He was engaged in a love affair at Lisbon: the name of the lady is not known: it seems likely, from attendant circumstances, that she was not possessed of either rank or fortune. She bore him a daughter, whom he named donna Isabel de Saavedra, and brought up; and she remained with him even after his marriage till she took vows in a convent in Madrid, but a short time before her father's death. He never had another child.

[Sidenote:1584. Ætat. 37.]

In the year 1584 Cervantes appeared as an author. He seems to have written rather under the excitement of his natural genius, which impelled him to composition, than under the idea of earning a livelihood by his pen. The most popular works then in Spain were the "Diana" of Montemayor, and the continuation of the same work by Gil Polo. This last was a particular favourite of Cervantes. In the scrutiny made by the curate of Don Quixote's library, he thus speaks of these books:--"I am of opinion that we do not burn the 'Diana' of Montemayor; let us only erase from it all the part that concerns the wise Felicia and the enchanted water, and almost all the poetry written in _versos mayores_, and let the prose remain, and the honour it enjoys of being the first of these species of books. As to the continuation by Gil Polo, take care of it as if Apollo himself were the author. Of his own 'Galatea,' he makes the curate say, "Cervantes has for many years been my intimate friend, and I know he has more experience in disasters than good fortune. There is the merit of invention in his book: he proposes something but concludes nothing; and we must wait for the second part, which he promises, when I hope he will merit the entire pardon which is as yet denied."

When pastorals were the fashion, there was something very attractive in the composition of them to a poetic mind. The author, if he were in love, could so easily turn himself into a shepherd, musing on his passion on the banks of rivulets, and all the lets and hindrances to his happiness he could transform into pastoral incidents. Montemayor and Gil Polo had acknowledgedly done this before, and it was but in good costume to imitate their example. We are told that, at the time of writing this work, Cervantes was already deeply in love with the lady whom he afterwards married. She figured as the lovely shepherdess Galatea. Lope de Vega asserts that Cervantes introduced himself as Elisio, the hero of his work. Viardôt says, "It cannot be doubted but that the other shepherds introduced in the romance as Tirsis, Damon, Meliso, Siralvo, Lauso, Larsileo, Artidoro, are intended for Francisco de Figueroa, Pedro Lainez, don Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, Luis Galvez de Montalvo, Luis Barahona de Soto, don Alonzo de Ercilla, Andres Rey de Artieda. These names all figure in the Spanish Parnassus, and it may be that they are introduced, but we have no proof. That the allusions made both to himself and his friends are very vague, is proved by the fact that Los Rios declares that Damon was the name of the shepherd figuring Cervantes, and Amarilis that of his lady-love. Of the pastoral itself we shall mention more when we come to speak of all Cervantes's works; suffice it now to say, that the purity of its style, and the ease of invention, must at once have raised Cervantes in the eyes of his friends to the rank of a writer of merit."

It certainly gained him favour in the eyes of the lady. Soon after the publication of the "Galatea" she consented to become his wife. On the 8th December, 1584, Cervantes accordingly married, at Esquivias, donna Catilina de Palacios y Salazar. Her family, though impoverished, was one of the most noble of that town. She had been brought up in the house of her uncle, don Francisco de Salazar, who left her a legacy in his will, or which reason she assumed his name in conjunction with her own; for it was the custom in those days for persons to call themselves after one to whom they owed the obligation of education and subsistence. The father of donna Catalina was dead, and the widow promised, when her daughter was affianced, to give her a moderate dower. This was done two years afterwards; the contract of marriage bearing date of August 9th, 1586. This portion we find to consist of a few vineyards, a garden, an orchard, several beehives, a hencoop, and some household furniture, amounting in value to 182,000 maravedis, or about 5360 reals, being, in English money, about 60_l_. This property was settled on donna Catalina, the management of it only remaining with her husband, who also settled on her 100 ducats, which are stated as the tenth of his property.

On his marriage, Cervantes took up his abode at Esquivias, probably from some motive of economy. Still feeling within him the innate assurance of genius, and the laudable desire of distinction which that feeling engenders, he dwelt on the idea of becoming an author. Esquivias is so near Madrid that he could pay frequent visits to the capital; and he cultivated the acquaintance of the authors of that day, and in particular of Vicente Espinel, one of the most charming romance writers of Spain. A noble of the court had instituted a sort of literary academy at his house, and it is conjectured that Cervantes was chosen a member.

At this time he wrote for the theatre. There was ever a lurking love for the drama in Spain. In his youth Cervantes had frequented the representations of Lope de Rueda, previously mentioned in this work, and he felt impelled to contribute to the drama. He saw the defects of the plays in vogue, which were rather dialogues than dramatic compositions. He saw the miserable state of the stage and scenery. He endeavoured to rectify these deficiencies, and in some measure succeeded. "I must trespass on my modesty," he says, in one of his prefaces, "to relate the perfection to which these things were brought when 'The Captives of Algiers,' 'Numantia,' and 'The Naval Battle,' dramas written by me, were represented at the theatre of Madrid. I then ventured to reduce the five acts, into which plays were before divided, into three. I was the first who personified imaginary phantoms and the secret thoughts of the soul, bringing allegorical personages on the stage, with the universal applause of the audience. I wrote at that time some twenty or thirty plays, which were all performed without the public throwing pumpkins, or oranges, or any of those things which spectators are apt to cast at the heads of bad actors: my plays were acted without hissing, confusion, or clamour."

Of the plays which Cervantes mentions, two only exist--"Numantia" and "Life in Algiers." They are very inartificial in their plots, and totally unlike the busy pieces of intrigue soon after introduced; but the first, in particular, has great merit, as will be mentioned hereafter. Still, his plays did not bring such profit as to render him independent. He was now forty: he had run through a variety of adventures, and remained unrewarded for his services, and unprotected by a patron. He was married; and, though he had no children by his wife, he maintained in his house his two sisters and his natural daughter: despite his vineyard, his orchard, and his hencoop,--despite also his theatrical successes--he felt himself straitened in circumstances. [Sidenote:1588. Ætat. 41.] At this time, Antonio de Guevara, councillor of finance, was named purveyor to the Indian squadrons and fleets at Seville, with the right of naming as his assistants four commissaries. He was now employed in fitting out the Invincible Armada. He offered the situation of commissary to Cervantes, who accepted it, and set out for Seville with his wife and daughter, and two sisters.[63]

Cervantes lived for many years at Seville fulfilling duties of his employment. [Sidenote:1591. Ætat. 44.] He served at first for ten years under Guevara, and then for two more under his successor, Pedro de Isunza. [Sidenote:1593. Ætat. 45.] That he was not contented with the situation, and that it was an insignificant one, is proved by his having solicited the king to give him the place of paymaster in New Granada, or of corregidor in the small town of Gcetemala. His request bears the date of May, 1590. It was refused fortunately; yet his funds and his hopes, also, must have been low to make him turn his eyes towards the Indies; for, speaking of such a design in one of his tales, he says of a certain hidalgo that, "finding himself at Seville without money or friends, he had reccurse to the remedy to which so many ruined men in that city run, which is going to the Indies--the refuge and shelter of all Spaniards of desperate fortunes, the common deceiver of many, the individual remedy of few." At length the purveyor-ship being suppressed, his office was also abolished, and he became agent to various municipalities, corporations, and wealthy individuals: among the rest, he managed the affairs, and became the friend, of don Hernando de Toledo, a noble of Cigales.

We have little trace of how he exercised his pen during this interval. The house of the celebrated painter Francisco Pacheco, master and father-in-law of Velasquez, was then frequented by all the men of education in Seville: the painter was also a poet, and Rodrigo Caro mentions that his house was an academy resorted to by all the literati of the town. Cervantes was numbered among them; and his portrait is found among the pictures of more than a hundred distinguished persons, painted and brought together by this artist. The poet Jauregui, who also cultivated painting, painted his portrait, and was numbered among his friends. Here Cervantes became the friend of Herrera, who spent his life in Seville, secluded from the busy world, but venerated and admired by his friends. Cervantes, in after days, wrote a sonnet to his memory, and mentions him with fond praise in his "Voyage to Parnassus." Viardôt assures us, that it was during his residence at Seville that Cervantes wrote most of his tales. This appears probable. Certainly he did not lose the habit of composition. Much of the material of these stories was furnished him by incidents that actually occurred in Seville; and when we see the mastery of invention and language he had acquired when he wrote "Don Quixote," we may believe that these tales occupied his pen when apparently, in a literary sense, idle.

It seems that, at Seville, and during his distasteful employments there, he acquired that bitter view of human affairs displayed in "Don Quixote." Yet it is wrong to call it bitter. Even when his hopes were crushed and blighted, a noble enthusiasm survived disappointment and ill-treatment; and, though he looks sadly, and with somewhat of causticity on human life, still no one can mistake the generous and lofty aspirations of his injured spirit throughout. We have two sonnets of his, written at Seville, which justify the idea, however, that there was something in this city (as is usually the case with provincial towns), that peculiarly excited his spirit of sarcasm. The first of these sonnets was written in ridicule of some recruits gathered together by a captain Bercerra to join the forces sent under the duke of Medina, to repel the disembarcation of the earl of Essex, who hovered near Cadiz with his fleet.

The second is more known. On the death of Philip II. in 1598, a magnificent catafalque was erected in the cathedral of Seville, "the most wonderful funereal monument," says a narrator of the ceremony, "which human eyes ever had the happiness of seeing." All Seville was in ecstasy, the catafalque was superb; it did honour to Spain; and they built the catafalque: could provincial town have better cause to strut and boast?[64] The Andalusians, also, are addicted to gasconading, and Cervantes could not resist the temptation of ridiculing both the monument and its vaunting erectors. In his "Voyage to Parnassus," Cervantes calls this sonnet "the chief honour of his writings." After such an announcement it is hold to attempt a translation. This sort of witty burlesque can never be transfused into another language, for its point consists rather in association of ideas, which only those on the spot can enter into, than, in witty allusions common to all the world. The conclusion of the epigram is to this day the delight of the Spaniards, who all know it by heart. The species of sonnet is named an _Estrumbote_, having three verses more than the proper fourteen. The following translation being tolerably literal, may serve to satisfy the curiosity of the English reader, though it cannot do justice to the composition itself. For the sake of the Spanish one, the original is inserted underneath.

TO THE MONUMENT OF THE KING AT SEVILLE.

"I vow to God, I quake with my surprise! Could I describe it, I would give a crown-- And who, that gazes on it in the town, But stands aghast to see its woodrous size: Each part a million cost, I should devise; What pity't is, ere centuries have flown, Old Time will mercilessly cast it down! Thou rival'st Rome, O Seville, in my eves! I bet, the soul of him who's dead and blest, To dwell within this sumptuous monument, Has left the seats of sempiternal rest!" A fellow tall, on deeds of valour bent, My exclamation heard, "Bravo!" he cried, "Sir Soldier, what you say is true, I vow, And he who says the contrary has lied!" With that, he pulls his hat upon his brow, Upon his sword's hilt he his hand does lay, And frowns--and--nothing does, but walks away.[65]

The financial occupations of Cervantes at Seville were full of various annoyances; and it seems to have been his destiny at all times, to find his life beset with various forms of adversity. He was accused of malversation in the employment of monies entrusted to him. His poverty was his best defence, but it required other circumstances to prove his innocence, and his honest heart and lofty soul must have been tortured by all the detail of accusation and defence. Viardôt has, by examining the archives of Valladolid, Seville, and Madrid, found traces of various circumstances, which he details. In themselves some of them scarcely deserve record, except as happening to Cervantes, and showing how like the equally unfortunate but more imprudent Hums, he was occupied by transactions antipathetic to his tastes and vocation. The first circumstance recorded by Viardôt is indeed a mere mercantile casualty, full of annoyance at the time, but whose effects even to the sufferer, vanishes like footsteps in the sand, when the next tide flows.

Towards the end of 1594, while he was settling at Seville the accounts of his commissariat, and calling in with much difficulty several sums in arrear, he forwarded the receipts to the _contaduria mayor_ of Madrid, in bills of exchange drawn upon Seville. One of these sums, arising from the taxation of the district of Velez-Malaga, amounting to 7400 rials, (little more than 70_l_.) was intrusted by him in specie to a merchant of Seville named Simon Freire de Lima, who undertook to pay it into the treasury at Madrid. It was not paid, and Cervantes was forced to make a journey to the capital to demand from Friere the sum in question; but this man meanwhile became bankrupt, and had tied from Spain. Cervantes hastened back to Seville, and found the property of his debtor seized on by other creditors. He addressed a request to the king, and a decree was published on the 7th of August 1595; ordering doctor Bernardo de Olmedilla; judge of _los Grados_ at Seville; to take by privilege on the goods of Friere; the sum intrusted to him by Cervantes. This was done, and the money was sent by the judge to the general treasurer, don Pedro Mesia de Tobar; in a bill of exchange drawn on the 22d of November 1596.

The next anecdote is of more interest; and displays the style in which justice was carried on in Spain. Cervantes wrote from his heart and from hitter experience; when he introduces; in one of his tales, the arrival of a corregidor at an inn; and says, "The inn-keeper and his wife were both frightened to death, for as when comets appear they always engender fear of disaster, so when the officers of justice enter a house of a sudden and unexpectedly, they alarm and agitate the consciences even of the innocent." It appears that at this time the tribunal of the _contaduria_ examined the treasury accounts with the greatest severity, emptied as it had been by the various wars which had been carried and by financial experiments which had failed. [Sidenote: 1597. Ætat. 50.] The inspector-general, of whom Cervantes was merely the agent, was sent for to Madrid to give in his accounts. He represented that the documents which served as vouchers were at Seville in the hands of Cervantes; upon this, without other form of trial, a royal order was sent to arrest him, and to send him under escort to the prison of the capital, where he was to be disposed of as the tribunal of accounts saw fit. Cervantes was accordingly thrown in prison. The deficit of which he was accused amounted only to 2644 rials, not quite 30_l_. He offered security for this sum, and was set at liberty, on condition that in thirty days he should appear before the _contaduria_, and liquidate his accounts. In all this, it is evident that no real accusation was levelled against Cervantes, and that it was only the clumsy and arbitrary proceedings of Spanish law that occasioned his imprisonment.

Some years after the claim of the treasury was revived; the inspector of Baza, Gaspar Osorio de Tejada, sent in his accounts, at the end of 1602; these included an acknowledgment from Cervantes, proving, that sum had been received by him in 1594, when he was commissioned to recover claims in arrear on that town and district. [Sidenote: 1602. Ætat. 55.] Having consulted on this point, the judges of the court of the treasury made a report, dated Valladolid, January the 24th, 1603, in which they gave an account of the arrest of Cervantes in 1597 for this same sum, and his conditional enlargement, adding that since then he had not appeared before them. [Sidenote: 1603. Ætat. 56.] It appears that in this very year, 1603, Cervantes removed with his family to Valladolid, where Philip III. resided with his court. There is no trace, however, of any proceedings against him; and it is evident that there was proof of his honesty sufficient to satisfy the officers of the treasury; and his honour in this and every other transaction stands clear. His poverty was the great and clinging evil of his life. Many housekeeping accounts, and notes, and bills, have been discovered at Valladolid, proving the distress which he and his family suffered. In 1603 there is a memorandum showing that his sister, donna Andrea, was engaged in superintending the household and wardrobe of a don Pedro de Toledo Osorio, marquis of Villafranca, lately returned from an expedition to Algiers.

All these dates and papers seem to cast a gleam of light upon the history of Cervantes; yet after all they but render the "darkness visible," and these tiny lights becoming extinguished, we grope blinder than ever. It is generally supposed that Cervantes left Seville at the time of the death of Philip II. (1599). We find that he was at Valladolid in 1603, but both before and after this date it would appear that he resided in the province of La Mancha. His perfect knowledge of that country, his familiarity with its peculiarities, the lakes of Ruydera, the cave of Motesinos, the position of the fulling mills, and other places mentioned in "Don Quixote," shows an intimate knowledge of the face of the country, to be gained only by a residence. The common conjecture is that he resided for several years in La Mancha, where he had several relations, acting as agent for various persons, and executing such commissions as were intrusted to him, and which brought in some small income. But adversity followed him here also, and again he became an inmate of a prison; wherefore cannot be discovered. The people of La Mancha were singularly quarrelsome. About this time they entered on lawsuits and contentions one with another, concerning some silly rights of precedence, which they pursued with such acrimony and vehemence, that the population of the province became diminished.

To some such litigious proceeding Cervantes was probably the victim. It has been said that this disaster happened at Toboso, on account of a sarcasm he had uttered against a woman, and that her relations thus avenged her. The common and the probable notion, however, is that the inhabitants of the village of Argamasilla de Alba threw him into prison, being incensed against him, either because he claimed the arrears of tithes due to the grand prior of San Juan, or because he interfered with their system of irrigation, by turning aside a portion of the waters of the Guadiana, for the purpose of preparing saltpetre. To this day they show in Argamasilla de Alba an old house called Casa de Medrano, which immemorial tradition declares to have been the prison of Cervantes. It seems likely that he was confined for some time; and he was forced to have recourse to his uncle don Juan Barnabé de Saavedra, a citizen of Alcazar de San Juan, asking for protection and assistance. We are told that the expressions of a letter written by Cervantes to this uncle are remembered, and that it began with these words: "Long days and short but sleepless nights wear me out in this prison, or rather let me call it cavern." In record of his ill-treatment here, he at the same time placed the residence of Don Quixote, in Argamasilla de Alba and refrained from mentioning the name, saying, "In a village of La Mancha, whose name I do not wish to recollect."

It is impossible here not to remember the beautiful image of lord Bacon, that calamity acts on the high-minded as the crushing of perfumes, pressing the innate virtue out of each: for in this prison Cervantes wrote "Don Quixote." When we consider the ill-fortune that pursued him--his military career, which left him maimed and unrewarded--his captivity in Algiers, where he exerted a spirit of resistance sublime in its fearlessness and its risks, and whence he returned a beggar--his life spent as a sort of clerk where he gained his scanty daily bread, at the mercy of the arbitrary and litigious ministers of Spanish justice--and that he endured all the distresses incident to straitened means and friendlessness; when we consider that the end of all was to throw him into a squalid prison in an obscure village, where he must have felt all hopes, not only of advancement, but of attaining the means of existence, fail him--where in a dreary cavern-like chamber he passed long days and sleepless nights, weary and worn out:--when we think that he was now fifty-six years of age, a period when the fire of life burns dim--and then, when we compare all these sad depressing circumstances with the very outset of "Don Quixote," we feel that there must have been something divine in the spirit of this man, which could place a soul within the ribs of death, and vivify darkness and suffering with so animated a creation.

He himself speaks more modestly. "What," he says, in his preface to "Don Quixote," "could my barren and uncultivated understanding engender except the history of an offspring, dry, tough, and whimsical, and full of various fancies which had never entered the imagination of another?--like one born in prison, where every discomfort dwells, and every odious sound has birth."

With this we turn to the book itself, and it seems to us that if Cervantes had never written more than the first chapter, his genius and originality had been acknowledged by all. There is so much life, such minute yet clear and characteristic painting--such an outset, promising so much, and in itself performing so much--that, but for its wisdom, it seems written by a man who had never known a check nor care. He must have felt happy while he wrote it; though the excitement of composition brings with it a reaction which, more than any other exercise of the brain, demands amusement and change. To turn exhausted from the written page, and find solitude and a dungeon walls about him, might well make him feel that imagination sterile, which was indeed exhausted by the very fertility and beauty of its creations.

[Sidenote: 1604. Ætat. 57.]

In 1604, Cervantes returned to what in Spain is called the court, that is, the town in which the monarch resided. He had left it thirteen years before, in hopes of earning a subsistence by the employment offered him. He had lived in poverty, and experienced a variety of disasters. During this period he had never thought of obtaining an income through authorship. Now he had with him that which in truth has proved to be his passport to immortality, and the admiration of the world. We may believe that an innate sense of the merit of his work led him to consider that he was not too sanguine in hoping thence to derive such profit and reputation as would rescue him from the distresses to which he had hitherto been the victim. But from first to last, in a worldly view, Cervantes was born to disappointment. His first attempt was to introduce himself to the notice of the duke of Lerma, the "Atlas of the monarchy," as he calls him. The haughty favourite received him with disdain; and Cervantes, not less proud, renounced at once the humiliating task of seeking his favour.

His best and immediate resource was to print his book. But not only the fashion of the times demanded that it should be introduced under the nominal patronage of some great man, but the very title and nature of "Don Quixote" rendered it necessary that in some way the public should from the outset be prepossessed in its favour, and let into the secret of its intentions. Cervantes applied to don Alonzo Lopez de Zuniga y Sotomayor, seventh duke of Bejar, a man who with literary pretensions himself, was pleased to arrogate the reputation of a patron of genius. A story is told, that the duke, understanding either that the work in question was a romance of chivalry, or that it was a burlesque, thought in either case his dignity compromised by its being introduced under the patronage of his name, and refused the author's request. Cervantes, in reply, only begged permission to read a chapter of his work to him; this was granted: the first chapter is enough indeed to awaken curiosity, to engage interest, and promise a rich harvest of amusement. The duke and his friends were so delighted, that they asked for another, and another chapter, till the whole book was read; and the duke, giving up his prepossession, gladly yielded his consent to be in a manner immortalised, by having his name inscribed on the first page of the work. It is added, that a morose priest, who was religious director of the duke, was shocked at the immorality of the work, and bitterly censured both it and its author. He, they say, was the original of the priest, at the duke and duchess's table in the second part, whom Cervantes takes to task for his impertinent interference. Whatever truth there be in this story, and whether influenced by this ecclesiastic, or the worldly feeling that hardens the hearts of the prosperous against those who really need assistance, certainly the duke was no generous patron. Cervantes never dedicated another work to him, nor makes allusion, and he was ready enough to do so, when merited, to any kindness received from him.

[Sidenote: 1605. Ætat. 58.]

Tradition preserves the story, that even when published, "Don Quixote" met with no popularity, and was hailed with no glad welcome. The author was obscure--he had written nothing previously that had won the public ear, and so opened the way to success: the very title of the book excited the censure and ridicule of common critics. It was in danger of becoming a dead letter. Cervantes perceived that his readers did not understand the scope of the book; but he felt its merits, and was sure that if once the public were incited to read, its general popularity must ensue. To allure attention therefore, and awaken curiosity, it is said that he published an anonymous pamphlet, which he called the "Buscapié," (a name given to those little fusees or serpents, thrown forward in military operations to give light to a night mark), which affected to criticise his book, and insinuated, at the same time, that it was a covert and fine satire on several well known persons; at the same time, not mentioning who or what these personages were.

The existence of the "Buscapié" has been disputed, as well as that Cervantes was its author. Tradition asserted it, and brought its weighty testimony; but in addition to this, Los Rios brings forward a letter of a friend of his, don Antonio Ruidiaz, who saw and read the pamphlet, and gives the following account of it[66]:--"I saw the 'Buscapié' in the house of the late count de Saceda about sixteen years ago, and I read it in the short space of time for which that learned gentleman lent it me; to whom also it had been lent, by I know not who, for a few days only. It was an anonymous pamphlet, in duodecimo, printed in this court, (_en esta Corte--Madrid so called while the king made residence there_,) with that title only. I do not remember the date of the year, nor the printer's name: it contained about six sheets--good print, but bad paper. I will mention what my imperfect memory retains of its contents."