Xeres was soon retaken by the Moors; and on that occasion, a Spanish commander distinguished himself by a trait of heroism not less signal than that, the memory of which is preserved at Tarifa. The soldiers on the wall having all fallen, the governor, Don Garcia di Gomez, maintained the place alone, and refused to surrender, though himself covered with wounds: the Moors, struck with admiration, determined to preserve his life in spite of himself; lifted him off the wall with hooks, and then cured him of his wounds.
I found the astronomer at the observatory, M. de Sercera, a person no less interesting in his general conversation than distinguished for his scientific acquirements; and I received from him and from others some most unexpected information respecting a recent event which has had most important consequences for Europe. I refer to the revolt of the Isla de Leon, and the proclamation there of the Constitution of 1812, on the 1st January, 1820. It appears that the plot was undisguisedly conducted by Russia; that the Bailiff de Tatischeff,[78]—then the representative of Russia at Madrid,—came down himself to watch over the conspiracy, and openly used his predominating influence at court to sacrifice those superior officers who endeavoured to enlighten the government regarding what was there in progress. It was this revolution which matured and brought forth those dissensions which have since distracted the Peninsula; and afforded the occasion which was taken by Russia at the Congress of Verona, to constrain, or rather cheat, France into the invasion of 1823, the parent of subsequent reactions and endless troubles.
FOOTNOTES:
[70] It is hung up wet for two reasons;—not to strain it by wringing, and to bleach it better.
[71] Such were the outlooks, or Distegia, which were placed on the terraces of the Greeks; from such a one (μελάθρων ἐς διῆρες ἔσχατον) Antigone, in that beautiful episode which has been imitated in “Ivanhoe,” viewed the Pelasgian host, drawn up near the fountain of Dirce. These were, and are, distinguished from the terraces roofed with tiles. The Tuilleries of Athens were not for the common roofs, but for the Distegia, or double roofs, and for the temples. In Morocco also the mosques are tiled, and with gable roofs, while the houses are flat.
[72] Prescott, speaking of Cordova, says—“The streets are represented to have been narrow; many of the houses lofty, with turrets of curiously-wrought larch or marble, and with cornices of shining metal that glittered like stars through the dark foliage of the orange groves, and the whole is compared to an enamelled vase sparkling with hyacinths and emeralds.”
[73] In a picture by Holbein, a girl is represented washing her hands: an attendant pours the water as in the East.
[74] In England a bit of butter is used.
[75] Herodotus (ii. 46. 145) mentions one tribe of the Pelasgi who had no images, and worshipped one supreme God, whose name they never pronounced.
[76] Muza when questioned by the Kalif as to the character of the different people of the West, says of the Goths, “They are champions who do not turn the back on the foe.”