There were Processions also in the same Taste during the Easter Week, when the Holy Sacrament was carry’d to the Sick: The Streets and Balconies were on this Occasion hung with Tapistry: The Sacrament, which was carry’d under a Canopy, was preceded by a great Number of Priests and Friars, who had all Wax-Tapers in their Hands: There was also a numerous Symphony, and a great many Dancers, in Masks of several Sorts, leaping and playing Gambols with Castanets snapping in their Hands: And in this manner they danc’d before the Holy Sacrament, and continued it even in the Church, till such time as the Benediction was pronounc’d.
I speak to you of these Ceremonies, Madame, as one that saw them with my own Eyes: I had a Description given to me of them before, which was pretty much like it, but I took all that had been told me as pure Calumny, invented to run down the Worship which the Church of Rome pays to the greatest of our Mysteries; the rather, because they, that had given me the Account of it, were Calvinists: I was willing to be an Eye-Witness myself of every thing which I had been
assur’d was observ’d in the Ceremonial of the Spanish Church: For this Reason I attended all these Processions with the greatest Eagerness that could be, and was really scandaliz’d to see that verify’d which I had only imagin’d to be the Inventions of the Enemies of the Church of Rome.
’Tis such unpleasant Walking in the Streets of Madrid, that I question whether that might not make me the more out of Temper with those Superstitions: For this, tho’ a very fine City, and adorn’d with Squares, in which there are noble Fountains, and tho’ it has Streets moreover which are very spacious, strait and lightsome, ’tis nevertheless so very nasty, that there are few Towns like it, which are ever so little govern’d: From all the Houses they throw out a great deal of Ordure, which, they pretend, wastes away in one Night’s Time, the Air of Madrid is so corrosive: Yet I experienc’d the contrary, and was terribly annoy’d with the Stench of it: But for all this, the daily Nuisance of the Streets of Madrid is nothing in comparison of what one is forc’d to suffer upon the Days of Solemnity; for on such Days the Streets are generally clean’d, and then all the Soil being put in Motion, ’tis hardly possible to bear it, especially in a dry Season, when the whole being reduc’d into fine Dust, the very Air we breathe is tainted with it, and it penetrates every thing that one eats: I heard an Italian Physician say, he was sure that ’twas scarce possible for a Foreigner, be he ever so circumspect and retir’d, to spend Three or Four Years at Madrid without being attack’d with a Distemper which we look upon with Horror; but the Spaniards are not at all frighten’d at it, for they say, that in many Families ’tis hereditary. The Doctor said, that every thing
they breath’d, eat or drank, was poison’d by the Nastiness of Madrid.
What can be the Reason why the People are so very slovenly I can’t imagine, for there are considerable Sums distributed every Year to keep the Streets clean: Perhaps it may be only owing to the Sloth of the Spaniards, for I don’t know a Nation upon Earth that is so much in Love with Idleness; and I am certain, that if they inhabited a Soil not so fruitful as their’s is, they would soon die with Hunger: In the Winter they delight to spend their Time in basking in the Sun: In the Summer they sleep all Day long, or else drink Ice-Waters, and they reserve their Walks for the Night: The Country-People, who in all other Parts are so inur’d to Labour, are as idle in Spain as the Town’s-People: They can hardly be said to till the Ground, for they only scrape away the Surface of it, and then scatter their Seed: Yet ’tis surprizing, that every thing comes up here as well as in a Country that is better cultivated.
The Spaniards being too indolent for Exercises that require any Labour, delight most of all in Walking, and in frequenting the Play-house, where they are sure of meeting with what is most diverting at Madrid: Yet I can assure you, there is nothing so lamentable as the Spanish Representations, and the Place where they are exhibited is horrible: ’Tis very dark, and over the Benches which are plac’d in Form of an Amphitheatre, are the Boxes for the Ladies, who look thro’ Grates. The Theatre is made after the manner of Rome, being a Row of Portico’s, that are screen’d by Curtains, thro’ which the Comedians enter upon the Stage: The whole is very indifferently lighted; but that which disgusted me more than any thing, was a Common-Sewer,
of which I was sensible as soon as I enter’d the House, but could not presently discover where it was for Want of Light: It runs precisely under the middle of the Pit, and the Stench of it is intolerable. The Actors are very ill dress’d, and for the Generality very ill favour’d, or ill shap’d: The Actresses are more tolerable, but not much: The Plays are hardly better than those who perform them; yet the Spaniards say, they are excellent Pieces. What most of all diverted me was their Dances between the Acts, than which it would be difficult to meet with any thing more ridiculous: Most of their Theatrical Performances are sacred Pieces, in which even the Mysteries of our Religion bear a Part: A Friend of mine actually assured me, that he saw the Holy Sacrament administer’d at it to a pretended sick Person, which, if true, I can’t imagine how the Inquisition, that is so severe in other respects, can tolerate such Abuses.
Now I am speaking of the Inquisition, I was an Eye-Witness of the Severity of this Tribunal while I was in Spain: For not many Days after my Arrival at Madrid, I saw several Persons burnt who were convicted of Judaism: Among those poor unhappy Sufferers was a young Woman of about 18 or 20 Years of Age, the beautifullest that I saw in Spain: She went to her Execution with Joy imprinted on her Countenance, and dy’d with the Courage for which our Martyrs are so celebrated: Some time after this Execution the Inquisition made a great Search all over Spain: Above 40 Persons were taken up in one Night at Madrid, and among the rest one Peralte, a famous Physician, who seem’d to have been fated by his Star to die by the Inquisition: His Mother, who was their Prisoner when she
was deliver’d of him, was burnt soon after her Lying-in: Young Peralte was brought up in the Catholic Religion, but at 30 Years of Age he was accus’d, and convicted of Judaism: His Punishment for this time was only Three Years Imprisonment, but at length he was apprehended a second time, and after I left Madrid, I heard the poor Wretch was burnt there; in which the Prayers of his Mother were answer’d, for I was assur’d, that when this Woman mounted her Funeral Pile, she pray’d that her Son might one Day or other die the same Death: I was very glad that I was not at Madrid at the time of this Peralte’s Execution, for I had some Knowledge of him, and tho’ he was really a Bigot to Judaism, I thought him one of the civillest Men in the World.