[391] One of the most odious of the acts that marked the restoration of Ferdinand VII. related to the war of the Comuneros, nearly three centuries before. After the execution of Juan de Padilla and the exile of his noble wife, in 1521, their house was razed to the ground, and an inscription reproachful to their memory placed on the spot where it had stood. This the Cortes removed, and erected in its stead a simple monument in honor of the martyrs. In 1823, Ferdinand ordered the simple monument of the Cortes to be destroyed, and replaced the old inscription! But, since that time, Martinez de la Rosa has erected a nobler monument to their memory in his “Viuda de Padilla.” See Henri Ternaux, Les Comuneros, Paris, 1834, 8vo, p. 208; an interesting work and a work of authority, relying, in part, on unpublished materials.
[392] Llorente, Hist. de l’Inquisition, Tom. IV. pp. 145-154. Southey’s History of the Peninsular War, London, 1823, 4to, Tom. I. The Inquisition was again abolished by the revolution or change of 1820, and when the counterchange came, in 1823, failed to find its place in the restored order of things. It may be hoped, therefore, that this most odious of the institutions, that have sheltered themselves under the abused name of Christianity, will never again darken the history of Spain.
[393] This movement, so honorable to the Spanish character, can be seen in the “Ocios de Españoles Emigrados,” a Spanish periodical work, full of talent and national feeling, published at London, in 7 vols. 8vo, between April, 1824, and October, 1827, by the exiles, who were then chiefly gathered in the capitals of France and England.
[394] Spain, Espagne, España, Hispania, are evidently all one word. Its etymology cannot, in the opinion of W. von Humboldt, (Prüfung der Untersuchungen über die Urbewohner Hispaniens, 4to, 1821, p. 60,) be determined. The Spanish writers are full of the most absurd conjectures on the subject. See Aldrete, Orígen de la Lengua Castellana, ed. 1674, Lib. III. c. 2, f. 68; Mariana, Hist., Lib. I. c. 12; and Mendoza, Guerra de Granada, ed. 1776, Lib. IV., p. 295.
[395] On the subject of the Biscayans and the descent of their language from the ancient Iberian, two references are sufficient for the present purpose. First, “Über die Cantabrische oder Baskische Sprache,” by Wilhelm von Humboldt, published as an Appendix to Adelung and Vater’s “Mithridates,” Theil IV., 1817, 8vo, pp. 275-360. And, second, “Prüfung der Untersuchungen über die Urbewohner Hispaniens vermittelst der Vaskischen Sprache,” etc., von W. von Humboldt, 4to, Berlin, 1821. The admirable learning, philosophy, and acuteness which this remarkable man brought to all his philological discussions are apparent in these treatises, both of which are rendered singularly satisfactory by the circumstance, that, being for some time Prussian Minister at Madrid, he visited Biscay and studied its language on the spot. The oldest fragment of Basque poetry which he found, and which is given in the “Mithridates,” (Theil IV. pp. 354-356,) is held by the learned of Biscay to be nearly or quite as old as the time of Augustus, to whose Cantabrian war it refers; but this can hardly be admitted, though it is no doubt earlier than any thing else we have of the Peninsular literature. It is an important document, and is examined with his accustomed learning and acuteness by Fauriel, “Hist. de la Gaule Méridionale,” 1836, 8vo, Tom. II. App. iii. I do not speak of a pleasant treatise, “De la Antiguedad y Universalidad del Bascuense en España,” which Larramendi published in 1728, nor of the Preface and Appendix to his “Arte de la Lengua Bascongada,” 1729; nor of Astarloa’s “Apologia,” 1803; nor of Erro’s “Lengua Primitiva,” 1806, and his “Mundo Primitivo,” an unfinished work, 1815; for they all lack judgment and precision. If, however, any person is anxious to ascertain their contents, a good abstract of the last two books, with sufficient reference to the first, was published in Boston, by Mr. G. Waldo Erving, formerly American Minister at Madrid, with a preface and notes, under the title of “The Alphabet of the Primitive Language of Spain,” 1829. But Humboldt is to be considered the safe and sufficient authority on the whole subject, for though Astarloa’s work is not without learning and acuteness, yet, as both he and his follower, Erro, labor chiefly to prove, as Larramendi had done long before, that the Basque is the original language of the whole human race, they are led into a great many whimsical absurdities, and must be considered, on the whole, any thing but safe guides.
[396] The remarkable passage in Diodorus Siculus, Bib. Hist., Lib. V. c. 33, is well known; but the phraseology should be noted for our purpose when he speaks of the union of the people as δυοῖν ἐθνῶν ἀλκίμων μιχθέντων. The fortieth section of Humboldt’s “Prüfung” should also be read; and the beginning of the Third Book of Strabo, in which he gives, as usual, a good deal that is curious about history and manners, as well as geography, and a good deal that is incredible, such as that the Turdetani had poetry and poetical laws six thousand years old. Ed. Casaub., 1720, p. 139. C.
[397] In speaking of the two earliest languages of the Spanish Peninsula, I have confined myself to the known facts of the case, without entering into the curious speculations to which these facts have led inquisitive and philosophical minds. But those who are interested in such inquiries will find abundant materials for their study in the remarkable “Researches into the Physical History of Mankind, by Dr. J. C. Prichard,” 5 vols. 8vo, London, 1836-47; and in the acute “Report” of the Chevalier Bunsen to the Seventeenth Meeting of the British Association, London, 1848, pp. 254-299. If we follow their theories, the Basque may be regarded as the language of a race that came originally from the northern parts of Asia and Europe, and to which Prichard gives the name of Ugro-Tartarian, while the Celtic language is that of the oldest of the great emigrations from the more southern portions of Asia, which Bunsen calls the Japhetic.
[398] The general statement may, perhaps, be taken from Mariana, (Lib. I. c. 15,) who gives the story as it has come down through tradition, fable, and history, with no more critical acumen than is common with the Spanish historians. But such separate facts as are mentioned by Livy (Lib. XXXIV. c. 10, 46, Lib. XL. c. 43, with the notes in Drakenborch) bring with them a more distinct impression of the immense wealth obtained anciently from Spain than any general statements whatever; even more than those of Strabo, Diodorus, etc. It has been supposed by Heeren, and by others before and since, (Ideen, 1824, Band I. Theil ii. p. 68,) that the Tarshish of the Prophets Ezekiel (xxvii. 12) and Isaiah (lx. 8, 9) was in Spain, and was, in fact, the ancient Tartessus; but this is denied, (Memorias de la Academia de la Historia, Tom. III. p. 320,) and, no doubt, if the Tarshish of the Prophets were in Spain, there must have been another Tarshish in Cilicia, that is mentioned in other parts of Scripture.
[399] See Heeren’s Ideen, Band I. Theil ii. pp. 24-71, 4th edit., 1824, where the whole subject is discussed.
[400] A sufficient account of the Carthaginians in Spain may be found in Heeren’s Ideen, Band II. Theil i. pp. 85-99, and 172-199. But Mariana contains the more national ideas and traditions, (Lib. I. c. 19, etc.,) and Depping is more ample (Hist. Générale de l’Espagne, 1811, Tom. I. pp. 64-96).