From the summit of the range which we had now ascended, we looked down upon the plain of Valencia, usually called “the garden of Spain,” an appellation that has been given to it, not I should suppose, on account of its exclusive fertility, because the huertas of Murcia, and Oriuhuela, and San Felipe, are no less fertile than the plain of Valencia,—but on account of its great extent. All the way from the foot of the hill to Valencia, we passed through a highly cultivated, and well peopled country; covered, like the vale of Murcia, with the finest vegetation, thickly scattered with wood, and strewn with houses and villages. At short intervals, the road is crossed by a fine clear stream, communicating the benefits of irrigation to both sides of the plain; and as we approached nearer to Valencia, the road was in many places skirted by extensive orange groves, laden with so great a profusion of fruit, that the green and the yellow appeared to be almost equally mingled.
Although in some respects, spring is the most eligible season for travelling in Spain, late autumn, and even the confines of winter, have many advantages. Both seasons have their charms; spring is the peculiar season of flowers; and in those extensive tracts in the south and east of Spain, which are covered with a thousand flowering shrubs and aromatic plants, and where particularly, the beautiful oleander, the caper, and the various species of gum-cistus, are found in all their perfection and variety, spring is doubtless the season of beauty; but amid different scenery, the later autumnal months disclose many as beautiful, and to a stranger, more novel scenes; for it is then only, that we can understand the beauty of an orange grove, and that enchanting union of the most lovely green, with the bright mellow fruit that sparkles among its leaves; then only can the strange charm of the palm tree be felt, as we look up to its broad green crown, and golden treasure of dates; then too, the olive is covered with fruit; and the ilex and the algarrobo being evergreens, little is lost in the beauty of forest scenery. The finest and rarest flowers may be seen in the conservatories; and the imagination can easily multiply them, and cover a mountain with their blossoms: but where, in our own cold clime, shall we find the stately palm; or where, but in the regions of the south, enjoy the beauty and the fragrance of an orange grove.
Valencia is seen about three leagues before reaching it; and from this point, a straight avenue leads through the plain to its gates. Its widely extended buildings, its massive wall, and numerous spires, strongly impressed me as I approached it, with an idea of its magnificence; and with excited expectations, I passed the gate, and alighted at the Fonda de la Paz. This is not considered the first hotel in Valencia; the Fonda de las quatros Naciones enjoys this reputation; and in the department of the kitchen, I believe deservedly; but the superior situation of the hotel I made choice of, outweighed in my mind, the culinary advantages of the other.
CHAPTER XX.
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VALENCIA.—JOURNEY TO BARCELLONA.
Bridges, River, Convents; prevalence of Religious Bigotry; Moorish Remains; Beggars, and the cause of their abundance in Valencia; the Archbishop; the University; Academy of Fine Arts; the Cathedral and its Tower; the plain of Valencia and its productions; Rice Grounds and their produce; produce of Silk, and Silk Trade; export of Fruit; prices of Provisions; Pictures; Valencia Society; the Ladies of Valencia; the port of Valencia; Paseos; Valencia Tiles; Journey to Murviedro, (the ancient Saguntum); Convento de los Reyes; Murviedro, its Fortress, and Ruins of Saguntum; an Arrest; a visit from the Alcalde; Journey to Tarragona; pleasing Scenes; Catalunia; Catalunian industry and its causes; Tarragona, its Antiquities and Cathedral; Provincial Dialects; sorting of Nuts, and the Nut trade; Journey to Barcellona, and arrival.
When I had dispatched my introductory letters, I sallied, as usual into the street, and accident brought me to one of the bridges across the Guadalaviar, called Puente del Mar. The river sometimes fills its channel, a channel so wide, that some of the bridges have as many as thirteen arches; but I saw only an inconsiderable rivulet not much larger than the Manzanarez, as it flows through the bridge of Toledo at Madrid. I believe, however, the apparent scantiness of the stream is partly owing to its being diverted in numerous channels to water the plain. The view from any of the bridges over the river is fine, for a handsome line of irregular buildings follows the curve of the river, and the bridges one beyond another, and the great Moorish gates, give an air of grandeur to the scene. Almost all the conspicuous buildings seen from this point are convents; these add much to the external beauty and effect of the great Spanish cities; and few are more favoured in this respect than Valencia, for it contains no fewer than twenty-seven convents and monasteries for men, and twenty-two for women; and these, with sixteen churches, and twenty-four chapels and hermitages, amount altogether to eighty-six religious edifices. No wonder, therefore, that the streets abound in friars and priests, and that the influence of the religious bodies should be great in Valencia. Bigotry is not upon the decline here among the mass of the population; and whether for the sake of appearance, or from sincerity, religious observances are strictly practised by the inhabitants of all classes. I have not seen in the convents and churches of any town in Spain so great a number of persons at devotion as in those of Valencia. I several times attempted to enter the Dominican convent to see some pictures that I understood adorned the walls of the church; but though the Dominican church be one of the largest in Valencia, I always found the floor entirely covered with kneelers, not scattered, but so crowded, that it was impossible to wade among them. My apartment in the hotel was opposite to the gate of the cathedral, and there too a constant stream poured in and out. In Valencia, as in Toledo, tokens of faith and devotion are affixed to the doors of the houses; but in place of the “ave Maria purissima” of Toledo, engravings are seen pasted upon the doors in Valencia, representing different passages in the life of our Saviour; and I noticed upon some of the houses paintings, or at least daubs, as large as life, of Christ taken down from the Cross, the Crucifixion, &c.; crosses, the same as we meet with upon the highways, are seen in many parts of Valencia affixed to the walls of the houses. But these do not all, though many do, point out the place marked by a deed of murder. Several of them record examples of sudden death,—probably of some well-fed canon, or other dignitary, who dropped down dead from repletion or apoplexy.
Valencia is one of those cities in which traces of Moorish dominion are the most visible,—not in any splendid Alhambra or Alcazar, but in every-day sights and common objects. Independently of the great wall and fine Moorish gates, one observes, in walking through the streets of Valencia, many smaller signs of other days and ancient masters. Gateways are occasionally seen sculptured in marble upon Moorish designs; stones over the doors, or underneath the windows, shew, by their chiseled marks, their ancient fashioner. Looking one day accidentally through the open window of a house near the cathedral, I was surprised to see an arabesque roof, gilded like the halls in the Alhambra of Granada and the Alcazar of Seville; and if, from these inanimate objects, we turn to the population, we shall also find among them equally strong traces of former connexion with the Moors. All the Moorish tokens which I have already mentioned, as distinguishing the population of Seville, Malaga, and San Felipe, are found in even greater distinctness in Valencia.
It is impossible to stir out of doors in Valencia, without being beset by beggars, and by others also more decent in appearance, resembling work-people: the latter are those persons who were formerly engaged in the silk manufactories, but who are now thrown out of work by the diminished trade that followed the loss of the colonies. As for the common beggars, I can only attribute their abundance in Valencia to the easy relief which they find at the convents. Formerly, throughout every part of Spain, the convents fed the poor, and fed idleness at the same time; but now, with the exception of the poor orders of friars, who still continue to give alms, this practice has been discontinued; and to this improvement, for I cannot call it by a better name, I am inclined to refer the fact, that in those cities which were formerly the most distinguished for the numbers of beggars by whom they were infested, I found few: and when in Valencia, I saw every street swarm with them, and every door beset by them; and when I learnt that this city was an exception to the rest of Spain, inasmuch as almost every one of the forty-nine convents distribute indiscriminate charity, it was impossible to avoid the conclusion, that this had the effect of encouraging idleness, and beggary along with it. In Valencia, every idle person is sure of his dinner; and he endeavours, by begging, to supply himself with a few of those superfluities which the convent does not provide for him.
The church dignitaries, and the archbishop, give nothing to the poor. The revenues of the archbishop amount, at present, to about 17,000l. sterling per annum—an immense sum for Spain—and whatever part of this sum he can spare from his own expences, he employs in the erection and endowment of convents. It is only a year ago, since he endowed a new convent at the port of Valencia, the erection of which cost him forty thousand dollars—almost half a year’s revenue. Short-sighted man! twenty years more, and no trace of his ill-directed generosity will remain; but it is possible, that the wealth which he destines to maintain a corrupt system, to foster idleness, and dim the light of knowledge, may, before half a century pass away, be directed into other channels, and be employed in disseminating truth, and supporting useful institutions. Let us hope that it may be so.
The opportunities of instruction for the youth of Valencia are considerable, though greatly narrowed by the regulations which affect every seminary of learning throughout Spain. When I visited Valencia, the university contained nearly two thousand five hundred students; these were chiefly divided between law and philosophy. Theology here, as in Toledo, commanded but few disciples; not more than eight or ten attending a course. The professors of the different branches of knowledge, with the exception of law, are friars; and the salaries amount to about six thousand reals per annum—the law professors receiving more than double this sum. Education here, may be said to be gratis: formerly, the students, at entry, paid no more than four quartos; now, they pay three dollars at entry, and one dollar every succeeding year: but even this is next to free instruction. Among the estudiantes there are many paupers, who go regularly every day to one or other of the convents to get a basin of soup; and when vacation arrives, they beg their way home. One of these passed me on the road between San Felipe and Valencia; he had perhaps not heard of the royal order for closing the universities; and having travelled to Valencia, and found the university shut, he was no doubt returning home. His dress was scarcely removed from rags; he had a patched brown cloak thrown over his shoulder; a cocked hat; and a sack,—probably containing his books, and some provisions,—slung across his back.