[1313] ‘Pudo, pues, decirse con razon de nuestra patria, que de Arabia Feliz se habia convertido en Arabia Desierta, y de Valencia en particular, que el bello jardin de España se habia convertido en páramo seco y deslucido. Dejóse en breve sentir en todas partes el azote del hambre; y al alegre bullicio de las poblaciones sucedió el melancólico silencio de los despoblados, y al frecuente cruzar de los labradores y trajineros por los caminos siguió el peligroso encuentro de los salteadores que los infestaban, abrigándose en las ruinas de los pueblos desiertos.’ Janer, Condicion de los Moriscos, p. 100. See also Dunlop's Memoirs, vol. i. p. 16. Campomanes says, ‘El gran número de artesanos, que salieron con la expulsion de los moriscos, causó un golpe mortal á las manufacturas, y á la labranza.’ Apendice á la Educacion Popular, vol. i. p. 13. And p. 268, ‘El punto de decadencia de nuestras manufacturas, puede fixarse desde el año de 1609, en que tubo principio la expulsion de los Moriscos.’
[1314] ‘Sur la carte d'Espagne, en mille endroits est inscrit ce funeste mot, despoblado; en mille endroits la nature sauvage a repris la place des cultures. Étudiez la direction des despoblados, et consultez les registres des commissaires de l'expulsion, vous verrez presque toujours que les familles morisques couvraient ces solitudes. Leur patrimoine abandonné forma le domaine des voleurs, qui établirent avec une sorte de sécurité leurs correspondances effrontées à travers toute l'Espagne. Le brigandage s'organisa comme une profession ordinaire; et la contrebande, sa compagne, leva le front avec autant d'audace, autant de succès.’ Circourt, Histoire des Arabes d'Espagne, vol. iii. pp. 227, 228.
[1315] ‘Declinó pues muy sensiblemente la vasta monarquía, y callaron atonitos los historiadores, como huyendo la necesidad de traer á la memoria lo que veian y apenas creian. Enmudeció pues la historia de España en los dos reynados de Felipe IV. y Carlos II. viendo continuaba nuestra decadencia, hasta quedar España al nivel de los menos poderosos Estados de Europa. Este silencio nos ha privado de saber no solo las causas de nuestra decadencia, sino tambien de los acontecimientos civiles y militares del siglo xvii.’ Ortiz, Compendio de la Historia de España, vol. vi., Prologo, p. i. No attempt was made to supply the deficiency complained of by Ortiz, until 1856, when M. Lafuente published, in Madrid, the sixteenth and seventeenth volumes of his History of Spain, which contain the reigns of Philip IV. and Charles II. Of this work, I have no desire to speak disrespectfully; on the contrary, it is impossible to read it without interest, on account of the admirable clearness with which the different topics are arranged, and also on account of its beautiful style, which reminds us of the best days of Castilian prose. But I feel constrained to say, that, as a history, and especially as a history which undertakes to investigate the causes of the decline of Spain, it is a complete failure. In the first place, M. Lafuente has not emancipated himself from those very prejudices to which the decline of his country is owing. And, in the second place, he has, particularly in the reigns of Philip IV. and Charles II., not used sufficient diligence in searching for materials for studying the economical changes through which Spain has passed. Looking too intently at the surface, he mistakes symptoms for causes; so that the real history of the Spanish people every where escapes his grasp. As the object to which my studies are directed, compels me to contemplate affairs from a larger and more general point of view than he has done, it naturally happens that the conclusions at which we arrive are very different; but I wish to bear my testimony, whatever it may be worth, to the great merit of his book as a work of art, though, as a work of science, it appears to me that he has effected nothing, and has thrown no new light on the real history of that unfortunate, albeit once splendid, nation, of which his eloquence, his learning, and his taste, make him one of the chiefest ornaments.
[1316] See Dunlop's Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 320; and the interesting calculations in Uztariz, Theorica y Practica de Comercio, Madrid, 1757, folio, pp. 35, 36. Owing to the ignorance which formerly prevailed respecting statistics, such estimates are necessarily imperfect; but, after the desolation of Spain in the seventeenth century, an extraordinary diminution in the population of the capital was inevitable. Indeed, a contemporary of Charles II. states that in 1699, Madrid had only 150,000 inhabitants. Mémoires de Louville, Paris, 1818, vol. i. p. 72. This account is taken from ‘un mémoire manuscrit, en langue espagnole, trouvé dans les papiers du marquis de Louville.’ p. 67.
[1317] Capmany (Qüestiones Criticas, p. 30), who seems to have written his able, but not very accurate, work for the express purpose of concealing the decline of his country, has given these figures erroneously. My information is derived from an official report made in 1701, by the trade-corporations (‘gremios’) of Seville. ‘Fijan la época de la ruina de nuestras fábricas desde el reynado de Felipe II. y añaden “haber llegado á tener solo en esta ciudad al arte mayor, y menor de la sede, el número de mas de diez y seis mil telares, y se ocupaban en los exercicios adherentes á él, mas de ciento treinta mil personas de ambos sexos.”’ Campomanes, Apendice á la Educacion Popular, vol. i. p. 473, Madrid, 1775. See also Uztariz, Theorica y Practica de Comercio, p. 14, ‘diez y seis mil telares;’ where, however, no authority is quoted.
[1318] ‘El principal origen y causa de que los 16,000 telares de seda, lana, oro y plata, que se contaban en Sevilla, se hallen oy reducidos á menos de 300.’ Uztariz, Theorica de Comercio, p. 243.
[1319] Sempere, Monarchie Espagnole, vol. ii. p. 52, who refers to the report of the Cortes published by Alonso Nuñez de Castro.
[1320] Laborde's Spain, vol. iv. p. 338, where it is also said, that Tunis became, in consequence of the expulsion of the Moriscoes, famous for the manufacture of caps, which ‘were subsequently imitated at Orleans.’ Compare, on the cap-manufactories of Tunis, a note in Campomanes, Apendice, á la Educacion Popular, vol. iv. p. 249.
[1321] ‘Tolède, où se mettaient en œuvre 435,000 livres de soie, avait déjà perdu ce travail, qui suffisait autrefois à l'existence de 38,484 personnes. La population de cette ville avait éprouvé un tiers de diminution, et vingt-cinq maisons de ses familles les plus illustres étaient passées dans le domaine de divers couvens.’ Sempere, Monarchie Espagnole, vol. ii. p. 50.
[1322] See his interesting essay, reprinted in the appendix to Campomanes, vol. iv. p. 251. He says, ‘La fábrica de los guantes, que tenian pocos años ha todas las ciudades de estos reynos para el consumo de España y las Indias, era muy considerable; y se ha destruido, despues que se dió entrada al consumo de guantes estrangeros.’ Such a statement, made by a contemporary, is unimpeachable; but the reason he assigns is inadequate.