Near this tower, is the hospital of La Caridad, or charity. It was founded by a young nobleman who had reformed his dissipated life, and passed the remainder of it in deeds of piety in this institution. It is a house of refuge for the poor and the aged. It contains two beautiful patios, with the usual plants, flowers, and fountains. The institution is something on the plan of the Brotherhood of Pity in Florence; and the young gentlemen of the city render service in it in turn. The founder was an intimate friend of Murillo, which accounts for the number of the great artist’s pictures to be found in the establishment. Its little church contains several of them. A singular painting by another artist attracted the attention of some of the students as a sensation in art. It represents a dead prelate in full robes, lying in the tomb. The body has begun to decay; and the worms are feasting upon it, crawling in and out at the eyes, nose, and mouth. It is a most disgusting picture, though it may have its moral.
A day was given to the museum which contains many of Murillo’s pictures, and next to that at Madrid is the finest in Spain. The Casa de Pilatos was visited on the last day the excursionists were in Seville at this time, though it happened that they came to the city a second time. It belongs to the Duke of Medina Celi, though he seldom occupies it. It is not the house of Pilate, but only an imitation of it. It was built in the sixteenth century, by the ancestors of the duke, some of whom had visited the Holy Land. The Patio is large and is paved with white marble, with a checkered border and other ornaments. In the centre is a fountain, and in each corner is a colossal statue of a goddess. Around it are two stories of galleries, with fine arches and columns. The palace contains a beautiful chapel, in which is a pillar made in imitation of that to which Christ was bound when he was scourged. On the marble staircase the guides point out a cock, which is said to be in the place of the one that crowed when Peter denied his Master; but of course this is sheer tomfoolery, and it was lawful game for Murray, who was the joker of the officers’ party.
On another day the doctor and his pupils walked over the bridge to the suburb of Triana, where the gypsies lived. They were hardly more civilized than those seen at Granada. Then, as the order was not given for the departure, they began to see some of the sights a second time; and many of them will bear repeated visits. During a second examination of the Alcazar, Dr. Winstock told them many stories of Pedro the Cruel, of Don Fadrique, of Blanche of Bourbon, and of Maria de Padilla, which we have not the space to repeat, but which are more interesting than most of the novels of the day. After the ship’s company had been in Seville five days, the order was given to leave at quarter before six; and the party arrived at Cadiz at ten.
This city is located nearly on the point of a tongue of land which encloses a considerable bay; and, when the train had twenty miles farther to go, the students could see the multitude of lights that glittered like stars along the line of the town. Cadiz is a commercial place, was colonized by the Phœnicians, and they supposed it to be about at the end of the earth. They believed that the high bluff at Gibraltar, which was called Calpe, and Abyla at Ceuta in Africa, were part of the same hill, rent asunder by Hercules; and they erected a column on each height, which are known as the Pillars of Hercules. Cadiz was held by the Romans and the Moors in turn, and captured by the Spaniards in 1262. After the discovery of America, it shared with Seville the prosperity which followed that event; and the gold and merchandise were brought to these ports. Its vast wealth caused it to be often attacked by the pirates of Algiers and Morocco; the English have twice captured it, and twice failed to do so; and it was the civil and military headquarters of the Spaniards during the peninsular war. When the American colonies of Spain became independent, it lost much of its valuable commerce, and has not been what it was in the last century since the French Revolution.
The boats of the American Prince, in charge of the forward officers and a squad of firemen and stewards, were on the beach near the railroad station; and the ship’s company slept on board that night. The next day was devoted to Cadiz. The cathedral is a modern edifice and a beautiful church, though the tourist who had been to Toledo and Seville does not care to give much of his time to it. In the Capuchin Monastery, to which the doctor took his pupils, is the last picture painted by Murillo. It is the Marriage of St. Catharine, and is painted on the wall over the high altar of the chapel. Before it was quite finished, Murillo fell from the scaffold, was fatally injured, and died soon after. The picture was finished by one of his pupils, at his request.
There are no other sights to be seen in Cadiz; but the students were very much pleased with the place. Its public buildings are large and massive; its white dwellings are pretty; and its squares and walks on the seashore are very pleasant. By the kindness of the banker, the club-house was opened to the party.
“I am rather sorry we do not go to Xeres,” said the doctor, when they were seated in the reading-room. “I supposed we should stop there on our way from Seville. I wished to take you into the great wine-vaults. I think you know what the place is noted for.”
“Vino del Xeres,” replied Murray,—“Sherry wine.”
“It is made exclusively in this place; and its peculiarity comes from the kind of grapes and method of manufacture. The business here is in the hands of English, French, and German people, who far surpass the Spaniards in the making of wine. The immense cellars and store-houses where the wine is kept are well worth seeing, though they are not encouraging to men with temperance principles. The place has forty thousand inhabitants, and is the Xeres de la Frontera, where Don Roderick was overwhelmed by the Moors, and the Gothic rule in Spain was ended.”
“Seville is a larger place than Cadiz, isn’t it?” asked Sheridan.