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MODES OF AMUSEMENT.

ferent from those of English theatres. The ladies sat in a part of the house by themselves, the places of which being of the highest price, they might afterwards go to any part of the house they liked. This permission was evidently acted on; some going to speak to their friends in the pit, others reaching no further than lobby, where they staid to talk to their acquaintance. At the conclusion of the entertainment, the bolero was danced by two Andalusian peasants, in their gay and glittering dresses; and this exhibition pleased them more than all the rest of the performance.

In private houses they were often gratified by excellent music; not on the guitar, for in Madrid it was rarely to be heard; but on the piano; most of the ladies playing very well. Their vocal powers are not considered so good: they were disappointed in the Spanish singing. Italian songs were the voluntary choice of the fair musician; but if requested they sang Spanish music. Their tertulias, or evening parties, they found remarkably dull: such was their estimation of it, because they had enjoyed the pleasures of a cultivated society in England: but the Spanish ladies were not sensible of any thing wanting in their assemblies: those who were well known to each other met regularly, at a particular house selected for the evening; talked, and played a little at cards, and separated at eleven; no refreshment of any kind being

handed round, or thought of. Foreigners who had good introductions, received a general invitation to go to their house of an evening whenever they liked; but Spanish conversation was so little suited to English ideas and feelings, that Mrs. Delville and Ellen rarely mixed with them. The same objection did not exist to appearing in public, and where there was any thing to be seen, they were certain to be found. After having visited the Prado every day for a week, they began to think that it was possible to be weary even of that gay scene; and they gradually learned to prefer the more quiet walk of the Retiro. There, one day, they had the good fortune to see Ferdinand VII. walking, attended only by a valet.

Mr. Delville pointed him out, and all turned to look at the absolute king.

"What!" said Ellen, "that stout gentleman in blue?"

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Yes, even so; that stout, jolly-looking gentleman in blue, is Ferdinand VII. of Spain."

"He has not such a very bad look, has he?" said Ellen. "Look, how he is laughing!"

“It is said, and probably with truth, that his real failing is in having no character at all; a circumstance which has always left him at the mercy of those counsellors, who were for the time being at the head of the government. He was most unfortunate in his early years, and in having a

152 CAUTIOUS MANNERS OF THE SPANIARDS.

bad mother. To a king, the consequences, the mischiefs arising from a bad education, are irreparable. A man in a lower condition of life has some chance of having a portion of its evil influence corrected by those around him, and his own experience; a king, never. Truth arrives always slower at the foot of a throne than elsewhere; but at the throne of an ignorant monarch it never arrives at all."

On their return home, among other objects of curiosity, they remarked upon the extraordinary thickness of the external doors of the houses at Madrid.

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They are like the doors of a prison," said Frank.

"Yes," said Mr. Delville, "and the caution with which they open them confirms the resemblance. When you ring at the door of a Spanish house, the answer to the bell is, 'Who is there?" and the reply, literally, 'People of peace.""

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Yes, papa; how astonished I was when we called at Senhor Mendoza's, to see them draw aside that little shutter in the great door, and look out and reconnoitre us; and even when this examination had taken place, the porter seemed to hesitate in letting us in. What can this seemingly churlish habit arise from ?"

"In the first place, Ellen, none but the richest people have houses to themselves. The floors

REASONS FOR THEM.

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here, as in Paris and Edinburgh, are inhabited by different families: the porter, therefore, has more than one single interest to attend to. But after all, perhaps, the truest cause may be referred to the suspicions and feelings of personal insecurity, which are the offspring of political persecution and religious inquisition."

"The window-shutters of the houses," said Edward, seem as massive as the doors."

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Yes; and the glass is purposely so bad that no one can see into a house from the opposite side of the street. Three panes are, however, always of good glass, that the inhabitants may be able to see into the street. Insecurity and fear may claim these precautions, so happily unknown among us in England."

"These are, indeed, the circumstances," said Mr. Delville," that make us grateful for our wise laws, and the fair freedom we enjoy."

After they had been some time in Madrid, and enjoyed the pleasant acquaintances which their letters of introduction procured them, a question arose among the young people, whether the Spaniards were a hospitable people. They could not agree in opinion, and they referred the decision to their father."

"Yes, or no, sir ?" said Edward.

"It is not a question, I think, to be answered by a monosyllable. During the acquaintance of many

154

THEIR HOSPITALITY.

months you might not even eat a biscuit in the house of a Spaniard."

"Then he is not hospitable," said Edward.

"Softly," said his father; "draw no hasty conclusions. Hospitality is not rigidly confined to eating and drinking. If you go with a Spaniard to a bull-fight, a coffee-shop, or even a fancy bazaar, he insists upon paying every thing for you, and would be deeply offended if you were to refuse to permit him. He seems always anxious to procure an opportunity of paying his money for you."

"It is a drawn battle," said Ellen: "he is hospitable after his own fashion, not after ours."

"Very true. An Englishman would be very shy of paying even a small sum for a foreigner; but he would ask him ten times to dinner, and lay out treble the amount to entertain him."

"These are only different customs, papa," said Ellen: "I am sure the English are generous.” "See!" said Edward, "she is colouring for her country."

"Not blushing for it, at least," she answered.

"I fear," said Mrs. Delville, " that the hospitality of the Spaniards, with regard to money, and which sometimes jars against the nice, or, perhaps I should say, proud feelings of an Englishman, arise from a love of display. To this feeling the Spaniards in all ranks make great and lamentable sacrifices : nor is it confined only to the men; it extends