210

FACILITY OF FINDING FOOD.

remnant of Moorish habits, in the extraordinary profusion of ornaments worn by the lower class, and in the numerous bracelets and various kinds of rings, seen even on the beggar's fingers."

"The dress of an Andalusian peasant," said Mr. Delville, " is derived from the same source. His jacket and waistcoat are always trimmed with gold and silver, and a profusion of silk cord and buttons cover every part of his dress. Further observation furnished them with fresh proofs of the change of climate, and also its change of manners: there was more poverty in the streets, and more wretchedness and rags every where."

"This," said Mr. Delville on their remarking it, "is the almost invariable result of a hot climate, where labour is a disagreeable exertion, and the temptations to labour few. Here it is easy to live. If a small loaf of bread be given to one of these idle varlets, he makes a hole in it, begs a little oil, (too plentiful in this country to be refused,) pours it into the hole, and, dipping his slices of bread in it, as he cuts round his loaf, he is set up for the day. He is therefore idle because he has no excitement to be busy. In this country the sun shines every day, and rags and houselessness are not felt as an evil."

A dainty dish, that of the beggar," said Frank: "I should not like to mess with him."

As they walked through the market they were

ALMS TO THE MONKS.

211

amused with watching the progress of a Franciscan friar, with his sack, soliciting the charity of the country-people. One person gave a handful of lettuces, another a bunch of carrots, a third a couple of melons, and a fourth a loaf of bread. The Delvilles observed that every gift was chosen from the best of their supply.

"We should not see this in the north," said Edward.

66

Superstition," said his father, "reigns in all its glory in the southern provinces. The belief in miracles, performed by those who are particularly holy, is still lively and unshaken. On the death of a friar, in this city, a short time ago, who had a very pious reputation, such was the crowd that pressed to touch his garments and his body, that the aid of the military was called in to preserve order.” "Wonderful!" said Ellen, "most wonderful! particularly viewing these gentry as we do. They carry about with them more marks of idleness and dirt, than any thing else, I think."

Turning at this moment into another street, they were amused to see a little child, about a year old, in a friar's dress. His parents had made a vow he should wear it for a year, on his recovery from sickness. The young people, particularly the boys, were inclined to laugh heartily; and their father was glad to hurry them into a shop, to divert their thoughts.

212

THE VESPER-HOUR.

On the Paseo, a walk on the banks of the river, they had an opportunity of observing, for the first time, the effects of the vesper-bell. This fashionable resort was crowded from one end to the other. All the beauty, youth, and priesthood of Seville were assembled there. It was a gay and exhilarating scene: the jest and the laugh went round; when suddenly every convent-bell rung forth a signal for prayer. The jest and the laugh was instantly hushed, every head was uncovered; and the monotonous hum of many thousand persons, uttering one common prayer, was alone heard. This feeling, however, was but for a moment; the next, each had returned to their suspended conversation; the interrupted bon-mot was completed; and habit, doubtless, makes this solemn spectacle but a mechanical devotion to the actors in it. Such, at least, was Mr. Delville's opinion.

"Why should you think so, papa ?" said Ellen. “Because I see it has no permanent influence on their actions; and therefore I conclude, and I think justly, that it has but a slight influence on their hearts. You have heard it said, with great truth, that prayer will either make us leave off sinning, or sin will make us leave off prayer. Now, I think the Sevillians do, in point of fact, leave off praying with their hearts, though not with their lips, or they would not be in the daily and hourly commission of many sins which are common here."

"It was here, perhaps," said Mrs. Delville, "in the constant observance of this unfruitful prayer, that Valer, the Spanish Protestant, first turned to a purer religion, and learned to pray with the heart as well as the lips."

"I have thought of him often," said Edward; <but the recollection was so melancholy that I did not revert to it."

"It is hardly wise," said his mother, "to talk of them at all in the streets."

We will then walk," said Mr. Delville, "to 'Las Delicias,' about a mile down the river."

They proceeded there, with thoughts full of those recollections which, while they sadden, purify the heart. Then, as they walked through a grove of flowering-trees, and aromatic shrubs, between rows of acacia, perfumed by the adjacent orange and lemon groves, they recalled all the circumstances relating to those Protestant martyrs.

"Here, perhaps," said Ellen, "Valer disclosed his new opinions to Egidius; here they arranged their meetings, and sometimes trembled over their false security."

"Yes," said her father; "and here an evil eye may almost always be said to have been upon them. Do you see, in the distant suburbs, that old Gothic tower, rising alone, as it were, amongst the humbler houses ? That is the castle of the Inquisi

214

CATHEDRAL AT SEVILLE.

tion, where the inquisitors held their first meeting, in 1482."

This was an object from which they were not easily won; and as they stood in that delightful spot, gazing on the dark, massy building, tears of youthful sympathy filled their eyes, as they dwelt upon the anguish that had once been suffered there.

The recollections of every day were not, however, of so gloomy a character, and their visit to the Cathedral of Seville afforded them the highest gratification. Though as large, it was not so rich in ornaments as that of Toledo: and those who had never seen its rival could not imagine that any thing could surpass it in solemn grandeur. The organ is considered the most perfect in the world. It contains five thousand pipes, and one hundred and ten stops; being more than the Harlaem organ has. Nothing could exceed the beauty of the music: day after day they went there to hear it; and never did its influence diminish. Heard in the silence of evening, after a sultry day, with all the aisle in twilight, the effect was overpowering. The tower of the Cathedral is one of the curiosities of Seville. It is three hundred and fifty feet high, the work of a single Moor. It is singular, from having no steps in the ascent to it, they are supplied by an inclined plane. The queen was driven up in a small carriage. The