passed two whole days in performing, in the presence of the emperor and the prince, certain crazy exploits similar to those we read of in books of chivalry-those mischievous creations of idle imagination. Now, I leave you to weigh and consider (with the sound judgment which must dwell in the mind of a Señor Bachelor of Laws) the fact that the said knights actually performed these feats, or rather these fooleries, and that they were approved of by the emperor and the prince Don Philip, who derived therefrom much entertainment. And will it be said that there are not other madmen in the world besides the ingenious knight of La Mancha, when such madmen find favour in the eyes of emperors and kings.* But the fools so thickly scattered through this Christian realm cannot endure that the reading of this book 'Don Quixote' should have the effect of convincing the unlettered common people that romances of chivalry are filled with improbabilities alike adverse to reason and common sense. This is the reason why they attack the book with such determined fury and perversity, picking faults in it, and seeking to prove that there are no persons in the world so mad as to put faith in the reality of the stories related in books of chivalry. But the courts of kings, to say nothing of more humble places, are full of such madmen, for courts are the birthplaces of madness of every kind. These people say and do all sorts of mad things. They enter upon insane enterprizes to their own injury, and there is no possibility of convincing them of their errors. And these, forsooth, are the persons who find fault with the illustrious knight Don Quixote, the mirror not only of all crazy La Manchians, but of all crack-brained Spaniards; indeed, it may be said, that he is the clear reflection of all madmen throughout the world. For these reasons, instead of being depreciated, the work deserves to be prized and esteemed by all right-judging persons, inasmuch as it is the only one of all the many stories of chivalry that has been written with an honest and useful purpose. After all, the delusions of Don Quixote are less absurd than many things related in those romances: and from time immemorial there have been numberless lunatics in the world who have not, in the general opinion, been accounted mad. The laudable intention of the author was to banish the false order of knight-errantry, by the highly-seasoned dish of diversion presented in his true history.

Just as I uttered these words, the bachelor's unlucky nag, by a sudden leap, snapped the reins by which he was fastened up; he had taken a fancy to sport with the mule who, tied to the trunk of an old oak, was quietly reposing on the grass. The mule, however, with becoming dignity, evinced her dislike of such familiarity by several smart kicks. One of them, aimed at that eye of the poor horse which still retained some little power of vision, rendered it as blind as the other. In another instant a severe kick laid him prostrate on the earth, to all appearance bringing to an end the miseries of the horse, and the falls of his rider.

At this unexpected disaster, and naturally expecting that the poor animal who lay struggling and gasping was about to draw his last breath, the bachelor vented his grief in a torrent of lamentations, at the same time bitterly reproaching himself for the little caution he had observed for securing the safety of the precious jewel which he had probably

The Journey of Philip II. (when Infante) to the Netherlands, in company with the Emperor his father, written by Don Calvete de Estrella, contains an account of the festiviites at Binche, alluded to by Cervantes. In these entertainments the feats described in various books of chivalry were accurately imitated and represented.

hired from the stables of Colmeneres.* He began to curse the hour when he had set out on his luckless journey.

I to console him said, "after all Señor Bachelor, this misfortune has happened not inopportunely. But a minute ago you were observing that the book called Don Quixote' is full of absurd extravagances. Now, a truce with your lamentations, and recall to your memory that famous adventure of the Knight of La Mancha when he encountered the most disastrous of all his misfortunes-I mean when he met with the Yanguses on his departure from Chrysostom's funeral, on which occasion Rosinante had a narrow escape with his life."

"Lleveme al Diablo !" exclaimed the bachelor in a rage. "Truly I wish you and your Don Quixote were a hundred leagues off. Since the moment when I first set eyes on you, as many disasters have beset me as though I were under the ban of excommunication." So saying, he made an effort, though a vain one, to raise up his horse, which was sorely hurt, and now quite blind; at every tug of the reins he slowly thrust forward one or the other of his feet, with a languid movement indicative of expiring life.

Seeing that the disaster was past all remedy, and that the sun was already receding over the mountain tops, and about to set in his ocean bed, I took a courteous leave of my luckless companion. But he, wholly engrossed by his great but useless efforts to raise up his horse, neither heard my farewell, nor saw my departure. There I left him venting imprecations and complaining of his evil star. I can fancy I hear him now. What afterwards became of him I know not, nor did I ever enquire. Mounting my trusty mule, I forthwith pursued my way to Toledo, and evening had set in when I entered the city gates.

I rode straightway to the house of one of my friends, where I for a time took up my abode. Turning over in my mind what had occurred, I resolved to write this my adventure, hoping thereby to undeceive the many persons who fancy they see in the ingenious Hidalgo Don Quixote, that which the ingenious Hidalgo Don Quixote is not. Therefore I give to this little book † the name of Buscapié, that they who seek to discover with which foot the Knight of la Mancha limps, may find (God be praised) that he is not lame with either; but that he stands stoutly and firmly on both, and ready to enter into single combat with the stupid and grumbling critics, who, like wasps, buzz about to the injury of society.

And now, Friend Reader, if I have given you any entertainment, or if any of the observations I have made be worthy your remembrance, I shall be much gratified, and may God have you in his holy keeping.

*At the end of the sixteenth and beginning of the seventeenth century, there lived in Burgos a tavern-keeper named Colmeneres, celebrated alike for his wealth, his social humour, and his witty sayings. Many of his jests are collected and published in a volume entitled,Dialogos de apacible entretemmiento, por Gaspar Lucas, Hidalgo.' Barcelona, 1606; Brussels, 1610; Madrid, 1618. The inn in Madrid, known in the time of Cervantes by the appellation of the Meson de Colmenares, was probably kept by the witty tavernero of Burgos, or some of his relations." Note of Don Adolfo de Castro.

+ Cervantes here uses the term librillo, the Spanish diminutive for libro (book).

ITALY AND IRELAND.

BY DR. TAYLOR.

WITH A PORTRAIT OF POPE PIUS ix.

"THE fatal gift of Beauty," to which a well-known sonnet of Filicaja ascribes all the calamities which have befallen Italy during a long lapse of centuries, has at least one compensating advantage; it has interested the sympathies of all civilised mankind in the fortunes and fates of that peninsula. At a time when all Europe is convulsed and menaced with anarchy, from the Baltic to the Mediterranean, from the banks of the Vistula to the shores of the Atlantic, Italy and Ireland are the two countries which most engage attention: Italy, because her claims are the most just and her cause the most glorious of all the revolutionary movements around; Ireland, because the demands of its insurrectionary minority are not merely groundless, but utterly absurd, and their cause nothing but a revolt of lazy mendicity stimulated by the most unscrupulous mendacity. Under these circumstances, unusual importance attaches to the view taken of Italian politics by an intelligent Irishman, sufficiently versed in the history of agitation to be able to appreciate its tendencies from its symptoms, and at the same time so far independent of parties as to be above all suspicion of any warping bias.

Mr. Whiteside, of whose volumes on Italy we are about to give a concise account, acquired a European reputation by his eloquent defence of Mr. O'Connell and the other traversers at the memorable State Trials. His exertions on this occasion so injured his health that he was obliged to suspend his professional labours, and was recommended by his medical advisers to spend two years on the Continent, and chiefly in Italy. From the volumes before us we learn that he is an enthusiast in classical literature, a moderate conservative in politics, and that his religious views for the most part coincide with those of the Evangelical party in the Church of England. We mention these particulars because few travellers have infused so much of their own individuality into their writings. Ardent scholarship, tolerant statesmanship, and deep religious convictions, mark every page he has written; they even colour his dissertations on the legal codes of the Italian states, mingle with his historical sketches, and blend, not inharmoniously, with his descriptions of scenery.

Mr. Whiteside deems that Italy may be most pleasantly entered through the Tyrol, a country of which he seems as much enamoured as the late Mr. Inglis. We quote his description of Innspruck, because that city has become the refuge of the Austrian Emperor, and seems to be the only part of his dominions which can now afford a sure shelter to the head of the haughty house of Hapsburgh.

"The view of the lofty mountains surrounding Innspruck as you walk the streets is glorious, covered, as they are, with snow. The bright sun shines on the valley, while the air is cooled by a refreshing breeze from the snowy

Italy in the Nineteenth Century contrasted with its Past Condition. By James Whiteside, Esq. Q. C.

heights. Then there is a broad, rapid river, the Inn, rushing through the centre of the town, crossed by a wooden bridge, the banks shaded by acacias and fine old trees, under whose friendly branches there is a pleasant promenade.

"The plain around Innspruck is so perfectly cultivated as to gladden the eye whenever it rests upon so fair a scene; not one inch of ground is waste, and the industry of the people is incessant. I visited twice the shooting ground, romantically situated about a mile from the town. The Tyrolese soldiers and people may here be seen exercising at a mark, and certainly the accuracy of their aim is fearful, as the French often found to their cost. The mechanical invention of the target greatly amused me: whenever the small centre mark was struck by the ball at a considerable distance, two figures slowly moved round and faced you, they having been previously fastened behind the target; then a man, standing near the mark in a suitable and safe position, came forth dressed like a merry Andrew, tumbled and made antics before the target, and announced in a loud voice that the ball had hit; this was registered by a Tyrolese soldier, who sat at a table with writing materials and a book, near the persons who fired, and whose duty it was to register the successful shots according as the keeper of the target cried out. The scene was novel and entertaining. I visited several churches in the town and neighbourhood; one, the Franciscan, which contains the curious and splendid monument of the Emperor Maximilian I.; also the grave and statue of Hofer, which particularly interested me. The fabrics. are clean and spacious, unlike the churches of Italy in their arrangement, in this respect, that rows of seats are placed for the congregation in the aisle. The people in the churches were evidently sincere, devout, and constant in their pious exercises. In no place does the Roman Catholic religion appear to greater advantage than in the Tyrol. There is a peculiar quietness, a decorum, and a devoutness in the congregations.

"In religion the Tyrolese are not superstitious, although sincere, many of the practices of the Italian church are repudiated by them. There is one prison for the kingdom containing 800,000 inhabitants: this is at Innspruck, and seldom has eighty criminals within its walls. There is not a foundling hospital in the whole of the Tyrol, and if there were one it would present a ward of empty cradles."

The condition of Tuscany, the effects of free-trade on its national prosperity, the advantages and disadvantages of its landed tenures, and the benefits derived from the political and legal ameliorations are examined by Mr. Whiteside with great minuteness and fidelity of detail. Like most Irishmen who are familiar with Ulster, he regards "fixity of tenure" as one of the first elements of national prosperity, and is disposed to favour the system of small farms. These are questions too grave to be discussed incidentally, but we may intimate a suspicion that the first of them has often been discussed with too exclusive a reference to the power of the landlord; may it not be possible that where insecurity of tenure prevails no small portion of the evil should be ascribed to the incapacity and dishonesty of tenants? Unlike Mr. Laing, whose inferences are most sweeping when his inductions are least copious, Mr. Whiteside concedes that the good results from the land-system of Tuscany might not follow if the same system were adopted in another country, and he indicates the true solution of the difficulty when he informs us that the extent of the farm is proportioned to the capital of the cultivator.

Our traveller spent two winters in Rome, and thus witnessed the last of the old system under Pope Gregory, and the commencement of the new under Pope Pius. His description of the Eternal City is the most vivid and graphic with which we are acquainted.