CONVERSATIONS WITH A SPANISH 1IBEKAL. 199 



" On his return to Europe, Rodil was received with open arms by 

 Ferdinand ; in whose favour he held a distinguished place to the very 

 hour of his death." 



" From the sketch you have given me/' I observed, " it appears 

 that Rodil is, after all, a liberal rather par ton than par sentiment." 



" Most unquestionably/' was the reply I received, " the school in 

 which he was educated was inimical to the growth of liberal opinions. 

 And with some few exceptions this observation will apply to all the 

 leading political characters in Spain. 



" The re-appearance of Don Carlos in the insurgent provinces 

 will singularly . complicate the aspect of affairs. The extravagance 

 and levity of the queen, and her shutting herself up at this moment 

 with her cortejo, Munoz, at La Granja, in whom the people see a 

 second Manuel Godoy, has exasperated and disgusted her partisans. 

 Again the Estatuto Real for the convocation of the Cortes has dis- 

 appointed the liberal party. By this document, that body will become 

 a mere automaton, to be moved at the will of the court ; a piece of 

 lumber, like the old parliaments of France, having only the power 

 of registering the decrees of the Court. 



" Under these circumstances, there is no knowing what may be the 

 effect should Don Carlos appear, and hoist his standard in the Basque 

 provinces. Liberal as I am, I cannot conceal from myself that he 

 has ( beaujeu en main;' and if he but plays a bold and skilful game, 

 I will not yet answer for the result. His re-appearance, too, in Spain 

 may again introduce on the theatre of events a man whose extraor- 

 dinary influence over the population of the Two Castiles is equivalent 

 to an army,-^-I allude to the celebrated Cura Merino, whose life has 

 been a romance, and a sketch of whose singular car ear I will put 

 you in possession of, if your patience is not already exhausted nay, 

 disgusted, by the events I have just narrated to you." 



After expressing myself highly amused and instructed by the in- 

 formation he had afforded me, my Spanish friend proceeded as fol- 

 lows : 



" Geromino Merino, better known in Old Castile by the name of 

 1 El Cura de Villaviado/ is sprung from an obscure family. At an 

 early age his parents sent him to learn Latin in the college at Lerma ; 

 but he had scarcely commenced his fourth class, before they recalled 

 him home to tend a flock of goats which belonged to them. 



" In the exercise of this pastoral occupation, which, by its tranquil- 

 lity and monotonous uniformity, forms so striking a contrast with the 

 chequered fate and fiery wroth of his subsequent career, Geromino 

 continued until the death of the Cura de Villaviado. As there was 

 at the time no one to fill the place of that priest, Merino was advised 

 to lay aside the crook, and, as we say in England, to read for the 

 church, which he accordingly did ; and, at the end of six months, 

 was admitted into holy orders. However, as the revenues of his 

 living were extremely slender, and being by nature rather formed 

 for a mountain life than the service of the church, he resumed his 

 former occupation of a shepherd, and only quitted it on Sundays to 

 say mass to his parishioners. 



