30 
ART AND LIFE IN SPAIN. 
(Illustrated by Lantern.) 
By W. A. WADDINGTON. March 1dth, 1892. 
Emerging from the mists of antiquity, the History of Spain 
comes into the ‘‘ open,” so to speak, at the time of the Greeks 
and Pheenicians. At one time it was a Province of Rome, it 
experienced the usual descent of the Goths, there followed the 
wonderful Dynasty of the Moors, the Rule of the Catholic Kings, 
and Spain made her power felt in almost every country in 
Europe. She discovered America, conquered Mexico and Peru, 
and tried to conquer England. The names of her great men 
stand out from the pages of history, and the Cid, Boabdil, the 
Moor, the great Ferdinand (who can never be disassociated from 
his Queen Isabella), Charles V., Philip II., Columbus, Pizarro, 
Ignatius Loyala, Cardinal Ximines and other characters would, 
if brought under contribution, enchain the interest through all 
our allotted time. These varied civilizations and lofty per- 
sonalities are only mentioned here to shew the wealth of 
historical association and the abounding romance which (not 
forgetting the Peninsular War) attaches to Spain, supplying all 
the incentive and providing the solid foundations and picturesque 
background of educational travel. The wonderful time-worn 
cities, the works of art, the points of natural scenery are good to 
look at in themselves, but vested as they are with the memory 
of such powerful peoples, noble characters and stirring incidents, 
the claims of Spain as a traveller’s country become simply 
irresistible, and it will be found of no small advantage to tread 
the streets and view the monuments of the grand old cities of 
the Peninsula. 
There are some points about Spanish travel which are perfectly 
unique, which satisfy the highest expectations, but those who are 
much wrought up by books of travel must prepare for some 
measure of disenchantment. Spain has been regarded too much 
as a bright and sunny land like Italy, where balmy breezes 
soothe the traveller, and on the south incline to actual langour 
and torpidity. A perfect land of romance, where faces, figures 
and costumes, are astonishingly beautiful, and where people 
spend most of their time dancing to the soft music of the guitar 
or the magic click of the castinets. A land of bright flowers 
and general gay colour, a land of violent love, of jealousy, of 
revenge ; a land where, at the hands of brigands and cloaked 
bravos, the thrill of adventure (or misadventure) might safely be 
calculated upon. For this Phillips, the painter, and a large 
