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Of the amusements of the Spaniards we saw very little. All 
the time we were in the country, though the national drink is 
wine, we saw no one the worse for liquor. 
The Bull Fights were over when we got there—they are essen- 
tially summer pastimes. 
As to business, the only place we saw that seemed to be 
thoroughly alive was Barcelona—the whole air of the town was 
alert and go-ahead. Some portions of Madrid were the same, 
but generally the country seemed almost asleep; even in Seville 
the shop-keepers served their customers without removing the 
cigarette from their mouths. 
After a review of the chequered history of the country, the 
Lecturer spoke at some length on Spanish Art and Architecture. 
It has been said by Professor Carl Justi that ‘‘a visit to Spain 
will ensure the lovers of art of at least one thing, another leaf in 
the album of experience.” In architecture every age and 
conquest has left its mark in the country. The Romans built 
for all time, and numerous are their remains particularly at 
Merida, but the most imposing is the aqueduct at Segovia. 
The Visigoth period is shown by the remains in the Mosque at 
Cordova and the walls of Toledo. The Moorish period shows 
itself in the winding tortuous streets, and elaborate palaces, 
mosques, and castles of Toledo, Cordova, Seville, Granada, 
Valencia, and even as far north as Barcelona. 
The Romanesque period is exemplified in most of the Churches. 
The same Iberian race occupies Gascony, Navarre, and the 
Basque provinces, and this explains why the architecture of 
Spain so closely resembles that of France. The Gothic period 
was introduced by the Cistercian Order in the Twelfth Century, 
and magnificent specimens are seen at Burgos, Toledo and 
Tarragona. LHspecial value is attached to Cimborio (the vaulting 
over the crossing of the nave and transepts) and this is a truly 
glorious feature of Spanish work, and chapels radiating from the 
apse are nowhere so popular asin Spain. The Fifteenth Century 
opened with the foundation of Seville Cathedral, the largest 
Gothic church in the world. In no country are the nave and 
the aisles so wide and the effort after spaciousness so visible. 
The Renaissance period has fine examples in Granada Cathedral 
and the Escorial palace and portions of many of the cathedrals 
such as at Burgos, Malaga, &c. In painting, one period only is 
wortby ol special notice, but this period has made Spanish art 
renowned all the world over, and it has made the Museum in the 
Prado rank among the fSnest of the picture galleries. Jan Van 
Hyck left his influence on the Spanish artists. The Valencian 
