of Jovellanos. ^27 



annals of literature by the appearance of served usage lias often heightened the 



that inimitable work ; and it is reason- 

 able to suppose that he had published 

 the greater part of his plays before the 

 year 1615, when Cervantes prefixed the 

 prologue to his Comedies. 



It seems scarcely credible that more 

 cannot be known of an author, whose 

 name is so frequently mentioned, whose 

 work was, in the space of a few years after 

 its publication, itnitated and commended 

 by Corneille, and who, in the judgment 

 of no less a man than Voltaire, is con- 

 sidered as the writer of the first true tra- 

 gedy that had appeared in modern 

 Europe. 



JOVEI.LANOS. 



Retirement was his wish, and litera- 

 ture liis favorite pursuit; but on his libe- 

 ration from prison, in 1808, he was once 

 more unavoidably immersed in politics, 

 and again destined to encounter the mor- 

 tifications and disappointments of a pub- 

 lic life. 



In alluding to his first misfortunes, I 

 was formerly compelled to advert to the 

 injustice of a court, which had cou« 

 demned him unheard to exile and impri- 

 sonment. It is yet more painful to re- 

 flect, that under a government struggling 

 for independence, and meditating the 

 establishment of a popular constitution, 

 neither the virtues he had recently ex- 

 erted, nor the character he had uni- 

 formly sustained, could protect him from 

 vexatious calumnies and persecutions, 

 which embittered, and perhaps short- 

 ened, the remainder of his honourable 

 life. The history of these latter trans- 

 actions is preserved in an appeal to his 

 countrymen printed and published at La 

 Coruna a few months befoie his death. 

 He had written it during his illegal de- 

 tention at Muros, in Galicia, in 1810. 

 It consists of two parts. The first, thau;;h 

 valuable both for information and style, 



tone of his eloquence, yet he dwells with 

 pious delight on every trait of private 

 fiiendship and generosity which the 

 course of his narrative brings to his 

 recollection. Indeed there breaihes 

 throughout the whole work a spirit of 

 benevolence to his countrymen and man- 

 kind, which even the sense of recent and 

 unmerited injury could not extinguish in 

 his affectionate and well-regulated mind, 

 Tiie bonk is in fact a history of the two 

 last years of his life. As allusions to hi» 

 earlier occupations are occasionally in- 

 terspersed in the narrative, if ever troth 

 can be spoken without danger in Spain, 

 some biographer may find in it materials 

 for doing justice to the ctiaracter of his 

 countrymaa. 



An abstract of the work would give 

 a very imperfect idea of the merit of the 

 composition. I subjoin a short passage 

 to justify the praises bestowed on it, and 

 to recommend a perusal of the whole ti» 

 such of my readers as are conversant 

 with Spanish literature. 



Wiien the Supreme Junta was dis- 

 solved at Cadiz in 1810, he determined 

 to retire to the Astunas ; but, ori exa- 

 mining his pecuniary resources, he found 

 liis whole fortune reduced to about 100/. 

 a sum inadequate to provide for the voy- 

 age and journey which he and hiscompa- 

 nTon the Marquis of Cainpo Sagrado had 

 contempliited. The manner in which he 

 was extricated from so unforeseen an 

 embarrassment is thus related. 



'♦ Frum this distress I was relieved by 

 one of those men who are not called 

 heroes, because they overturn no em- 

 pires, gain no battles, and engage in no 

 daring or ambitious adventures, but wha 

 really deserve that name for the constant 

 exercise of tlio«e peaceable virtues whicb 

 belong to their condition in life; virtues 

 not less solid nor less arduous for flowing 



relates entirely to the refutation of inch entirely from tlie pure sources of rehgion, 



charges as had been brought against the 

 Supreme Junta, of which he had been a 

 member. The second is devoted to the 

 vindication of his own conduct and prin- 

 ciples during *' the last period of his 

 public lifr," as he emphatically terms 

 the two years which had elapsed since 

 his release from confinement in 1808. 



The work is such as might have been 

 expected from such a man in such a 

 situation. The style is equal, or even 

 superior, to uuy of his former composi- 

 tions. The principles he maintains, and 

 , the feelings he evinces, are of a piece 

 with the uiiiforiii tenor of his public 

 conduct. Tnougli indignatiuu at uiidC'* 



JlloMBLY Mac. No. Wi. 



honor, and benevnlence, without the sth- 

 mulus of vanity, or th'^ hooe of either 

 reward or celebrity. D. Dimiingo Gar- 

 cia de la Fuente w.ms attached to my 

 family from the year 1797, when I was 

 named ambassador to Russia, where he 

 h.-id been before with Don JMiguel de 

 Galvtz. He remained in my service 

 during my short administration,* and 

 returned with me to Gjon without de- 

 riving any benefit from his place. He 

 was with me when the gripe of despotism 

 reached me.f and dragged me from my 



♦ From November 1797 to August 1798. 

 f 13Ui Warc-li, 1801. 



4 L hoin* 



