CHARACTERS. 



809 



number of soldiers for the army. 

 Every year, in tiie month of Octo- 

 ber, the mihtia is assembled, and 

 the young men are taken for it 

 from the age of 15 years. The pea- 

 sants are seen running with plea- 

 sure to the place of assembling, de- 

 lighted to see themselves armed, 

 and treated as cnvalleros, iiobles sol- 

 dados del rei. They are naturally 

 disposed to arms ; the inhabitants 

 of the count)' of Montforte are re- 

 marked for this, as well as those of 

 Lemos, which is watered by the lit- 

 tle river Cabe, and the capital town 

 of which is situated upon a steep 

 and lofty mountain. This town is 

 •reputed to have been founded by 

 emigrant Greeks ; and what sup- 

 ports this opinion is the vivacity, 

 wit, and bravery, of the inhabitants 

 of this canton. 



The Galicians were the first poets 

 of Spain. Before the descent of 

 the Romans, they composed and 

 sung verses, some traditions of which 

 remain in their ancient language, 

 yet they made little progress in this 

 art. 



ThepresentlanguageofGaliciais 

 a mixture of the ancient Castilian, 

 of the time of Aiphonso the Wise, 

 and of Portuguese, with several ex- 

 pressions which it has retained of 

 the ancient Roman language. 



Character, Manners, Customs, 

 Habits, Dress, and Language of 

 the Old Caslilians. [_F7-om the 

 same.'] 



It is the remark of an acute 

 writer, that the Old Castilians are 

 gloomy and taciturn, and bear in 

 their swarthy aspect the expression 

 Gf dejection and poverty. It must 



be acknowledged they have little 

 relish for the pleasures of society ; 

 they are serious, grave, reserved, 

 and somewhat stately, and in their 

 movements are perhaps more so- 

 lemn and slow than any other peo- 

 ple in Spain ; but it must be admit- 

 ted also, that their morals are in- 

 corrupt and ingenuous; that they 

 are upright in conduct, strangers 

 in artifice, and unpractised in cun- 

 ning or duplicity; probity is their 

 birthright; they are naturally 

 obliging; they are also disinterest- 

 ed, and so perfectly free from af- 

 fectation that they may justly be 

 called the honest people of Spain. 

 Placed in one of the poorest pro- 

 vinces of the Spanish empire, with- 

 out wealth, and without the means 

 to obtain it, their energy is con- 

 stantly repressed by poverty, their 

 industry languishes from discou- 

 ragement, and whilst they are stig- 

 matized with apathy and sloth, 

 they are in reality oppressed with 

 accumulated difficulties, and left by 

 an unfortunate destiny, to inacti- 

 vity and despondence. In general 

 they are averse to conversation; 

 they have little intercourse with 

 one another, and still less with 

 strangers ; their few amusements 

 are of the same sombre cast ; sub- 

 jected to an imperious etiquette, 

 equally circumscribed, constrained, 

 and monotonous, they afford no 

 variety, and inspire no gaiety, but 

 are uniformly characterized by 

 circumspection, gloom, and solem- 

 nity ; different shades of character 

 are, however, often perceptible in 

 this province. The inhabitants of 

 the valley of Mena, in the country 

 of Burgos, who believe themselves 

 descended from the ancient Canta- 

 bres, still retain a large portion of 



their 



