CERVANTES. 



enterprise. Here hit companions hesitated, but Cer- 

 vault's resolutely stepping forward, pronounced with 

 a firm and audible VOKT, that the fatal but honourable 

 distinction belonged to him, and added, in a tone 

 equally firm and audible, that, in order to save Inn 

 countrymen, he was ready to die. The barbarian 

 ruler, struck with his intrepidity, refused to punish 

 him ; and even the savage Arnaute Marmi, whose 

 property, according to the laws and customs of Al- 

 giers, Cervantes was, appeared unwilling that so 

 brave a man should be put to an ignominious death. 

 In four successive attempts to regain his liberty, the 

 unhappy Spaniard completely failed. Still, however, 

 after each attempt, his life was granted him ; a fact 

 the more difficult of explanation, as such mercy is 

 rarely shewn within the dominions of Algiers. At 

 length Cervantes was purchased from Arnaute Mar- 

 mi by the Dey himself, and shut up in close confine- 

 ment as his slave. But amidst all his misfortunes, 

 the spirit of this extraordinary man continued un- 

 broken and active. Under the eye of the coutt, and 

 in the condition of a bondsman, he formed a project 

 worthy of his enterprizing character, a project no 

 less hazardous than that of stirring up an insurrection 

 among the subjects of Algiers, putting himself at 

 their head, and dispossessing, by force of arms, the 

 ruler of the country. This plot, likewise, was dis- 

 covered before it was ripe for execution ; but Cer- 

 vantes, by what management or dexterity we know 

 not, still escaped the punishment of unsuccessful re- 

 bellion. Whether the tyrant respected his bravery, 

 and spared him on that account ; whether he had the 

 art to withdraw himself at a convenient season, fore- 

 seeing the failure of his scheme ; or whether his con- 

 dition was too humble to provoke the royal wrath, 

 it is useless to enquire, because we have not the means 

 of ascertaining the fact. If we may believe Cervantes 

 himself, it was to the first or to the second of the 

 causes just mentioned, that he was indebted for the 

 forbearance which he experienced. In the novel of 

 the Captive, the most interesting perhaps of any in 

 Don Quixote, he refers to his own case when he says, 

 " Only one Spanish soldier knew how to deal with 

 him, (the sovereign of Algiers,) his name was Saave- 

 dra ; who, though he had done many things which 

 will not easily be forgotten by the Turks, yet all to 

 gain his liberty, never received from his master either 

 a blow or a harsh word ; and yet we were always 

 afraid, that even for the least of his pranks, he would 

 get himself impaled ; nay, he himself sometimes was 

 afraid of it too. And if it were not taking up too 

 much of your time, I could tell such passages of him, 

 as would divert the company much better than the 

 relation of my adventures, and cause more wonder in 

 them." Don Quixote, vol. ii. p. 134. 



That Cervantes, during his captivity, was regarded 

 as a person of some distinction, is evident from the 

 high ransom which was demanded for his release. 

 Nothing less than 500 crowns of gold would satisfy 

 the Dey his master, but on condition of obtaining 

 that sum, with immediate dispatch, he signified his 

 willingness to resign the prisoner. In these circum- 

 stances, the parents of Cervantes sold what remained 

 to them of possessions, in former times considerable, 

 and aided by the benevolence of the Holy Fathers, 

 who had it in charge from the king of Spain, to ne- 



VOt. T. PART II. 



gotiate all matters respecting the liberation of cap- 

 lives, the stipulated ransom was paid. In the month 

 of September 1580, the 500 crowns were put into the 

 hands of the Dey, and Cervantes was restored to bit 

 country and his friends. 



From this period we may date the commencement 

 of his literary career. Disgusted with a military hie, 

 he appears now to have devoted himself with unusual 

 ardour to the business and labour of writing. The 

 taste of his age demanded pastoral poetry, and ac- 

 cordingly his first attempt was a pastoral, to whicU 

 he gave the title of Galalea. Like other pastorals, 

 it fails in this, that the incidents have little or no re- 

 semblance to those which occur in real life ; and in 

 the conduct of the piece, there is a very great extra- 

 vagance of fancy, and absurdity of combination. 

 The shepherds of Cervantes pronounce long orations 

 on the topic of love, with arguments logically dis- 

 posed, all intellec ual, all orderly ; and they talk, in 

 an utter confusion of chronology, of Ixion, and Mi- 

 nos, and of Mark Antony ; of Cxsar, Homer, and 

 Hercules ; of all the great captains of history, and all 

 the heroes of romance. The events of the Galalea 

 are by no means wholly of a pastoral nature. At 

 the time when Cervantes wrote, the Spaniards were a 

 brave and warlike people, the exploits of chivalry 

 formed the basis of every tale ; and among such a 

 people, and in such an age, poetry, destitute of ad- 

 ventures and combats, was not likely to find many 

 readers. The Galatea, therefore, is filled, not only 

 with love, which belongs to the legitimate pastoral, 

 but with battles, stratagems, and defiance ; Mars and 

 Venus preside alternately over the page, and duels 

 and sonnets follow one another in discordant succes- 

 sion. 



Notwithstanding these improprieties, however, the 

 Galalea was -favourably received. It was bought and 

 read. And where a taste for romances has been ac- 

 quired, it may still be perused with sucn pleasure as 

 is to be derived from that species of writing. In 

 consequence of his success, which was the more gra- 

 tifying because it was unexpected, Cervantes appears 

 about this time to have entered into the state of ma- 

 trimony. His wife bears the name of Donna Catha- 

 rina de Palacios ; she was of a good family, but as 

 she brought her husband no fortune, he was still 

 obliged to depend, for his daily support, upon hie li- 

 terary exertions. 



The next great work of Cervantes, was his famous 

 History of Don Quixote. To the conception and 

 execution of ihis work, the following incident is said 

 to have given rise. Having occasion to travel into 

 La Mancha, Cervantes unfortunately quarrelled with 

 the inhabitants of a small village, named Arganna7.il, 

 or, as some of his biographers have affirmed, con- 

 tracted debts among them, and for the oge or the 

 other of these reasons, he was thrown into prison. 

 While he remained in confinement, he wrote the 

 first part of the adventures of Don Quixote, and 

 in the height of his vengeance assigned to that 

 redoubted personage, La Mancha, as his native pro- 

 vince. But with a reserve, which may be ac- 

 counted for in different ways, he abstained, through- 

 out the work, from mentioning, or even alluding to 

 the village where he had been o ignominiously, and, 

 as he conceived, so unjustly treated. It is probable, 



