JOVELLANOS JUAN. 



267 



very practical head of a department. The revenue 

 of the Prince of Peace was slow, but deep. Marquis 

 Caballero, than whom a baser instrument could 

 hanlly be found, even in that court, and in those 

 times, was chosen to persecute him. A Spanish 

 translation of Rousseau's Contrat Social, in one of the 

 notes of which Jovellanos was mentioned favour- 

 ably, gave the pretext. He was arrested, carried 

 from one place to another, and, at last, put in a Car- 

 thusian monastery in the island of Majorca. His 

 addresses to the king from this place are bold and 

 vigorous, and were read by the whole nation, because 

 the hatred against the Prince of Peace was then at 

 its height. Intestine commotions and foreign power 

 at last put an end to the wretched government. 

 Charles IV. was compelled to abdicate in favour of 

 his son Ferdinand, with whom Caballero, betraying 

 his friends, had sided, so that the mob, who had 

 forced Charles IV. to abdicate, shouted, Viva el 

 picaro Caballero ! (the knave Caballero for ever !) 

 Jovellanos was now recalled by the same person who 

 had shamefully persecuted him. He demanded a 

 trial; but Napoleon's stroke at Bayonne changed the 

 face of Spanish affairs. Joseph, his brother, anxiously 

 engaged all men in his administration, who stood 

 high in the esteem of the people, and offered Jovel- 

 lanos the portfolio of the interior, advised to do so 

 by Urquijo, D'Azanza, Massaredo, O'Farill, and Ca- 

 barrus, the intimate friends of Jovellanos, who said 

 they had a positive assurance of his willingness to 

 accept it. If this was actually the case, either the 

 loss sustained by Joseph's party at Baylen, or the 

 insurrection of the Spaniards soon after this event, 

 made him change his mind. Jovellanos, on the other 

 hand, assures us that his friends urged him to accept 

 the ministry, but that he never thought of doing so, 

 thus forming one of the few well informed and liberal 

 men who did not join Joseph. Jovellanos embraced 

 the cause. of the insurgents, and became a member 

 of the central junta, where it was chiefly owing to 

 him, that the council precisely the same in Spain as 

 the parliaments in France, in esprit-de-corps, aristo- 

 cratic feeling, sale of offices, &c. was revived. No 

 sooner had the council met, than it opposed the cen- 

 tral junta, which was finally dissolved, and Jovellanos 

 was shamefully treated. To expose the council, and 

 defend himself and the junta, was the last of his 

 labours as a writer. He died November 27, 1811, 

 sixty-seven years old. 



The cortes, though Jovellanos objected to the 

 principle upon which they were founded, declared 

 him benemerito de la patriot, a distinction after- 

 wards often bestowed injudiciously. His Spanish 

 prose is considered the finest of modern times. His 

 Elogios, though possessed of some faults inherent in 

 all compositions of that kind, are redeemed by great 

 beauty of language and depth of thought. He also 

 wrote an Essay upon Dramatic Exhibitions and Pul> 

 lic Diversions, some poems, and a tragedy, El Pelayo 

 (the brave Goth who defended the independence of 

 Spain against the Moors), which was prevented by 

 the clergy from being played before 1790, and a trans- 

 lation of the first book of Milton ; but his poetry 

 will not procure immortality for his name. The Pan 

 y Toros (Bread and Bulls), an essay against bull- 

 fights, has been generally ascribed to him, but with- 

 out reason. In an excellent address at the distribution 

 of prizes in the academy (of fine arts) deSt Fernando. 

 in 1781, he depicted the course of the fine arts to his 

 time, from which Cumberland derived his opinions on 

 Spanish artists. According to Jovellanos, Lope de 

 Vega and Jordanes were the promoters of bad taste, 

 the former in poetry and the latter in painting. 



See Memorias para la J'ida del Excmo. Don Gas- 

 far Melchior de Jovellanes, y Noticias analiticas de 



sus obras por Don Juan Agustin Cean Bermudet 

 (Madrid, 1814), extracts of which are given in the 

 Letters from Spain, by Leucadio Doblado (Blanco 

 White), London ; and Noticias Historicas de Don G. 

 M. Jovellanos, consagradus a sus respetables Cenizas. 

 1. M. de A. M. (Palma, 1812, 4to.) The wretched 

 state of the Spanish book-trade does not allow a com- 

 plete collection of his works to appear., 



JOVIUS, PAUL (or Paolo Giovio), a celebrated 

 Italian historian, was born at Como, in 1483, studied 

 medicine at Pavia, but took orders, and was bishop 

 of Nocera at the time of his death, in 1552. In his 

 youth he read the classics under the direction of his 

 brother at Rome, and was inspired with the desire of 

 becoming the historian of his time. H is first attempt 

 was read by pope Leo, to an assembly of cardinals, 

 and the pontiff exclaimed, that "after Titus Livy 

 there is no writer more elegant and eloquent." 

 Tiraboschi shows that he has often been represented 

 as a liar and flatterer, and two letters of Jovius him- 

 self appear to furnish ground for objections against 

 him. He there asserts that an author has the privi- 

 lege of dressing some in soft silk, and others in linen; 

 and that he would not write without being paid. " Ste 

 in otio, quia nemo nos conduxit." Ranke, in his valua- 

 ble work Zur Kritik neuerer Geschichtschreiber (Ber- 

 lin, 1824), justly observes that a letter may be written 

 in a moment of ill humour, but his works must be 

 examined to determine whether he actually praised 

 his friends and patrons immoderately. He openly 

 censures the popes, his masters, in expressions which 

 Catholics would blame in a Protestant writer ; and 

 we ought not to forget the passages in which he speaks 

 of the fidelity due from a historian. As to the money 

 which he wanted for his writings, it is easily explained. 

 In his time, authors received no remuneration from 

 publishers, but from princes or other eminent indi- 

 viduals. But we have no reason to suppose that this 

 affected his statements. Ranke observes, that he has 

 not found any misrepresentation of facts, in order to 

 p.ease, in Jovius's works, as far as he had accurately 

 examined them, which was down to the year 1530. 

 As Jovius lived at the court of the pope, then still, 

 to a certain degree, the capital of Christendom, he 

 became personally acquainted with many individuals 

 of the first importance in history, or other eye-wit- 

 nesses, from whom he gathered information. His 

 style is not unfrequently too florid or diffuse, and his 

 statements may, perhaps, be coloured by his partiali- 

 ties. His Latin is very excellent, but the deep views 

 of a Machiavelli are wanting. His works are, His- 

 toria sui Temporis (1494 1547), lib. xlv. (2 vols., 

 Florence, 1548 1552, fol.); Elogia Virorumerudit. 

 (Florence, 1549, fol); Elogia Virorum bellica Vir- 

 tute illustrium (ib. 1551, fol.); Comment, de Rebus 

 Turcicis (Wittenberg, 1537); Descriptio Britannia, 

 Scotiee, Hibernite, et Orcadum (Bale, 1578, fol.) 



JOYEUSE ENTREE ; the name given to the 

 important privileges of the estates of Brabant and 

 Limburg, with Antwerp, which the dukes were 

 obliged to swear to maintain, before they were allowed 

 to enter the ducal residence, from which circumstance 

 the name was taken. The most important of these 

 privileges was, that the people were released from 

 all allegiance, whenever the duke should attempt to 

 violate their rights. So important were these privi- 

 leges considered, that many women went to Brabant 

 to be confined there, that their children might enjoy 

 the rights of a citizen of Brabant. 



JUAN (pronounced huan, with a very aspirated A). 

 Juan is the Spanish name for John, and a character 

 named Don Juan is found in the literature of most 

 of the modern nations of Europe. As far as we 

 know, this character first appears in the Burlador de 

 Sevilla y Convidado de Pierra, a comedy by Gabriel 



