SPAIN. 539 



V, that the inimitable Cervantes, the author of Don Quixote, born at 

 Madrid in 1549, entered into the army in a station little superior to 

 that of a common soldier, and died neglected, alter fighting bravely 

 for his country at the battle of Lepanto, in which he lost his left hand. 

 His satire upon knight-errantry, in his adventures ot Don Quixote, 

 did as much service to his countrymen, by curing them of that ridi- 

 culous spirit, as it now does honour to his own memory. He was in 

 prison for debt when he composed the first part of his history, and is 

 perhaps to be placed at the head of moral and humorous satirists. 



T.,e Visions of Quevedo, and some others of his humorous and sa- 

 tirical pieces, having been translated into the English language, nave 

 rendered that author well known in this country. He was born at 

 Madrid in the year 1570, and was one of the best writers of his age, 

 excelling equally inverse and prose. Besides his merit as a poet, he 

 was well versed in the Oriental languages, and possessed great eru- 

 dition. His works are comprised in three volumes quarto, two. of 

 which consist of poetry, and the third of pieces in prose. As a poet, 

 he excelled both in the serious and burlesque style, and was happy in 

 a turn of humour similar to that which we admire in Butler and Swift. 



Poetry was cultivated in Spain at an early period. The most dis- 

 tinguished dramatic poet of this nation was Lopez de Vega, who was 

 contemporary with our Shakspeare. He possessed an imagination 

 astonishingly fertile, and wrote with great facility ; but in his drama- 

 tic works he disregarded the unities, and adapted his plays more to 

 the taste of the age, than to the rules of criticism. His lyric compo- 

 sitions, and fugitive pieces, with his prose essays, form a collection of 

 fifty volumes, besides his dramatic works, which make twenty-six 

 volumes more ; exclusive of four hundred scriptural dramatic pieces, 

 called in Spain Autos Sacrament ales. Chalderon was also a dramatic 

 writer of considerable note, but many of his plays are very licentious 

 in their tendancy. 



Tostatus, a divine, the most voluminous perhaps that ever wrote, 

 was a Spaniard ; but his works have been long distinguished only by 

 their bulk. Herrera, and some other historians, particularly De Solis, 

 have shown great abilities in history, by investigating the antiquities 

 of America, and writing the history of its conquest by their country- 

 men. Among the writers who have appeared in Spain in modern 

 times, father Feyjoo has been one of the most distinguished. His 

 performances display great ingenuity, very extensive reading, and 

 uncommon liberality of sentiment, especially when his situation and 

 country are considered. Many of his pieces have been translated into 

 English, and published in four volumes, 8vo. Don Francisco Perez 

 Bayer, archdeacon of Valencia, and author of a Dissertation on the 

 Phoenician language, may be placed in the first rank of Spanish 

 literati. Spain has likewise produced many travellers and voyagers 

 to both the Indies, who are equally amusing and instructive. 



Some of the Spaniards have distinguished themselves in the po- 

 lite arts ; and not only the cities, but the palaces, especially the Es- 

 curial, discover many striking specimens of their abilities as sculp- 

 tors and architects ; Palomino, in an elaborate treatise on the art of 

 painting, in two volumes folio, has inserted the lives of two hundred 

 and thirty-three painters and sculptors, who flourished in Spain from 

 the time of Ferdinand the Catholic, to the conclusion of the reign of 

 Philip IV. Amongst the most eminent Spanish painters, were Ve- 

 lasques; Murillo, who is commonly called the Spanish Vandyke 5 



