I 



SPAIN. 637 



tribute from monasteries daily alms or food to the poor. Yet they give back but little of what 

 they receive, and a monk passes a life of indolence and abundance in Spain. 



" r II give thee, good I'ellow, a twelvemonth or twain, 

 To search Europe through from Byzantium to Spain ; 

 But ne'er shall you find, should you search till you tire, 

 So happy a man as the barefooted friar. 



" He 's expected at noon, and no wight ere he comes, 

 May profane the great chair or the porridge of plums ', 

 For tlie best of the cheer and tlie seat at the fire. 

 Is the undenied right of the barefooted friar." 



In Spain, however, the clergy have greater privileges than those recounted in the song 

 They hold the power of superstition over ignorance, and make it the means of an immense 

 revenue. There is not in Spain a wretch so poor that he does not pay something to th« 

 church. The Bull of the Crusade is a document more generally sold than stamps are in Eng- 

 land. It is foimded on a supposition, that there is a continual war waging with the infidels. 

 The virtues of this bull expire at the end of a year, when it is necessary to purchase another. 

 One half of the proceeds go to the king, and never was bigotry so well taxed, or an imposture 

 more cheerfully paid. This bull, among other things, concedes permission to eat eggs, milk, 

 and butter during Lent ; and no priest is so ignorant of his craft, that he will administer the 

 sacrament, or grant absolution to any one who has not the Bull of the Crusade. 



The Flesh Bull is more expensive, as it is intended chiefly for the rich, who are made to 

 pay roundly for eating flesh in the interdicted seasons. The Bull of the Dead is a ])assport 

 required at all burials, and without it no priest will officiate. Marriages, christenings, absolu- 

 tions, and funerals, swell the wealth of the church, and there is a profitable trade in masses. 

 Those who die, pass their last hours under the eye of the church, and the ghostly advisers 

 often suggest a bequest to the convent, to found a perpetual mass for the departing soul. The 

 friends of the deceased readily purchase masses to shorten his abode in purgatory. Gener- 

 ally, a Spaniard is very tender in this point, and never refuses to give when solicited " for the 

 souls." Societies are formed in every town for these suffering spirits, and there was a lottery 

 scheme invented for them, in which the pious adventurer by performing the penance inscribed 

 on his ticket, might transfer the merit of it to some soul in purgatory. The Pope has estab- 

 lished certain days when every Spaniard may, by kneeling at five different altars and praying 

 for the extinction of heresy, release the soul of a friend. The name of the soul must be 

 mentioned, to prevent mistakes ; but, if not, the prayer is addressed " for the most worthy 

 and the most disconsolate." 



The revenues of the clergy are swelled by the sale of relics, consecrated heads, crucifixes, 

 scourges, &c. The relics are numerous ; generally the bones of saints. At Oviedo the 

 highest church dignitary shows the rod of Moses, the mantle of Elias, the olive branch borne 

 by the Saviour, a great part of the cross, eight thorns of the crown, a vial of the Virgin's 

 milk, and the hood she gave to the archbishop of Toledo. 



The Virgin Mary is the great Diana of the Spaniards, and alms are often solicited for the 

 " queen of heaven." Commercial partnerships are entered into, and a share of the profits set 

 aside for her honor. An insurance company which entered into a partnership with several of 

 the saints, had sufficient faith to insure a West India fleet in lime of war, when insurance had 

 been declined in Holland at 50 per cent. The fleet was captured and the company broken. 

 The most usual penances are flagellations, hair shirts, and bracelets, with points of wire on 

 the inside. Every Friday there is a penitential scene in many of the churches. After an 

 exhortation, the lights are suddenly extinguished, and every penitent scourges himself accord- 

 ing to what he supposes to be his deserts. The silence is interrupted only by weeping and 

 sighing, and the blows of the scourge. 



Whenever the little bell is heard, which accompanies the host or sacrament going to the dy 

 ing, all who hear it kneel and utter a prayer. At theatres, balls, and in tiie mud of the streets, 

 there is no exemption ; all who hear it, uuist remain kneeling till the soimd is past, and to 

 refuse would incur danger from the populace. The play stops, and the actors kneel upon the 

 stage, as well as the audience in the boxes ; when, however, the sound is heard in bed, it is 

 only necessary to sit upright. 



The Inquisition has been so intimately connected with the religion of Spain, that we shall 

 give some account of the tribunal which punished thoughis with more severity than it is ever 



