Madame d'Aulnoy

“ In fine, after several long fruitless Disputes, I took on me immediately a resolution which could only be inspired by an extream Love.
‘“Here’s all I have,” said I to the Pyrate, in giving him my Diamonds, “they are not worth what thou demandest: take me for thy Slave, and be perswaded thou wilt not keep me long. I am the only Daughter of a Rich Banker of Seville; keep me for an Hostage, and let Mendez go; he will soon return to Redeem me.” The Barbarian was surpriz’d to find me capable of so generous and affectionate a Resolution. “Thou art worthy,” said he to me, “of a better Fortune. ”

“ Sebastian.
He readily complied with my Request; for being a Person of Quality and Worth, he is much esteem’d at Bayonne. He fail’d not the next Morning to bring several Ladies to visit me.
These Women begin here to feel the scorching Heats of the Sun; their Complexion is dark, their Eyes sparkling; they are charming enough, their Wits are sharp: And I could give you a farther Account of their Capacities, could I have better understood what they said: not but that they could all speak French, yet with such a different Dialect, as surpast my Understanding. ”

“ If the Offers of Friendship you have made me be Proof against all Tryal, and can make you capable of a generous Resolution, you will not refuse to follow my Fortune, and to accompany me to Algiers to pay Mendez his Ransom, to redeem him from the cruel Slavery he is in. ”

“ Here are in all the broad Streets and spacious Places, Fountains, with Statues, some of which are good Pieces; but the finest sight is the Cathedral, which is so large, that Mass is said in five several places of it, without any disturbance to each other: the Architecture is so exquisitely wrought, that it may pass among the Gothick Buildings for a Master-Piece of Art: and this is so much the more remarkable, in that they build very sorrily in Spain ”

“ He ran over Italy, traverst Germany, came into Flanders, and past into France. He was told that the Marquess was at Valentia in Spain; he came there, and met not with him. In fine, three Years being past, without finding the means of sacrificing his Enemy to his Mistress’s Ghost, Divine Grace, which is irresistible, and particularly on great Souls, toucht his so efficatiously, that he immediately changed his Desire of Revenge into serious Desires of leaving the World, and minding only the fitting himself for another Life. ”

“ He kist several times this Picture; he put it under his Arm, he carefully hid it, and returning towards her with these Stones, he tremblingly told her the Resolution he had taken of Travelling. She appear’d much amazed at it, and chang’d her colour. He lookt on her at this moment; he had the pleasure of perceiving it; and their Eyes being of Intelligence, spake more than their Words: “Alas! What can oblige you, Don Lewis,” said she to him, “to leave us? Your Cousin loves you so tenderly; I esteem you; we are never pleas’d without you; he cannot live from you: Have you not already travelled? ”

“ If you return into France by Catalonia,’ added he, ‘you will see this Fountain,’ ‘It is not that which can draw me thither,’ reply’d I, ‘but the desire of passing by Montserat, wou’d make me undertake a longer Journey.’ ‘It is situated,’ said he, ‘near Barcelona, and is a place of great Devotion: It seems as if the Rock were sawed through the middle; the Church stands high, is small and obscure. ”

“ I think there cannot be a better Representation of Hell than these sort of Kitchins, and the Persons in them; for not to speak of this horrible Smoak, which blinds and choaks one, they are a Dozen of Men, and as many Women, blacker than Devils, nasty and stinking like Swine, and clad like Beggars. There are always some of ’em impudently grating on a sorry Guitar, and singing like a Cat a roasting. ”

“ The Lady Governness of the Town drew near to me; she just toucht my Cloaths, and hastily drew back her Hand as if she had burnt her Fingers. I bid her in Spanish not to be afraid: She at length familiariz’d herself, and told me, ‘’Twas not through fear of 63any thing else but of displeasing me: that ’twas no new thing to her to see French Ladies: and that if she might, she would gladly dress herself after their Fashion.’ She ordered Chocolate to be brought her, with which she presented me; which is far better here than in France. ”

“ He was in such great haste to see the Marchioness, that he used such Diligence to be with her, that no body but he could have done: In arriving at Cagliary, Capital of Sardagne, he understood that the Marquess and his Wife were at a stately Country-house, where the Vice-Roy was gone to give them a Visit, with all his Court. He learnt moreover, that the Marquess de Barbaran prepared for him a great Feast, where there were to be held Justs or Turnaments, after the Ancient Manner of the Mores: He was the Defendant, and was to maintain, “That a Husband beloved, is Happier than a Lover.” ”

“ Theft came to be too common to be noted. Every mountain pass was infested by robbers. People travelled well armed or stayed at home.
Into such a country, under such conditions as these, came, in February, 1679, this French woman of position, cultivation, and wit, and from San Sebastian she wrote the first of the series of letters which one by one found their way northward as she journeyed toward Madrid.
“Le premier trait du caractère Espagnol, c’est le manque de sense pratique,” says Taine. Something, however, must be added to every epigram on Spain, for she will not permit of hasty summing. ”

“ She immediately embraced me with great Testimonies of Tenderness: “I will refuse you nothing, my dear Mariana,” said she to me, “were it my very Life; but you are going to ruine your 220self and me with you. How can two Girls execute what you project. Our Age, our Sex, and your Beauty, will expose us to Accidents, the bare imagination of which makes me to tremble: this is certain, we are going to overwhelm our Families with Shame and Confusion; and if you had made serious Reflections hereon, it is not possible you could have come to this Resolution.” ”

“ Here is a University, fine Palaces, stately Churches, publick Places, and an Hospital, one of the most considerable, and best serv’d in Europe: It consists of two Courts of extraordinary greatness, with Fountains in the midst. Several Knights of St. James live in this Town; and the Metropolis, which is dedicated to this Saint, keeps his Body: It is extream stately, and prodigiously rich: It is pretended you hear a kind of Clattering at his Tomb, as if Arms were struck one against another; and this noise is only heard when the Spaniards are to undergo any great Loss. ”

“ I found the Town very pleasant, being 27surrounded with a double Wall: there are mounted several Pieces of Cannon on that part towards the Sea, with Bastions and Half Moons: the Town is situated in a Province of Spain, call’d Guipuscoa: the Outparts are exceeding pleasant, by reason that the Sea, as I now said, serves for a Channel to it: the Streets of this Town are long and large, pav’d with great White Stones, which are always clean: the Houses are well enough; and the Churches decent, in which the Altars are of Wood, on which are hung little Pictures, from top to bottom. ”

“ This perhaps would look horrid in another Country, but in Spain they are accustom’d to Confinement.
‘There are Convents where the Religious see more Cavaliers than the Women who live at large, neither are they less gallant: It is impossible for any to have more Gayety than they; 180and, as I have already told you, Madam, here are more Beauties than abroad; but it must be granted, there are several among them who are deeply sensible at their having been so soon sacrific’d; they think of the Pleasures which they have never tasted, as the only ones which can make this Life Happy. ”

“ The Castle stands very high, and may make an indifferent Defence: here are mounted several fine Pieces of Cannon; and there are a great many along the Ramparts; but the Garison is so weak, that the Women might conquer them with their Distaffs.
Every thing is as dear in this Town as in Paris, yet they fare well here: Fish is excellent, and I was told Fruit was the same. I lay in the best Inn, and when I had been there some time, Don Fernand de Toledo, sent his Gentlemen to enquire, Whether his Visit would not be troublesome to me? ”

“ We have not, in fact, a mere writer of amusing tales and half romantic histories, but an intriguing, though charming, woman, of a bold and often reckless nature, sufficient to stamp her a worthy daughter of her time. ”

“ This Country call’d Biscaye, is full of high Mountains, where are several Iron Mines: The Biscays climb up the Rocks as easily, and with as great 15swiftness as Stags: Their Language (if one may call such Jargon Language) is very poor, seeing one Word signifies abundance of Things: There are none but those born in the Country that can understand it; and I am told, that to the end it may be more particularly theirs, they make no use of it in Writing; they make their Children to read and write French and Spanish, according to which King’s Subjects they are. ”

“ It’s now in our Power to take a just Vengeance of you; but we cannot do it to a Man of your Age, who cannot defend himself: give us then your Word, and swear by all that’s Good and Holy, That in Acknowledgment for the Life we give you, you will contribute to our Happiness, and suffer us to perform what we have promis’d.’
The poor old Wret [c] h was so afrighted, that he could hardly make any Answer: However, he swore more than they would have him; he fell on his Knees, and kist an hundred times his Thumb laid a-cross one of his Fingers, after the manner of Spain. ”

“ Yet you find here several agreeable Objects, a curious Prospect, various Springs, Gardens well drest by these Religioses own hands, and every where a certain Air of Solitude and Devotion, which mightily affects those who come there. We have another famous place of Devotion,’ added he, ‘and that is Nuestra Senora del Pilar: it is at Saragossa, in a Chappel on a Pillar of Marble, where our Lady holds the Babe Jesus in her Arms. ”

“ The Spaniards and Neopolitans are more prone than they to desert; these last pass through France, to return into their Country; the others Coast the Pyrenees along Languedoc, and enter Castille by Navarre, or Biscaye. This is a Course which the old Souldiers fail not to steer; for the new-rais’d ones, they perish in Catalonia, being not accustomed thereto; and ’tis certain there’s no place where War is more troublesome to the King of Spain: He maintains his Forces here with great Charge, and the Advantage which the Enemy gains of him is not small ”

“ I askt him, Whether he had been one of those who had help’d to Chastize those Rebellious People? ‘Alas, Madam,’ said he, ‘the Marquess de Las Navas was sufficient to punish them beyond what their Crime deserv’d: I was at Naples, in the design to pass into Flanders, where I have Relations of the same Name. The Marquess de Los Veles, Vice-Roy of Naples, engaged me to leave my first Project, and embark myself with the Marquess de Las Navas, whom the King sent into Sicily: We set Sail in two Vessels of Majorca, and arrived at Messina the sixth of January. ”

“ Sebastian, the most intelligent of all his Profession, and who commonly carries Persons of Quality to Madrid; he was therefore much bemoaned; and we remain’d a great while before we could hale him out from the scurvy place where he had fall’n; Don Fernand was so compassionate as to let him have his Litter. The Night came speedily on us, and we could have comforted our selves, could we have return’d to Burgos, but it was impossible, the Ways were no less covered with Snow on that side, than all the rest ”

“ Don Fernand de Toledo had inform’d me over Night, that we were to travel near the Castle of Quebara, which was said to be haunted with a Spirit, telling me a thousand extravagant Stories, which were readily swallow’d by the Inhabitants of the Country, and which were so effectually believ’d by them, that no body would live there. I had a great desire to see this place; for altho’ I am naturally as fearful as another, yet am not afraid of Ghosts ”

“ The Marquess every day discovered new Charms in the Wit and Person of his Wife, which 67likewise increased every day his Passion. He speaks without ceasing, of his Happiness, to Don Lewis de Barbaran; which is the Name, Madam, of my Friend; and when any Affairs oblig’d the Marquess to leave her, he conjured him to stay with the Marchioness, thereby to lessen the Trouble of his Absence. But alas! how hard is it when one is at an Age uncapable of serious Reflections, to see continually so fine a Woman, so young and aimable ”