A History of Spain Part 29

Napoleon was much displeased at the course of events in Spain. The flight of Charles would have fitted in with his plans, whereas the accession of Ferdinand placed him under the necessity of exposing his hand. Temporarily he saved the situation by one of the most remarkable exhibitions of successful duplicity in history. On March 23 General Murat entered Madrid with a French army, and the next day Ferdinand made his royal entry, and was received by the people with delirious joy. The foreign diplomats at once recognized him as king,--except the French amba.s.sador. Uncertain yet what to do, Napoleon was on the one hand giving indications of an intention to restore Charles IV, and on the other planning to set up one of his own brothers as king of Spain.

Charles IV gave the emperor the opening he desired. In order to obtain some material advantages from his abdication and to save G.o.doy, who was still in prison, he entered into communication with Murat, and as a result secretly retracted his abdication, placing himself entirely in the hands of Napoleon. Meanwhile, Murat told Ferdinand that the emperor was coming to see him, and suggested that Ferdinand should go to Burgos to meet him. When Ferdinand decided against the journey, lest it produce a bad effect in the minds of the people, Napoleon sent General Savary with orders to bring Ferdinand whether he wanted to come or not. Savary succeeded in persuading the young prince to go to Burgos, and when Napoleon was not found there to Vitoria. Beyond this point Ferdinand was at first not disposed to go, but, urged on both by Savary and Escoiquiz, who still believed in the French emperor, the party proceeded across the boundary line to Bayonne. There indeed they found Napoleon,--and Ferdinand was informed that he must abdicate the throne. A few days later, on April 30, Charles IV, Maria Luisa, and G.o.doy arrived; they had been easily persuaded to go there by Murat. The reunion of the royal family at Bayonne was accompanied by disgraceful quarrels of the parents and the son and by the humiliating weakness of all in the presence of Napoleon. Charles IV was again induced to abdicate, and was given a rich pension and estates in France to which he and his family, G.o.doy, and the royal servants might repair. Ferdinand was also granted rents and lands.

To Napoleon was given the right to name a king of Spain.

[Sidenote: Uprising of the Dos de Mayo against Napoleon.]

Meanwhile, the French troops in Madrid and elsewhere had been conducting themselves like conquerors, and had aroused considerable hostility in the people, who were not so easily deceived and dominated as their rulers had been. After the departure of Ferdinand from Madrid the French officers did not hesitate to say that Napoleon would not recognize him,--which only increased the popular discontent. The climax came when an order was received from Napoleon for the young Bourbon prince, Francisco de Paula, and for the queen of Etruria with her children to be sent to France. The departure from Madrid was set for the morning of the second of May. A crowd gathered to see the royal party off, and heard rumors which excited it to a feeling of frenzy,--for example, that the young Francisco (then only thirteen) had protested in tears against going. Insults were offered the French soldiery, and the harness of the coaches was cut. These scenes were interrupted by the appearance of a French battalion, which fired without warning into the crowd. The crowd scattered, and spread the news over the city. This was the signal for a general uprising against the French. The Spanish troops were under strict orders from the government to stay in barracks, but a number of them declined to obey. Prominent among those joining the people against the French were Captains Pedro Velarde and Luis Daoiz, the heroes of the day. When the people were driven out of the central square of the city, the Plaza del Sol, by the French artillery, Velarde hastened to the battery commanded by Daoiz. Convincing the latter that the interests of the country were superior to discipline he joined with him and a certain Lieutenant Ruiz in directing the fire against the French troops.

Superior in numbers and armament, the French were successful after a battle lasting three hours in which Velarde and Daoiz were killed. The dramatic events of the _Dos de Mayo_, or the second of May, were the prelude to a national uprising against the French. Without a king or a government Spain began the war which was to usher in a new era in Spanish history,--for, just as Americans look back to the Fourth of July in 1776, so the Spaniards consider the _Dos de Mayo_ of 1808 as the beginning of modern Spain.

CHAPTER x.x.xIV

SPANISH SOCIETY, 1700-1808

[Sidenote: Social characteristics of the era.]

FUNDAMENTALLY, there was no change in the cla.s.ses of Spanish society in this period as regards their legal and social standing, except in the case of the rural population of Aragon. One of the characteristic notes of the era was a certain democratic sentiment of a philanthropic kind, exhibiting itself vaguely in a desire for the well-being of mankind, and practically in the social, economic, and intellectual betterment of the ma.s.ses, without any attempt being made to improve their juridical position. This ideal, which was not confined to Spain, became more and more widespread with the increase in influence of the French encyclopedists, and got to be a fad of high society, being encouraged by the kings themselves. Many of its manifestations will be taken up later in dealing with economic inst.i.tutions, but the sentimental discussion of the ideal may be remarked upon here; this at length went so far as to result in the formulation of political doctrines of a democratic character, but they were not yet translated into law. Such social reforms as were made came for the most part in the last three reigns of the era, especially in that of Charles III.

[Sidenote: Pride, wealth, and privileges of the n.o.bles.]

[Sidenote: Real decline of their power.]

The description of the n.o.bility in the period of the House of Austria might almost be repeated for this era. The n.o.bles had long since lost their political power, but the wealth of the grandees and the privileges and the prestige of all ranks of the n.o.bility were so great that this cla.s.s was a more important factor in Spanish life than it is today.

Pride of n.o.ble rank continued to be almost an obsession, despite the attempts to check it; with a view to diminis.h.i.+ng pet.i.tions for the recognition of rights of _hidalguia_, a law was pa.s.sed in 1758 calling for the payment of a large sum of money when the pet.i.tioner's t.i.tle dated back to the fourth or fifth grandfather. On the other hand, the kings were responsible for acts which tended to encourage the eagerness for n.o.ble rank. Ferdinand VI officially recognized that the people of Vizcaya were all of _hidalgo_ rank; Charles III created the order which bears his name, and Charles IV founded that of the "n.o.ble ladies of Maria Luisa"; various societies of n.o.bles for equestrian exercises, in imitation of the military orders, were formed, and they were given certain privileges in criminal jurisdiction. To be sure, the grant of these honors was a source of revenue to the state. The recognition of the privileged character of the n.o.bles was manifest, even in the case of the more degraded members of that cla.s.s; a law of 1781 provided that n.o.bles who were arrested as vagabonds should be sent to the army with the rank of "distinguished soldiers." The grandees and the other n.o.bles possessed of seigniorial estates still controlled the appointment of many munic.i.p.al functionaries; in 1787 there were 17 cities, 2358 _villas_, and 1818 _aldeas_ and _pueblos_ in seigniorial hands, in some of which the king shared jurisdiction with the lords. Similarly, the military orders had the right to appoint the clergymen of 3 cities, 402 _villas_, 119 _pueblos_, and 261 _aldeas_. Many monopolies of a medieval type still survived in favor of the lords, such as those of hunting, fis.h.i.+ng, the baking of bread, the making of flour, and the use of streams and forests, and in some cases the lord's va.s.sals were subject to medieval tributes and services. It is rather by comparison with matters as they are today, however, that these incidents loom large; they were but the survivals of a system which was already dead. The worst of these seigniorial rights, the Aragonese lord's power of life and death over his villeins, was abolished by Philip V. The kings did not dare to suppress all of the seigniorial privileges, but took steps to overcome them, as by submitting the rights of certain lords to rigorous proofs, by hindering sales of jurisdiction, by subjecting the appointments of the lords to the approval of the _Camara_, by naming special royal officials for the various seigniorial holdings, and in general by facilitating the reincorporation in the crown of such estates. By this time the lesser n.o.bility enjoyed few exemptions of a financial character, but the great n.o.bles still possessed such privileges. The kings employed indirect methods to cause them to submit to taxation. Thus payments were demanded in lieu of military service, and the _media anata_ (half annates) was required for the recognition of the t.i.tle of a successor to landed estates; certainly the immensely wealthy grandees were able to pay these tributes without serious economic loss to themselves. Furthermore, the great n.o.bles continued to be a court n.o.bility, and were jealously proud of the special privileges of an empty character which marked them off from the cla.s.ses below them.

For example, a grandee had the right to keep his hat on and to sit down in the presence of the king; to be called "cousin" by the king; to have a private guard; to preside over the sessions of the n.o.ble branch of the _Cortes_; to be visited and saluted by _ayuntamientos_, viceroys, and other authorities; to have a better place than others, both indoors and out; and to be free from imprisonment except by a special decree of the king.

[Sidenote: Slight gains of the working cla.s.ses.]

There was no essential change in the composition and character of the middle cla.s.ses in this era. The working cla.s.ses of the cities attained to a little more liberty than formerly, as a result of the decline of the guilds, while those of the country, if they had improved their juridical position, continued nevertheless in a state of misery and poverty. The rural wars of past reigns were missing, however. The evil lot of the rural cla.s.ses was due more to the backwardness of agriculture, the vast extent of unworked lands common, and the widespread practice of entailing estates, than to bonds of a social character. An interesting attempt, at once to raise the urban laborer, and to break down the sharp dividing line between the n.o.bility and the plebeian cla.s.ses, was a law of 1783, which declared that the trades of artisans--such as those of the carpenter, tailor, and shoemaker--were to be considered honorable, and since munic.i.p.al offices were usually in the hands of the _hidalgo_ cla.s.s it was also enacted that the practice of these trades did not incapacitate a man from holding positions in the local government or even from becoming an _hidalgo_. This well-meant law was not able to overcome social prejudices, however, and when an endeavor was made to interpret it in the sense that it authorized the entry of artisans into the military orders, which had always been composed only of n.o.bles, it was decreed in 1803 that it had never been intended to raise them to that degree, for the military orders were founded on the necessity of maintaining the l.u.s.tre of the n.o.bility.

[Sidenote: Benevolent legislation affecting gypsies, descendants of Jews, and slaves.]

A spirit of racial tolerance for the despised cla.s.ses made its appearance in this era. Laws placing prohibitions on the gypsies were repeatedly enacted until the time of Charles III, but in 1783 that monarch declared that the gypsies were not to be considered a tainted race, and ordered that they be admitted to the towns and to occupations on the same basis as other Spaniards, provided they would abandon their dress, language, and special customs. Similarly, in 1782 Charles III endeavored to free the descendants of Jews from the stigma of their ancestry by enacting that they should not be obliged to live in a separate quarter or wear any device indicative of their origin. A law of 1785 permitted them to serve in the army or navy,--a right which had previously been denied them. These generous laws for the gypsies and the descendants of Jews were as little capable as those just mentioned concerning artisans of overcoming social prejudices, wherefore they failed of their objects. In matters of religion the laws affecting the despised cla.s.ses were more in keeping with general sentiment. In 1712 it was ordered that Moslem slaves who had been set free must leave the country; in 1802 the prohibition against Jews returning to the peninsula was reaffirmed as absolute in the case of those who retained the Jewish faith. Slavery continued to be legal, but laws were pa.s.sed that slaves escaping to Spain from other lands, except from the Spanish colonies, became _ipso facto_ free. The treaty of 1779 with Morocco provided that prisoners of war should not henceforth be enslaved. The inst.i.tution of slavery existed on a great scale in the Americas, though Charles III alleviated the rigors of the situation by his beneficent legislation.

[Sidenote: Tightening of the bonds of family.]

[Sidenote: Influence of the physiocratic school on legislation affecting property.]

Legislation affecting the family aimed to tighten the bonds between parents and children, which had become loosened as a result of the increasing spirit of individualism. Thus a law of 1766 ordered that the prior consent of parents should be obtained before children could marry, although a remedy was provided for an unreasonable withholding of consent; in the preamble it was stated that the law was due to the frequent occurrence of "unequal marriages." Several later laws upheld the same principle. Legislation concerning property was characterized by the ideas of the physiocratic school of thinkers, who referred all social and economic problems to the land as the fundamental basis. Among the Spanish physiocrats (for the physiocratic ideal was widespread in western Europe) were Campomanes, Floridablanca, and Jovellanos, who were among the greatest of Spanish reformers in the reign of Charles III and the early years of Charles IV. In keeping with physiocratic views the laws tended to the release of realty from inc.u.mbrances and to the distribution of lands among many persons. The practice of entailing estates in primogeniture was one of the inst.i.tutions attacked by the physiocrats. It was admitted that it was necessary in the case of the great n.o.bles, in order to maintain the prestige of the family name, but it was held to be desirable to check the extension of the inst.i.tution in other cases and to facilitate the extinction of entails. Thus a law of 1749 permitted of the sale of entailed estates for an annuity in the case of financially ruined houses; a law of 1789 prohibited the founding of new entails, and facilitated the sale of realty already so held; a law of 1795 imposed heavy taxes on existing entails; and a law of 1798 authorized the sale of entailed estates, provided the funds should be invested in a certain loan announced at that time. Still other laws were pa.s.sed in this period, with the result that many entails disappeared and others were diminished in size. The n.o.bles resisted the change, and the greater number of the entails remained in existence, although reduced in income. In the same way munic.i.p.al and ecclesiastical holdings were attacked. In the case of the former (_propios_), laws were pa.s.sed repeatedly--for example in 1761, 1766, 1767, 1768, and especially in 1770--for the part.i.tion of the cultivable and pastoral lands and for their a.s.signment to a number of individuals. Nevertheless, the majority of this type of munic.i.p.al lands continued in the possession of the towns, for the laws were not fully executed. As concerns lands utilized for the promotion of religious objects, pious foundations were attacked, and either compelled or else permitted to sell their real property, but there was considerable hesitancy about applying the same practice to lands held in mortmain by the regular and secular clergy, although the prevailing opinion of jurisconsults was opposed to these holdings. Some steps were taken, however, to free these lands, as well as other measures to hinder the giving of realty in mortmain. In the various colonization schemes of the century it was customary to forbid the transfer of lands to ecclesiastical inst.i.tutions. A law of 1763 prohibited further conveyances to the church, and a law of 1798 called for the alienation of lands owned by charitable inst.i.tutions, even though they might belong to the church, and some estates accordingly were sold. The resistance of the clergy, together with a certain repugnance to laying hands on the property of the church except in case of extreme necessity, operated to prevent these laws from having their full effect. It will be noticed that all of these measures were markedly individualistic, in accord with Roman principles as opposed to those of medieval society, and favorable to the change in owners.h.i.+p of landed estates and to their division into small holdings. This spirit was manifested even more insistently in attacking t.i.tles of a medieval character. Thus the right of farmers to fence lands for their own use was sustained, serving as a check upon the abuses of the _Mesta_, and the various methods of tribute from va.s.sals to a lord (_censos_, _foros_, etc.) were the subject of legislation tending to relieve the former from their burdens. To this epoch, also, belong laws requiring the registry of t.i.tles to land. Nevertheless, the spirit of collectivism was still alive, as expressed in doctrines favoring the condemnation of individual property and the establishment of communal inclosures with the drawing of lots for land, but the followers of Roman principles were victorious in the controversy.

[Sidenote: Triumphs of Roman principles.]

[Sidenote: Decline and fall of the guilds.]

The spirit of individualism appeared, also, to give a deathblow to the guilds, even though they actually increased in number; there were ninety guilds in Barcelona at the close of the eighteenth century. Among the factors contributing to the decline were the following: the continuance of the exclusive spirit of the past, making entry into the guild a difficult matter; the accentuation of social differences within the guilds, such that certain elements had special privileges based on rank in the guild,--for example, a right that their sons might enter the inst.i.tution without serving as apprentices; the failure of the guilds to observe their own ordinances; the frequency of lawsuits between guilds, or even between a guild and its own members; and especially the continued intervention of the state, taking over the former munic.i.p.al control of the guilds and unifying the ordinances of each trade throughout the country. The relation of the state to the guilds facilitated the application of the new economic ideas which were favorable to the freedom of labor and hostile to the guilds. Thus in 1772 foreign artisans were permitted to establish themselves, without paying a special tax and without having to undergo examinations; in 1782 a general law introduced reforms facilitating apprentices.h.i.+p, freeing applicants for entry into a guild from the necessity of proving the Christian faith of their ancestry (_limpieza de sangre_), permitting of the sale of masters.h.i.+ps, and abolis.h.i.+ng the distinction between the sons of masters and those of the other members; in another law of the same year painters, sculptors, and architects were authorized to work independently of guilds; in 1783 the _cofradias_ attached to the guilds were suppressed, and their place was taken by benefit societies (_montepios_); in 1784 women were given a general permission to engage in any trade they wished; in 1790 it was enacted that any artisan of recognized ability could work at his trade without the need of an examination; and in 1793 a law dissolving the guilds of the silk manufacturers announced that it was neither necessary nor fitting that persons should be grouped together in guilds for carrying on such an industry. From this point it was only a step to the death of the inst.i.tution. The great name in the legislation against the guilds was that of Campomanes.

[Sidenote: Dull routine of daily life.]

If the social customs of the two preceding eras may be said to have represented the virile youth of the Spanish peoples, followed by a seemingly mortal sickness resulting from a too great indulgence in "wild oats," this period stands for the recovery of the race (just as occurred in other aspects of peninsula life) in a conventional, outwardly respectable, and on the whole fairly wholesome, if also somewhat monotonous, middle age. Simplicity, regularity, and subordination to principles of authority (as represented by king, church, and parents, checking initiative and making long-established custom the guiding rule in daily life) were the dominating social characteristics. Both in the city and in the country, people arose early; the _Consejo de Castilla_ met at seven in the morning from April to September, and at eight from October to March. It was the custom also to go to bed early, to perform one's daily tasks in precisely the same way each day, to hear ma.s.s daily, to have family prayers each day, to salute one's parents respectfully on the same daily recurring occasions, and to display a like respect in the presence of official personages or of clergymen. If people now and then indulged in gossip about their neighbors, they gave little thought to persons or events beyond their immediate circle; they were in no hurry to learn the news of the world, waiting tranquilly for the arrival of the mails, which were usually infrequent and meagre.

[Sidenote: Monotony of the life at court and among the n.o.bles.]

The kings themselves helped to make this monotonous type of life fas.h.i.+onable. Philip V was domestically inclined, retiring, and melancholy, and from the time of his marriage with Isabel Farnesio was nearly always at the side of his wife, who even accompanied him when he received his ministers before he had arisen from bed. His daily life was pa.s.sed in pious exercises and in hunting, with music to vary the monotony. Ferdinand VI, also domestic, retiring, and G.o.d-fearing, was very fond of music, with the result that the court was brightened by frequent concerts, operas, and theatrical representations, on which vast sums of money were expended. Charles III was a man of very simple tastes, an enemy of the theatre and of music, but pa.s.sionately devoted to hunting. He was so methodical that every moment of the day within the palace was regulated by royal ordinances, and the annual journeys and changes of residence of the royal family took place each year on the same day. In monotonous regularity of life Charles IV resembled his ill.u.s.trious predecessor, but pa.s.sion for hunting amounted in his case almost to a disease; after having breakfast and hearing ma.s.s he would hunt until one o'clock, and would return to that sport after having partaken of dinner. The sameness of court life in this period was broken by various receptions and royal feast days, but even these were cold and formal, following prescribed courses, although celebrated with great pomp. In 1804 there were eight greater gala days and seventeen lesser ones, besides those arising from unforeseen events, such as the reception of a foreign amba.s.sador. Furthermore, royal journeys necessarily involved festivities and heavy expense. b.a.l.l.s, banquets, and other diversions found no place at court, and the accession of Charles III put an end to concerts and plays. The ordinary life of the n.o.bles followed that of the kings. Comparing it with that of France, a French duke who came to Spain in the reign of Philip V said that it was tiresome, almost unsociable, and lacking in comforts, despite the fact that great sums of money were often spent for entertainments of a formal nature. Toward the close of the century the more genial practices of other European countries began to percolate into Spain. G.o.doy was one who took pleasure in giving b.a.l.l.s. Others followed his example, and the austere simplicity of Spanish life began to yield to comforts, diversions, and dissipation. Nevertheless, the old conventions still ruled, especially in the country districts, where the poorer n.o.bility resided, occupying themselves in hunting and in local politics and intrigues. The penurious n.o.bles of the _hidalgo_ cla.s.s continued to be found at the capital in the train of the greater representatives of the t.i.tled element.

[Sidenote: Simplicity of domestic life.]

Some clue to the modesty of life in general may be obtained from the cheapness of rents and the scantiness of furniture in the houses of the capital. The average annual rental was 1504 _reales_ ($94), and there were many houses of an inferior type to be had for 45 _reales_ ($2.81) a month, although, of course, money values were much greater then than now. House decorations and furniture were poor to the point of shabbiness. Walls did not begin to be papered until the close of the eighteenth century. Usually they were white-washed and hung with a few pictures of a religious character or with bra.s.s candlesticks. The floor was of unpolished wood, covered over in winter with mats, and there was a like simplicity in chairs. Writing-desks were often present, but were opened only when visitors were being received. Candles were employed for lighting, and the odorous, scantly warming brazier was the princ.i.p.al resource against cold. The same sobriety manifested itself as regards the table. The _puchero_, or _cocido_, made up primarily of chickpeas (_garbanzos_), was the basis of the meal, and usually was the only element. Inns were equally uninviting, and it was not until the close of the era that the example of foreign countries prevailed upon the Spaniards to introduce somewhat more comfortable hostelries.[61]

[Sidenote: Struggle between the French and the native styles in dress.]

The simplicity and severity of Spanish customs were not maintained in matters of dress. There was a century-long conflict between the French and the native styles, the former represented by the military cut of clothing more in keeping with that of the present day, and the latter by the slouched hat and long cape, as symbolic of the indigenous modes. On grounds of morality and public safety the government opposed the native type, which lent itself too easily to the facilitation of disguise, and the methodical Charles III even considered the imposition of a national dress which should omit the traditional features. A law of 1766 ordered their abandonment and the adoption of a short cape or riding coat and the three-cornered c.o.c.ked hat. The decree was the occasion of riots throughout Spain, and had to be recalled, while Squillace, the minister who had proposed it, lost his post. Aranda, his successor, achieved the desired end by indirect methods. He caused the slouched hat to be made the official head-piece of the hangman, wherefore it began to lose prestige, and the French styles were soon decisively victorious. It is to be noted, however, that the three-cornered c.o.c.ked hat and other French styles of the Bourbon era were retained in Spain after they were no longer in fas.h.i.+on in republican and imperial France. Women's dress was also reformed in a similar direction. Three outstanding features characterized the well-dressed woman: the skirt of silk or velvet; the _mantilla_, or veil, worn over the head instead of a hat; and the fan.

Fans of a most luxurious type were used, with ribs of sh.e.l.l, mother-of-pearl, or ivory, and with ornaments of gold, while the princ.i.p.al part was hand-painted, often by artists of note, to represent scenes of a mythological, pastoral, or historical character. Even among the common people, especially among the so-called _majos_, or low-cla.s.s dandies (both male and female) of Madrid, there were special types of elegant dress. Ladies' dress-combs of unusual size, not infrequently half a foot or more in height above the hair, may be mentioned as one phase of the _majo_ styles, which stood for a reaction against French modes, though with scant knowledge or regard for ancient Spanish customs. _Maj.i.s.mo_, both in dress and in customs, invaded the aristocracy, and has been immortalized in some of the paintings of Goya.

The common people of the country were much more conservative in maintaining the earlier styles of dress, which have survived to the present day, although the uniformity of modern life has tended to make them peculiarities, rather than the prevailing modes of the different regions in which they are found.

[Sidenote: Fondness of the general Spanish public for diversion and sport.]

The monotony of Spanish life did not prevent Spaniards from being fond of diversions. On the contrary they seemed to welcome a chance to escape from the narrow course of their humdrum existence. Public feast-days were numerous and very popular; events in Christian history were the occasion of most of them. People generally, unlike the monarchs, the n.o.bles, and their imitators among the wealthy bourgeoisie, were very fond of dancing, the theatre, and bull-fighting. Dances to the accompaniment of the guitar were held on every possible occasion; on Sundays they took place in the public square of the city. The days of the waltz, onestep, and other dances now in vogue in many lands (though not in Spain) had not yet come; rather, the dances were very largely national or regional, such as the _seguidillas_ or _boleros_, the _fandango_, _guaracha_, _zorongo_, _arlequin_, _chacona_, _zarabanda_, the Aragonese _jota_, the Valencian _dansetes_, and the Catalonian _sardana_, all of which gave great play to the individual and represented harmonious action of the entire body. Many of these dances, or their derivatives, survive in Spain today. Professional dancing girls were popular favorites--and not infrequently the mistresses of the great gentlemen of the court. Charles III detested dancing, but neither he nor his successor could check it, though they did regulate it to some extent. In like manner the theatre continued to be a national pa.s.sion, despite the disapproval of certain great churchmen as well as of Charles III. Three great theatres were built in Madrid in the reign of Philip V.

Governmental regulations were as unavailing in this as in the case of dancing. The popularity of bull-fighting got to be greater than ever, though Philip V and Charles III disliked the sport. Ferdinand VI was a devotee, and Charles IV was not unfriendly. The repugnance felt by Philip V had the effect of causing the withdrawal of the n.o.bles from taking part in the contests, with the result that a professional cla.s.s of bull-fighters developed. Charles III went so far as to prohibit the sport in 1785, but Charles IV, in 1789, consented to its return. G.o.doy, however, was opposed to bull-fighting, and procured its abolition in 1805. The period from 1789 to 1805 is a famous one in the history of this game. Just as happens today, so then, the names of the favorite bull-fighters were on everybody's lips. This was a period when many of the feats of the bull-fighters which still form a part of the contest were invented. Possibly the most widely known name was that of Pepe Illo, or Hillo (great bull-fighter and writer of a treatise on the so-called art of bull-fighting), who was killed in the bull-ring at Madrid in 1801, an event which Goya reduced to canvas in one of his most famous paintings. Madrid, Aranjuez, Granada, and Seville were the only cities which had bull-rings (_plazas de toros_), but fights were held in all parts of Spain by utilizing the princ.i.p.al square of the city. Certain athletic exercises were very popular, among which the Basque game of ball, still played in Spain, is especially worthy of mention.[62] Performances of professional acrobats, jugglers, and magicians were frequent, as well as the playing of pantomimes.

[Sidenote: Marked advance in the care of cities.]

The policing of cities for the first time became worthy of commendation.

At the opening of the eighteenth century Madrid was ugly, extremely dirty, without architectural monuments, driveways, or promenades, and lacked a good water system. The great reforms of Aranda under Charles III and of G.o.doy in the next reign transformed the city, resulting in the opening of new streets, the organization of an efficient street-cleaning system (despite opposition on the ancient ground that the filthiness of the streets was a preventive of epidemics), the completion of the work of paving begun in the previous era, the development of a good water supply, the inauguration of a lighting system, the building of noteworthy edifices, the bettering of old promenades (_paseos_) and the opening of new ones, and the issue of numerous ordinances intended to preserve the good order and public health of the city. It was at this time, too, that the inst.i.tution of the _sereno_ (night-watchman in Spanish streets) was introduced from abroad; contrary to the usual opinion the _sereno_ is not Spanish in origin, but of foreign importation. The walk, or drive, along the great _paseos_, just at evening before nightfall, became more popular among all cla.s.ses than ever, and has remained a Spanish custom to the present day. Barcelona, Seville, and Cadiz were also much improved.

[Sidenote: Continuance of loose practices and bad habits.]

But the dances, masked b.a.l.l.s, the theatre, evening parties, and promenades furnished occasion for vicious practices. Immorality was not so brazen and unashamed as formerly, but was very nearly as prevalent.

In vain were laws pa.s.sed with a view to checking the evil. The lax practices continued, and received a kind of sanction during the reign of Charles IV from the example set by the queen, of which everybody except the king seemed well aware. Gambling was also the subject of restrictive legislation which failed of its design. In this respect the state was morally estopped from making complaint, because it was in this period that the national government lottery was founded. This inst.i.tution, which still exists, was established, strange to say, by Charles III, in 1763, following the example of the court of Rome. Gambling, and especially the lottery, soon became the pa.s.sion it has ever since remained. Smoking had long before gotten to be general among the lower cla.s.ses, particularly among the already mentioned _majo_ element; but the aristocracy and the bourgeoisie had been little inclined to the habit. They were soon to surrender to the influence of _maj.i.s.mo_, however, with the result that Spaniards and their Hispanic kinsfolk have come to be enumerated among the most inveterate smokers in the world, so far as the men are concerned. Drunkenness was not a very prevalent vice, any more than it is today, although the same could not be said with respect to the Spanish colonies.

[Sidenote: Influence of Spanish customs on the Americas.]

It only remains to add that these social practices were to be found in much the same form in the Americas. Fondness for showy feast-days was even greater there, and it is also to be noted that the improvements in Spanish cities had their counterpart in the embellishment of several of those overseas.

CHAPTER x.x.xV

POLITICAL INSt.i.tUTIONS, 1700-1808

[Sidenote: Overwhelming success of the absolutist ideal.]

The Bourbon kings aimed to complete the long evolution, dating from centuries before, toward the personal authority of the monarch in a pure absolutism. This movement had gone farther in other countries, although the current had set the other way in England. France under Louis XIV, if not the most extreme example of an absolute government, was certainly the most influential, and the phrase "I am the state!" attributed to the great French monarch, was (whether in fact uttered by him or not) symbolic of his ideal. It was in the atmosphere of the court of Versailles that Philip V spent his youth, wherefore it was the most natural thing in the world for him to desire the establishment in Spain of a system which he had always been accustomed to believe was the only true method of rule. Even had Philip ever doubted it, Louis XIV took care to inculcate in him the concept of absolutism. Philip showed on various occasions that he understood the French ideal of kings.h.i.+p,--as in his opposition to the calling of the Castilian _Cortes_, his denial of the right of the _Consejo_ to share in certain governmental functions, and his habitual employment of such phrases as "for such is my will" in royal decrees. The same criterion was followed by his successors. Charles IV ordered certain laws which were inconsistent with the absolutist ideal to be stricken out of the _Novisima Recopilacion_, or Latest Compilation of the Laws (1805), before he would allow that code to be published, stating that those acts (which had been incorporated in the _Nueva Recopilacion_ of 1567) were representative of a time when the weakness of the monarchy had compelled the kings to make concessions which were inconsistent with their sovereign authority. The laws referred to concerned the intervention of the _Consejo_ in royal donations, the obligation of the king to consult with the three estates of the _Cortes_ in dealing with momentous affairs, and the injunction that no new taxes should be levied without the grant of a _Cortes_. In the statement of their ideal the kings met with little opposition, for this view was generally supported by all cla.s.ses of society. Men who were liberal reformers in other ways were rigid in their maintenance of the principle of absolutism, and the people themselves, not only Castilians, but others as well, even including the Catalans, were intensely royalist.

[Sidenote: Democratic manner and philanthropic rule of the Bourbons.]