offerings-wax-figures, tresses of hair, crutches, clothes, etc.-which have been suspended there by votaries. The Queen used to go to this church every Sunday afternoon in an open carriage drawn by eight fine mules, and accompanied by her husband and children. She presented to it her wedding and her coronation robes, the dresses she wore on festivals, especially that of the Epiphany, and her "best clothes" in general. A fabulous antiquity is claimed for the image, which is quite black, perhaps from age and the smoke of

The etymologists here, as everywhere in Spain, have run wild in devising derivations for the name Atocha. Some deduce it from Antioch, alleging that it was consecrated by St. Peter, in a church in that city; others contend that it is a corruption of theotokos, and that miracles were wrought by it in demonstration of orthodox doctrine during the Nestorian controversy. These are but specimens of the wild and baseless conjectures in which Spanish philologists delight. Miracles even more baseless and incredible are ascribed to the Virgen de Atocha. It gave speech to a dumb beggar, who immediately exclaimed

CHURCH OF THE ATOCHA.

Da me un cuarto: "Give me a farthing." It stopped a mason in mid-air who was falling from a roof. The list of its

pretended miracles would fill a volume. It failed, however, to do anything for its especial devotee, Isabella II., though she lavished upon it gold, silver, jewels, fans, court-dresses, and embroidered slippers, which made this ugly black doll the most sumptuously dressed person in Madrid. The Queen, with her councillors, Father Clarete and the Sor Patrocinio, have had to escape from the anger of an indignant people, and to seek safety in exile.

If

The Church of the Atocha may serve to illustrate the superstition, obscurantism, and idolatrous worship of the papacy. we visit another suburb of Madrid we may find a most striking illustration of the pitiless cruelty of its persecutions. the year 1869 a number of labourers were employed in making the excavations neces

In

FATHER CLARETE.

sary for the construction of a new boulevard. A little below the surface they came to a layer of some black substance, a few inches in thickness and

several yards in length. As they dug deeper many other layers, like the first, but varying in length and thickness, were laid bare. On examination the black substance was found to consist of charcoal intermixed with fragments of charred wood, bones, iron links, nails, and rivets, which had been exposed to the action of fire. It proved to be the Quemadero or burning place of the Inquisition, and these were the remains of the numerous autos da fé. The auto da fé itself took place in the Plaza Mayor, where the heretics were arraigned before the judges, condemned, dressed in the san benito, handed over to the secular arm, then led forth to this place "without the gate," and consigned to the flames. After each incremation sand was strewn over the spot, and it served as the

rubbish-heap of Madrid until the some generations it had been

Inquisition again led forth its victims. For covered up and forgotten, till at last the

language of Scripture was fulfilled: "The earth shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain."

The sensation caused by the discovery of these remains was immense, not only in Madrid, but throughout Spain and the civilised world. Judging from the number and extent of the layers laid bare, many hundreds of persons must have been burned to death on this spot alone, thus affording most striking proof that the number of those who perished in the fires of the Inquisition, as given by Llorente and other writers on the subject, are by no means exaggerated. Among other horrors said to have been found were two bony hands transfixed by a large nail, and clasped in the attitude of prayer; and the ribs of another victim with the spear still protruding by which he had been transfixed. On the attempt being made to separate them from the surrounding substance they crumbled into dust.

SPANISH PRIEST.

Shortly after the discovery I visited the spot, and much as I had heard of the horrors of the Quemadero, I was not prepared for the sight I beheld. Layer above layer, like the strata in a geological model, were these silent but most eloquent witnesses to the murderous cruelty of Rome. Numerous cityArabs were running to and fro, offering for sale bones and fragments of wood or iron picked out from the sides of the mound. I preferred, however, to search for myself, and in a very few minutes filled a small box with relics which were imbedded in the charcoal. One could not wonder that when this frightful disclosure was commented upon in the Cortes by the eloquence of Echegaray it struck a heavier blow against religious intolerance than could have been produced by any string of arguments founded merely on theoretical considerations.

99

A book on Spain must of necessity contain some account of a bull-fight; for "the bull-fight," says Ford, "let moralists say what they will, is the sight of Spain. There the past is linked with the present, and Spanish nationality is revealed, for trans-Pyreneean civilisation has not yet invaded this sacred spot.' But if a bullfight be described at all, it ought to be described as it is. To conceal its savage brutality, to keep out of sight its disgusting and revolting incidents, and to fling over the whole a halo of romantic sentiment, is not to instruct, but to deceive.

BULL-FIGHT.

The following plain unvarnished narrative, in which "nothing is extenuated, naught set down in malice," may be taken as a truthful description of an ordinary bull-fight.

Entering the Plaza de Toros, one sees a vast amphitheatre, open to the sky, with an arena in the centre. The seats, which rise tier above tier, in concentric circles, will accommodate many thousand spectators: that at Seville seats eleven thousand persons; that at Madrid, twelve thousand five hundred; that at Valencia, seventeen thousand. The seats are commonly filled to their utmost capacity before the hour of commencement. A double barrier encloses the arena, so that if the bull leaps over the first, there still remains a second between himself and the spectators.

At the hour announced, generally four o'clock in the afternoon-at a bullfight even Spaniards are punctual and brook no delay-a procession enters the arena, headed by mounted alguazils, dressed in a quaint medieval costume, followed by chulos, banderilleros, picadors, and matadors. The procession is closed by one or two teams of mules, three abreast, and gaily caparisoned. Having marched round the arena to the music of a military band, and saluted the president, who occupies a state box opposite the principal entrance, the various performers take their places, like the fielders in a game of cricket. A trumpet sounds; the president tosses the key of the toril to

the alguazil, who catches it in his plumed. hat, and proceeds to unlock and open the door, leaping aside the instant he has done so, to escape being knocked down and gored by the bull.

In a few seconds the noble brute rushes in, with head erect, and looks proudly round. The crowd of spectators greet him with excited shouts and waving of hats and handkerchiefs. Catching sight of one of the chulos, he dashes at him. The chulo skips aside, waves his mantle over the eyes of the bull, and escapes. The bull singles out another, and another, and another of the gay and glittering throng, but with the same result. Sometimes he presses a man so closely, and charges upon him so repeatedly, that the

BULL-FIGHTERS.

fugitive has to escape by leaping over the barrier, which he does as light as a bird. This part of the fiesta is very beautiful. The brilliant dresses and agile movements of the men, who skim and disport themselves over the arena like a cloud of butterflies, the gallant bearing of the bull, his sleek hide and powerful graceful form, make a dazzling spectacle. The slight element of

danger, too, adds to the excitement. It is seldom that any of the toreros are hurt. But it does sometimes happen that one of them slips down and is gored by the bull in his endeavours to escape. The possibility that this may be the case adds intensity to the interest with which the affair is watched.

But to the Spaniards all this is mere child's play. If it continues too long they become impatient, and begin to clamour for more exciting sport. Two mounted picadors now come forward and engage the notice of the bull. The horses they ride are wretched beasts, fit only for the knacker's yard, and they are generally blinded or blindfolded, to make them stand the charge of the bull without flinching. Each picador is armed with a long heavy spear,

of which from one to two inches of the blade is exposed. They are protected from injury by a thick padding over their bodies, and greaves of iron and leather upon their legs. The bull forthwith charges upon one of these assailants, and is received by him upon his spear or garrocha. Sometimes the horseman succeeds in repelling his assailant, but more often the bull, mad with excitement, is only infuriated by the wound, and presses on in spite of the spear-head in his shoulder. The picador must now endeavour to wheel his horse and so escape the charge. This, however, is very difficult, and if he fail, the horns of the bull are driven deep into the horse's body. The chulos