h that of the most
advanced of other countries.

CHAPTER XVI

MODERN LITERATURE

The name of Pascual de Gayangos is known far beyond the confines of his
own country as a scholar, historian, philologist, biographer, and
critic. Although now a man of very advanced age, he is one of the most
distinguished of modern Orientalists, and his _History of the Arabs in
Spain_, _Vocabulary of the Arabic Words in Spanish_, and his _Catalogue
of Spanish MSS. in the British Museum_ are known wherever the language
is known or studied. He has published in Spanish an edition of Ticknor's
great work on Spanish literature, and has edited several valuable works
in the Spanish Old Text Society besides innumerable other historical and
philological books and papers, which have given him a European
reputation. His immense store of knowledge, his modesty, and his genuine
kindness to all who seek his aid endear him as much for his personal
qualities as for his learning.

Next to Gayangos in the same class of work, Marcelino Menendez y Palayo
may perhaps be mentioned. His _History of AEsthetic Ideas in Spain_ has
been left unfinished so far, owing to the demands made on his time by
his position in the political world as one of the Conservative leaders.
Don Modesto Lafuente, though scarcely possessing the qualities of a
great historian, is accurate and painstaking to a great degree; but in
the field of history many workers are searching the archives and
documents in which the country is so rich, and throwing light on
particular periods. Canovas del Castillo, in spite of his great
political duties, was one of the most valuable of these; and the eminent
jurist, Don Francisco de Cardenas, and the learned Jesuit, Fidel Fita,
and other members of the Academy of History are constantly working in
the rich mine at Simancas. New papers and books are continually being
brought out under the auspices of this society, throwing light on the
past history of the country.

Fernan Caballero, a German by race, but married successively to three
Spanish husbands, may be said to have inaugurated the modern Spanish
novel _de costumbres_, and her books are perhaps better known in England
than those of some of the later novelists. By far the greater writer of
the day in Spain, however, in light literature, is Juan Valera, at once
poet, critic, essayist, and novelist. His _Pepita Jimenez_ is a
remarkable novel, full of delicate characterisation and exquisite s