ndearing
respect, that might be used by an affectionate and dutiful wife to her
husband. It requires but little knowledge of the human heart to see, at
once, that in this mixture of two sentiments so opposed to each other as
are that of the love profane and that of the love divine, the latter is
liable to succumb to the former; and, in truth, this danger can only be
averted by minds as favoured and as pure as was, without a doubt, the
mind of that extraordinary woman. It is generally the case, and commonly
observed in Spain, that the sensual element dominates over the mystical,
and corrupts it. The common mass of mankind employs devotion as an
instrument favourable to worldly views and to the material interests of
life. In Andalucia, enamoured girls confide to the Virgin their ardent
sorrows and desires, as the following couplet will show, and which is
sung with frequency and is very popular in that province of the
Peninsula:--

La Virgen de las Angustias,
Es la que sabe mi mal,
Pues me meto en su capilla,
Y no me harto de llorar. {16}

With these amatory propensities was naturally bound up that spirit of
knight-errantry which so much distinguished the national character of
Spaniards among all the other nations of Europe; a spirit which neither
the course of centuries, nor intestine nor foreign war, nor even
revolution itself, although it has transformed in a few ages the temper
of modern nations, has been able to blot out. The Spaniard was
completely carried away in a transport by his religious practices, his
gallantry, loyalty, bravery, exalted notions of honour, and other
qualities of the mind, impregnated as they were with that poesy and wild
romance which are delineated with so much propriety and skill by the
immortal Cervantes.

The motto of the Spanish nobility has always been, "My God, my king, and
my lady,"--a very significant one, and one which described in a lively
manner the predominating sentiments of the nation and the equal degree of
veneration and enthusiasm which those three objects excited in the minds
of the people. The Spaniard is always as disposed to brandish the sword
in defence of the religion which he professes, as in that of the king
whom he serves or of the lady whom he loves. The processions and all the
feasts of the church are invariably accompanied by a military show. The
four primitive orders of the nation, viz., Santiago, Alcantara,
Calatrava, and Montes