The Virgin of Atocha is the patron of the sovereigns of Spain.
Her image, which is small and of a colour as dark as a mulatto, appeared,
as tradition asserts, at the spot on which the chapel was afterwards
erected, and in which, in the present day, it is deposited. This chapel
is situated near the magnificent promenade called the Prado, in Madrid,
and was formerly part of a convent of Dominican Friars, converted, after
the suppression of the religious orders, into barracks for sick soldiers.
When the court is in Madrid, the sovereign goes every Saturday evening to
this sanctuary with a great procession of grandees and guards. The
Virgin of Atocha has an immense fortune, consisting of jewels and
trinkets which have been presented to her by the monarchs. Among these
presents, one is the distinguished velvet dress, embroidered with gold,
worn by Isabella II. at the time she was wounded by the Priest Merino.

When her Majesty felt she was wounded by the poniard of this assassin,
and saw him seized by her guards, her first words were, "Pray, spare the
life of that man!" This is another proof of Isabella's kind and
forgiving disposition, especially when it is considered that she uttered
the words spontaneously, without prompting or premeditation, but on the
spur of the moment.

{116} Spaniards have greatly excelled in the sculpture of wood,--a
branch of the fine arts which does not deserve the disdain with which
modern writers have treated it. In many churches in Spain there are
admirable productions of this kind, of a perfect execution, expression,
and design. The statue of the Virgin of the Conception, placed in the
choir of the cathedral of Seville, a work of the celebrated Montanes,
will rival the most celebrated masterpieces of modern sculpture.

{125} The Roman Catholic Church has adopted, for its hymns, the poetry
of the low Latinity of the middle ages. Among these is distinguished for
its originality that which is generally sung in the office for the dead.
The two principal verses are these:--

"Dies irae, dies ilia,
Solvens sec'lum in favilla,
Teste David, cum Sybilla.
. . . . .
Tuba mirum spargens sonum,
Per sepulchra regionum,
Venient omnes ante thronum."

We cannot resist the opportunity of giving the late Sir Walter Scott's
metrical translation of this sublime ode, a translation which, as a hymn,
is generally sung in Protestant churches:--