Note 1309 — Chapter VIII

‘Amidst the devout exultation of the whole kingdom,—Cervantes, Lope de Vega, and others of the principal men of genius then alive, joining in the general jubilee.’ Ticknor's History of Spanish Literature, vol. i. pp. 428, 429. Compare Dunlop's Memoirs, vol. i. p. 16. Porreño says that it may be placed among the seven wonders of the world; ‘la podemos poner entre las siete maravillas del mundo.’ Yañez, Memorias, p. 297: and Davila (Vida de Felipe Tercero, lib. ii. cap. 41, p. 139) pronounces it to be the most glorious achievement which had been seen since the days of Pelayo. All this is natural enough; but what is really curious is, to trace the modern remains of this feeling. Campomanes (Apendice á la Educacion Popular, vol. iv. p. 130, Madrid, 1777), a very able man, and far more liberal than most of his countrymen, is not ashamed to speak of ‘la justa expulsion de los moriscos desde 1610 á 1613.’ Ortiz, in 1801, expresses himself with more hesitation, but is evidently in favour of a measure which liberated Spain from ‘la perniciosa semilla de Mahoma que restaba en ella.’ Compendio de la Historia de España, vol. vi. pp. 304, 305. Nay, even in 1856, the great modern historian of Spain, while admitting the serious material injury which this horrible crime inflicted on the country, assures us that it had the ‘immense advantage’ of producing religious unity; unable to perceive that the very unity of which he boasts, generates an acquiescence and stagnation of mind fatal to all real improvement, because it prevents that play and collision of opinions by which the wits of men are sharpened and made ready for use, ‘Con la expulsion se completó el principio de la unidad religiosa en España, que fué un bien inmenso, pero se consumó la ruina de la agricultura, que fué un inmenso mal.’ Lafuente, Historia de España, vol. xvii. p. 340, Madrid, 1856. And, the year after this sagacious sentiment had been given to the world, another eminent Spaniard, in a work crowned by the Royal Academy of History, went still further, and declared, that not only did the expulsion of the Moriscoes cause great benefit by securing unity of creed, but that such unity was ‘necessary on the Spanish soil.’ ‘Y si bajo el aspecto económico reprobamos semejante medida por la influencia perniciosa que tuvo desde el momento de dictarse, la imparcialidad de historiadores nos obliga á respetarla por los inmensos bienes que produjo en el órden religioso y en el órden político.’ … ‘La unidad religiosa era necesaria en el suelo español.’ Janer, Condicion Social de los Moriscos de España, Madrid, 1857, pp. 110, 114. What are we to think of a country in which these opinions are expressed, not by some obscure fanatic, from the platform or the pulpit, but by able and learned men, who promulgate them with all the authority of their position, being themselves deemed, if anything, rather too bold and too liberal for the people to whom they address their works?