The Bible in Spain

G >> George Borrow >> The Bible in Spain

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I slept at the tavern, and in the forenoon of the following day
repaired to the embassy, where I had an interview with Sir George,
to whom I related every circumstance of the affair. He said that
he could scarcely believe that the corregidor entertained any
serious intentions of imprisoning me: in the first place, because
I had committed no offence; and in the second, because I was not
under the jurisdiction of that functionary, but under that of the
captain-general, who was alone empowered to decide upon matters
which relate to foreigners, and before whom I must be brought in
the presence of the consul of my nation. "However," said he,
"there is no knowing to what length these jacks in office may go.
I therefore advise you, if you are under any apprehension, to
remain as my guest at the embassy for a few days, for here you will
be quite safe." I assured him that I was under no apprehension
whatever, having long been accustomed to adventures of this kind.
From the apartment of Sir George, I proceeded to that of the first
secretary of embassy, Mr. Southern, with whom I entered into
conversation. I had scarcely been there a minute when my servant
Francisco rushed in, much out of breath, and in violent agitation,
exclaiming in Basque, "Niri jauna (master mine), the alguaziloac
and the corchetoac, and all the other lapurrac (thieves) are again
at the house. They seem half mad, and not being able to find you,
are searching your papers, thinking, I suppose, that you are hid
among them." Mr. Southern here interrupting him, inquired of me
what all this meant. Whereupon I told him, saying at the same
time, that it was my intention to proceed at once to my lodgings.
"But perhaps these fellows will arrest you," said Mr. S., "before
we can interfere." "I must take my chance as to that," I replied,
and presently afterwards departed.

Ere, however, I had reached the middle of the street of Alcala, two
fellows came up to me, and telling me that I was their prisoner,
commanded me to follow them to the office of the corregidor. They
were in fact alguazils, who, suspecting that I might enter or come
out of the embassy, had stationed themselves in the neighbourhood.
I instantly turned round to Francisco, and told him in Basque to
return to the embassy and to relate there to the secretary what had
just occurred. The poor fellow set off like lightning, turning
half round, however, to shake his fist, and to vent a Basque
execration at the two lapurrac, as he called the alguazils.

They conducted me to the gefatura or office of the corregidor,
where they ushered me into a large room, and motioned me to sit
down on a wooden bench. They then stationed themselves on each
side of me: there were at least twenty people in the apartment
beside ourselves, evidently from their appearance officials of the
establishment. They were all well dressed, for the most part in
the French fashion, in round hats, coats, and pantaloons, and yet
they looked what in reality they were, Spanish alguazils, spies,
and informers, and Gil Blas, could he have waked from his sleep of
two centuries, would, notwithstanding the change of fashion, have
had no difficulty in recognizing them. They glanced at me as they
stood lounging about the room; they gathered themselves together in
a circle and began conversing in whispers. I heard one of them
say, "he understands the seven Gypsy jargons." Then presently
another, evidently from his language an Andalusian, said, "Es muy
diestro (he is very skilful), and can ride a horse and dart a knife
full as well as if he came from my own country." Thereupon they
all turned round and regarded me with a species of interest,
evidently mingled with respect, which most assuredly they would not
have exhibited had they conceived that I was merely an honest man
bearing witness in a righteous cause.

I waited patiently on the bench at least one hour, expecting every
moment to be summoned before my lord the corregidor. I suppose,
however, that I was not deemed worthy of being permitted to see so
exalted a personage, for at the end of that time, an elderly man,
one however evidently of the alguazil genus, came into the room and
advanced directly towards me. "Stand up," said he. I obeyed.
"What is your name?" he demanded. I told him. "Then," he replied,
exhibiting a paper which he held in his hand, "Senor, it is the
will of his excellency the corregidor that you be forthwith sent to
prison."

He looked at me steadfastly as he spoke, perhaps expecting that I
should sink into the earth at the formidable name of prison; I
however only smiled. He then delivered the paper, which I suppose
was the warrant for my committal, into the hand of one of my two
captors, and obeying a sign which they made, I followed them.

I subsequently learned that the secretary of legation, Mr.
Southern, had been dispatched by Sir George, as soon as the latter
had obtained information of my arrest, and had been waiting at the
office during the greater part of the time that I was there. He
had demanded an audience of the corregidor, in which he had
intended to have remonstrated with him, and pointed out to him the
danger to which he was subjecting himself by the rash step which he
was taking. The sullen functionary, however, had refused to see
him, thinking, perhaps, that to listen to reason would be a
dereliction of dignity: by this conduct, however, he most
effectually served me, as no person, after such a specimen of
uncalled-for insolence, felt disposed to question the violence and
injustice which had been practised towards me.

The alguazils conducted me across the Plaza Mayor to the Carcel de
la Corte, or prison of the court, as it is called. Whilst going
across the square, I remembered that this was the place where, in
"the good old times," the Inquisition of Spain was in the habit of
holding its solemn Autos da fe, and I cast my eye to the balcony of
the city hall, where at the most solemn of them all, the last of
the Austrian line in Spain sat, and after some thirty heretics, of
both sexes, had been burnt by fours and by fives, wiped his face,
perspiring with heat, and black with smoke, and calmly inquired,
"No hay mas?" for which exemplary proof of patience he was much
applauded by his priests and confessors, who subsequently poisoned
him. "And here am I," thought I, "who have done more to wound
Popery, than all the poor Christian martyrs that ever suffered in
this accursed square, merely sent to prison, from which I am sure
to be liberated in a few days, with credit and applause. Pope of
Rome! I believe you to be as malicious as ever, but you are sadly
deficient in power. You are become paralytic, Batuschca, and your
club has degenerated to a crutch."

We arrived at the prison, which stands in a narrow street not far
from the great square. We entered a dusky passage, at the end of
which was a wicket door. My conductors knocked, a fierce visage
peered through the wicket; there was an exchange of words, and in a
few moments I found myself within the prison of Madrid, in a kind
of corridor which overlooked at a considerable altitude what
appeared to be a court, from which arose a hubbub of voices, and
occasionally wild shouts and cries. Within the corridor which
served as a kind of office, were several people; one of them sat
behind a desk, and to him the alguazils went up, and after
discoursing with him some time in low tones, delivered the warrant
into his hands. He perused it with attention, then rising he
advanced to me. What a figure! He was about forty years of age,
and his height might have amounted to some six feet two inches, had
he not been curved much after the fashion of the letter S. No
weazel ever appeared lanker, and he looked as if a breath of air
would have been sufficient to blow him away; his face might
certainly have been called handsome, had it not been for its
extraordinary and portentous meagreness; his nose was like an
eagle's bill, his teeth white as ivory, his eyes black (Oh how
black!) and fraught with a strange expression, his skin was dark,
and the hair of his head like the plumage of the raven. A deep
quiet smile dwelt continually on his features; but with all the
quiet it was a cruel smile, such a one as would have graced the
countenance of a Nero. "Mais en revanche personne n'etoit plus
honnete." "Caballero," said he, "allow me to introduce myself to
you as the alcayde of this prison. I perceive by this paper that I
am to have the honour of your company for a time, a short time
doubtless, beneath this roof; I hope you will banish every
apprehension from your mind. I am charged to treat you with all
the respect which is due to the illustrious nation to which you
belong, and which a cavalier of such exalted category as yourself
is entitled to expect. A needless charge, it is true, as I should
only have been too happy of my own accord to have afforded you
every comfort and attention. Caballero, you will rather consider
yourself here as a guest than a prisoner; you will be permitted to
roam over every part of this house whenever you think proper. You
will find matters here not altogether below the attention of a
philosophic mind! Pray, issue whatever commands you may think fit
to the turnkeys and officials, even as if they were your own
servants. I will now have the honour of conducting you to your
apartment--the only one at present unoccupied. We invariably
reserve it for cavaliers of distinction. I am happy to say that my
orders are again in consonance with my inclination. No charge
whatever will be made for it to you, though the daily hire of it is
not unfrequently an ounce of gold. I entreat you, therefore, to
follow me, cavalier, who am at all times and seasons the most
obedient and devoted of your servants." Here he took off his hat
and bowed profoundly.

Such was the speech of the alcayde of the prison of Madrid; a
speech delivered in pure sonorous Castilian, with calmness,
gravity, and almost with dignity; a speech which would have done
honour to a gentleman of high birth, to Monsieur Basompierre, of
the Old Bastile, receiving an Italian prince, or the high constable
of the Tower an English duke attainted of high treason. Now, who
in the name of wonder was this alcayde?

One of the greatest rascals in all Spain. A fellow who had more
than once by his grasping cupidity, and by his curtailment of the
miserable rations of the prisoners, caused an insurrection in the
court below only to be repressed by bloodshed, and by summoning
military aid; a fellow of low birth, who, only five years previous,
had been DRUMMER to a band of royalist volunteers!

But Spain is the land of extraordinary characters.

I followed the alcayde to the end of the corridor, where was a
massive grated door, on each side of which sat a grim fellow of a
turnkey. The door was opened, and turning to the right we
proceeded down another corridor, in which were many people walking
about, whom I subsequently discovered to be prisoners like myself,
but for political offences. At the end of this corridor, which
extended the whole length of the patio, we turned into another, and
the first apartment in this was the one destined for myself. It
was large and lofty, but totally destitute of every species of
furniture, with the exception of a huge wooden pitcher, intended to
hold my daily allowance of water. "Caballero," said the alcayde,
"the apartment is without furniture, as you see. It is already the
third hour of the tarde, I therefore advise you to lose no time in
sending to your lodgings for a bed and whatever you may stand in
need of, the llavero here shall do your bidding. Caballero, adieu
till I see you again."

I followed his advice, and writing a note in pencil to Maria Diaz,
I dispatched it by the llavero, and then sitting down on the wooden
pitcher, I fell into a reverie, which continued for a considerable
time.

Night arrived, and so did Maria Diaz, attended by two porters and
Francisco, all loaded with furniture. A lamp was lighted, charcoal
was kindled in the brasero, and the prison gloom was to a certain
degree dispelled.

I now left my seat on the pitcher, and sitting down on a chair,
proceeded to dispatch some wine and viands, which my good hostess
had not forgotten to bring with her. Suddenly Mr. Southern
entered. He laughed heartily at finding me engaged in the manner I
have described. "B-," said he, "you are the man to get through the
world, for you appear to take all things coolly, and as matters of
course. That, however, which most surprises me with respect to you
is, your having so many friends; here you are in prison, surrounded
by people ministering to your comforts. Your very servant is your
friend, instead of being your worst enemy, as is usually the case.
That Basque of yours is a noble fellow. I shall never forget how
he spoke for you, when he came running to the embassy to inform us
of your arrest. He interested both Sir George and myself in the
highest degree: should you ever wish to part with him, I hope you
will give me the refusal of his services. But now to other
matters." He then informed me that Sir George had already sent in
an official note to Ofalia, demanding redress for such a wanton
outrage on the person of a British subject. "You must remain in
prison," said he, "to-night, but depend upon it that to-morrow, if
you are disposed, you may quit in triumph." "I am by no means
disposed for any such thing," I replied. "They have put me in
prison for their pleasure, and I intend to remain here for my own."
"If the confinement is not irksome to you," said Mr. Southern, "I
think, indeed, it will be your wisest plan; the government have
committed themselves sadly with regard to you; and, to speak
plainly, we are by no means sorry for it. They have on more than
one occasion treated ourselves very cavalierly, and we have now, if
you continue firm, an excellent opportunity of humbling their
insolence. I will instantly acquaint Sir George with your
determination, and you shall hear from us early on the morrow." He
then bade me farewell; and flinging myself on my bed, I was soon
asleep in the prison of Madrid.

CHAPTER XL

Ofalia--The Juez--Carcel do la Corte--Sunday in Prison--Robber
Dress--Father and Son--Characteristic Behaviour--The Frenchman--
Prison Allowance--Valley of the Shadow--Pure Castilian--Balseiro--
The Cave--Robber Glory.

Ofalia quickly perceived that the imprisonment of a British subject
in a manner so illegal as that which had attended my own, was
likely to be followed by rather serious consequences. Whether he
himself had at all encouraged the corregidor in his behaviour
towards me, it is impossible to say; the probability is that he had
not: the latter, however, was an officer of his own appointing,
for whose actions himself and the government were to a certain
extent responsible. Sir George had already made a very strong
remonstrance upon the subject, and had even gone so far as to state
in an official note that he should desist from all farther
communication with the Spanish government until full and ample
reparation had been afforded me for the violence to which I had
been subjected. Ofalia's reply was, that immediate measures should
be taken for my liberation, and that it would be my own fault if I
remained in prison. He forthwith ordered a juez de la primera
instancia, a kind of solicitor-general, to wait upon me, who was
instructed to hear my account of the affair, and then to dismiss me
with an admonition to be cautious for the future. My friends of
the embassy, however, had advised me how to act in such a case.
Accordingly, when the juez on the second night of my imprisonment
made his appearance at the prison, and summoned me before him, I
went, but on his proceeding to question me, I absolutely refused to
answer. "I deny your right to put any questions to me," said I; "I
entertain, however, no feelings of disrespect to the government or
to yourself, Caballero Juez; but I have been illegally imprisoned.
So accomplished a jurist as yourself cannot fail to be aware that,
according to the laws of Spain, I, as a foreigner, could not be
committed to prison for the offence with which I had been charged,
without previously being conducted before the captain-general of
this royal city, whose duty it is to protect foreigners, and see
that the laws of hospitality are not violated in their persons."

Juez.--Come, come, Don Jorge, I see what you are aiming at; but
listen to reason: I will not now speak to you as a juez but as a
friend who wishes you well, and who entertains a profound reverence
for the British nation. This is a foolish affair altogether; I
will not deny that the political chief acted somewhat hastily on
the information of a person not perhaps altogether worthy of
credit. No great damage, however, has been done to you, and to a
man of the world like yourself, a little adventure of this kind is
rather calculated to afford amusement than anything else. Now be
advised, forget what has happened; you know that it is the part and
duty of a Christian to forgive; so, Don Jorge, I advise you to
leave this place forthwith. I dare say you are getting tired of
it. You are this moment free to depart; repair at once to your
lodgings, where, I promise you, that no one shall be permitted to
interrupt you for the future. It is getting late, and the prison
doors will speedily be closed for the night. Vamos, Don Jorge, a
la casa, a la posada!

Myself.--"But Paul said unto them, they have beaten us openly
uncondemned, being Romans, and have cast us into prison; and now do
they thrust us out privily? Nay, verily: but let them come
themselves and fetch us out."

I then bowed to the juez, who shrugged his shoulders and took
snuff. On leaving the apartment I turned to the alcayde, who stood
at the door: "Take notice," said I, "that I will not quit this
prison till I have received full satisfaction for being sent hither
uncondemned. You may expel me if you please, but any attempt to do
so shall be resisted with all the bodily strength of which I am
possessed."

"Your worship is right," said the alcayde with a bow, but in a low
voice.

Sir George, on hearing of this affair, sent me a letter in which he
highly commanded my resolution not to leave the prison for the
present, at the same time begging me to let him know if there were
anything that he could send me from the embassy to render my
situation more tolerable.

I will now leave for the present my own immediate affairs, and
proceed to give some account of the prison of Madrid and its
inmates.

The Carcel de la Corte, where I now was, though the principal
prison of Madrid, is one which certainly in no respect does credit
to the capital of Spain. Whether it was originally intended for
the purpose to which it is at present applied, I have no
opportunity of knowing. The chances, however, are, that it was
not; indeed it was not till of late years that the practice of
building edifices expressly intended and suited for the
incarceration of culprits came at all into vogue. Castles,
convents, and deserted palaces, have in all countries, at different
times, been converted into prisons, which practice still holds good
upon the greater part of the continent, and more particularly in
Spain and Italy, which accounts, to a certain extent, for the
insecurity of the prisons, and the misery, want of cleanliness, and
unhealthiness which in general pervade them.

I shall not attempt to enter into a particular description of the
prison of Madrid, indeed it would be quite impossible to describe
so irregular and rambling an edifice. Its principal features
consisted of two courts, the one behind the other, intended for the
great body of the prisoners to take air and recreation in. Three
large vaulted dungeons or calabozos occupied three sides of this
court, immediately below the corridors of which I have already
spoken. These dungeons were roomy enough to contain respectively
from one hundred to one hundred and fifty prisoners, who were at
night secured therein with lock and bar, but during the day were
permitted to roam about the courts as they thought fit. The second
court was considerably larger than the first, though it contained
but two dungeons, horribly filthy and disgusting places; this
second court being used for the reception of the lower grades of
thieves. Of the two dungeons one was, if possible, yet more
horrible than the other; it was called the gallineria, or chicken
coop, and within it every night were pent up the young fry of the
prison, wretched boys from seven to fifteen years of age, the
greater part almost in a state of nudity. The common bed of all
the inmates of these dungeons was the ground, between which and
their bodies nothing intervened, save occasionally a manta or
horse-cloth, or perhaps a small mattress; this latter luxury was,
however, of exceedingly rare occurrence.

Besides the calabozos connected with the courts, were other
dungeons in various parts of the prison; some of them quite dark,
intended for the reception of those whom it might be deemed
expedient to treat with peculiar severity. There was likewise a
ward set apart for females. Connected with the principal corridor
were many small apartments, where resided prisoners confined for
debt or for political offences. And, lastly, there was a small
capilla or chapel, in which prisoners cast for death passed the
last three days of their existence in company of their ghostly
advisers.

I shall not soon forget my first Sunday in prison. Sunday is the
gala day of the prison, at least of that of Madrid, and whatever
robber finery is to be found within it, is sure to be exhibited on
that day of holiness. There is not a set of people in the world
more vain than robbers in general, more fond of cutting a figure
whenever they have an opportunity, and of attracting the eyes of
their fellow creatures by the gallantry of their appearance. The
famous Sheppard of olden times delighted in sporting a suit of
Genoese velvet, and when he appeared in public generally wore a
silver-hilted sword at his side; whilst Vaux and Hayward, heroes of
a later day, were the best dressed men on the pave of London. Many
of the Italian bandits go splendidly decorated, and the very Gypsy
robber has a feeling for the charms of dress; the cap alone of the
Haram Pasha, or leader of the cannibal Gypsy band which infested
Hungary towards the conclusion of the last century, was adorned
with gold and jewels to the value of four thousand guilders.
Observe, ye vain and frivolous, how vanity and crime harmonize.
The Spanish robbers are as fond of this species of display as their
brethren of other lands, and, whether in prison or out of it, are
never so happy as when, decked out in a profusion of white linen,
they can loll in the sun, or walk jauntily up and down.

Snow-white linen, indeed, constitutes the principal feature in the
robber foppery of Spain. Neither coat nor jacket is worn over the
shirt, the sleeves of which are wide and flowing, only a waistcoat
of green or blue silk, with an abundance of silver buttons, which
are intended more for show than use, as the vest is seldom
buttoned. Then there are wide trousers, something after the
Turkish fashion; around the waist is a crimson faja or girdle, and
about the head is tied a gaudily coloured handkerchief from the
loom of Barcelona; light pumps and silk stockings complete the
robber's array. This dress is picturesque enough, and well adapted
to the fine sunshiny weather of the Peninsula; there is a dash of
effeminacy about it, however, hardly in keeping with the robber's
desperate trade. It must not, however, be supposed that it is
every robber who can indulge in all this luxury; there are various
grades of thieves, some poor enough, with scarcely a rag to cover
them. Perhaps in the crowded prison of Madrid, there were not more
than twenty who exhibited the dress which I have attempted to
describe above; these were jente de reputacion, tip-top thieves,
mostly young fellows, who, though they had no money of their own,
were supported in prison by their majas and amigas, females of a
certain class, who form friendships with robbers, and whose glory
and delight it is to administer to the vanity of these fellows with
the wages of their own shame and abasement. These females supplied
their cortejos with the snowy linen, washed, perhaps, by their own
hands in the waters of the Manzanares, for the display of the
Sunday, when they would themselves make their appearance dressed a
la maja, and from the corridors would gaze with admiring eyes upon
the robbers vapouring about in the court below.

Amongst those of the snowy linen who most particularly attracted my
attention, were a father and son; the former was a tall athletic
figure of about thirty, by profession a housebreaker, and
celebrated throughout Madrid for the peculiar dexterity which he
exhibited in his calling. He was now in prison for a rather
atrocious murder committed in the dead of night, in a house at
Caramanchel, in which his only accomplice was his son, a child
under seven years of age. "The apple," as the Danes say, "had not
fallen far from the tree"; the imp was in every respect the
counterpart of the father, though in miniature. He, too, wore the
robber shirt sleeves, the robber waistcoat with the silver buttons,
the robber kerchief round his brow, and, ridiculous enough, a long
Manchegan knife in the crimson faja. He was evidently the pride of
the ruffian father, who took all imaginable care of this chick of
the gallows, would dandle him on his knee, and would occasionally
take the cigar from his own moustached lips and insert it in the
urchin's mouth. The boy was the pet of the court, for the father
was one of the valientes of the prison, and those who feared his
prowess, and wished to pay their court to him, were always fondling
the child. What an enigma is this world of ours! How dark and
mysterious are the sources of what is called crime and virtue! If
that infant wretch become eventually a murderer like his father, is
he to blame? Fondled by robbers, already dressed as a robber, born
of a robber, whose own history was perhaps similar. Is it right?