CHAPTER V.

PROMISCUOUS PIECES.

SECTION 1.

The Alhambra by Moonlight.-IRVING.

I HAVE given a picture of my apartment on my first taking possession of it': a few evenings have produced a thorough change in the scene and in my feelings. The moon', which then was invisible', has gradually gained upon the nights', and now rolls in full splendour above the towers', pouring a flood of tempered light into every court and hall'. The garden beneath my window', is gently lighted up'; the orange and citron trees'.. are tipped with silver'; the fountain". . sparkles in the moonbeams'; and even the blush of the rose'. . is faintly visible'.

I have sat for hours at my window', inhaling the sweetness of the garden', and musing on the checkered features of those whose history is dimly shadowed out in the elegant memorials around'. Sometimes I have issued forth at midnight'.. when every thing was quiet', and have wandered over the whole building'. Who can do justice to a moonlight night in such a climate', and in such a place! The temperature of an Andalusian midnight in summer', is perfectly ethereal'. We seem lifted up into a purer atmosphere'; there is a serenity of soul', a buoyancy of spirits', an elasticity of frame', that render mere existence'.. enjoyment'. The effect of moonlight', too', on the Alhambra', has something like enchantment'. Every rent and chasm of time', every mouldering teint and weather-stain', disappears'; the marble resumes its original whiteness'; the long colonnades brighten in the moonbeams'; the halls are illumin, ated with a softened radiance', until the whole edifice reminds one of the enchanted palace of an Arabian tale'. At such a time', I have ascended to the little pavilion', called the queen's toilette', to enjoy its varied and extensive prospect'. To the right', the snowy summits of the Sierra Nevada', would gleam', Fé'tshårez. Eg-zist'enseRă'dě-ânse-not, unse.

Pôz-zêsh'un. Foun'tin-not, foun'tn.

not, unse.

e

En-tshânt'ment-not, munt.

like silver clouds', against the darker firmament', and all the outlines of the mountain'. . would be softened', yet delicately defined'. My delight', however', would be to lean over the parapet of the Tocador', and gaze down upon Granada', spread out like a map below me': all buried in deep repose', and its white palaces and convents sleeping', as it were', in the moonshine'.

Sometimes I would hear the faint sounds of castanets from some party of dancers'.. lingering in the Alameda'; at other times', I have heard the dubious tones of a guitar', and the notes of a single voice'.. rising from some solitary street', and have pictured to myself some youthful cavalier', serenading his lady's window'; a gallant custom of former days', but now sadly on the decline', except in the remote towns and villages of Spain'.

Such are the scenes that have detained me for many an hour', loitering about the courts and balconies of the castle', enjoying that mixture of revery and sensation which steal away existences in a southern climate-and it has been almost morning before I have retired to my bed', and been lulled to sleep by the falling waters of the fountain of Lindaraxa'.

SECTION II.

Reflections on the Moslem Domination in Spain.—Ib. ONE of my favourited resorts is the balcony of the central window of the Hall of Ambassadors', in the lofty tower of Comares'.* I have just been seated there', enjoying the close of a long', brilliant day'. The sun', as he sunk behind the purple mountains of Alhama', sent a stream of effulgence up the valley of the Darro, that spread a melancholy pomp over the ruddy towers of the Alhambra', while the Vega', covered with a slight', sultry vapour that caught the setting ray', seemed spread out in the distance like a golden sea'. Not a breath of air disturbed the stillness of the hour'; and though the faint sound of musiek and merriments now and then arose from the gardens of the Darro', it but rendered more impressive the monumental silence of the pile which overshadowed me'. It

"Grân'â-då. Miks'tshure-not, tshår. Egz-ist'ênse-not, unse. *Få'vår'it. Dis'tânse-not, dis'tunse. 'Stil'nès-not, nis. «Mêr'rẻ 'mênt.

*One of the towers belonging to the Alhambra, the splendid fortified palace of the Moorish princes that formerly reigned in Granada.

was one of those hours and scenes in which memory asserts an almost magical power', and', like the evening sun'.. beaming on these mouldering towers', sends back her retrospective rays to light up the glories of the past'.

As I sat watching the effect of the declining daylight upon this Moorish pile', I was led into a consideration of the light', elegant', and voluptuous character prevalent throughout its internal architecture'," and to contrast it with the grand', but gloomy', solemnity of the Gothick edifices', reared by the Spanish conquerors'. The very architecture thus bespeaks the opposite and irreconcilable natures of the two warlike people who so long battled here for the mastery of the Peninsula'. By degrees', I fell into a course of musing upon the singular features of the Arabian or Morisco Spaniards', whose whole existence is as a tale that is told', and certainly forms one of the most anomalous', yet splendid', episodes in history'. Potent and durable as was their dominion', we have no one distinct title by which to designate them'. They were a nation', as it were', without a legitimate country or a name'. A remote wave of the great Arabian inundation', cast upon the shores of Europe', they seemed to have all the impetus of the first rush of the torrent'. Their course of conquest from the rock of Gibraltar to the cliffs of the Pyrenees', was as rapid and brilliant as the Moslem victories of Syria and Egypt'. Nay', had they not been checked on the plains of Tours', all France', all Europe', might have been overrun with the same facility as the empires of the east'; and the crescent might', at this day', have glittered on the fanes of Paris and of London'.

Repelled within the limits of the Pyrenees', the mixed hordes of Asia and Africa that formed this great irruption', gave up the Moslem principles of conquest', and sought to establish' in Spain a peaceful and permanent dominion'. As conquerors', their heroism was only equalled by their moderation'; and in both', for a time', they excelled the nations with whom they contended'. Severed from their native homes', they loved the land given them', as they supposed', by Allah', and strove to embellish it with every thing that could administer to the happiness of man'. Laying the foundations of their power in a system of wise and equitable laws', diligently cultivating the arts and sciences', and promoting agriculture', manufactures', and commerce', they gradually formed an empire'. . unrivalled

aEl'è-gånt—not, gunt. Ar'ké 'tèk-tshůre—not, tshůr. Nå'tshåreznot, tshårz. Pò'tênt-not, tunt. Wêr. E-stáb'lish-not, ès-tâb'lish. Sis'tem-not, tum. Ag'ré 'kůl-tshåre.

for its prosperity', by any of the empires of Christendom'; and diligently drawing round them the graces and refinements that marked the Arabian empire in the east at the time of its greatest civilization', they diffused the light of oriental knowledge through the western regions of benighted Europe'.

The cities of Arabian Spain became the resort of Christian artisans', in which to instruct themselves in the useful arts'. The universities of Toledo', Cordova', Seville', and Granada', were sought by the pale student from other lands', to acquaint himself with the sciences of the Arabs', and the treasured lore of antiquity'; the lovers of the gay sciences', resorted to Cordova and Granada', to imbibe the poetry and musick of the east'; and the steel-clad warriours of the north'.. hastened thither to accomplish themselves in the graceful exercises and courteous usages of chivalry'.

If the Moslem monuments in Spain';-if the Mosque of Cor. dova', the Alcazar of Seville', and the Alhambra of Granada', still bear inscriptions fondly boasting of the power and perma nency of their dominion', can the boast be derided as arrogant and vain'? Generation after generation', century after century had passed away', and still they maintained possession of the land'. A period had elapsed'.. longer than that which has passed since England was subjugated by the Norman conquer. ors'; and the descendants of Musa and Tarik might as little anticipate being driven into exile across the same straits'.. traversed by their triumphant ancestors', as the descendants of Rollo and William', and their victorious peers', may dream of being driven back to the shores of Normandy'.

With all this', however', the Moslem empire in Spain'. . was but a brilliant exotick that took no permanent root in the soil it embellished'. Secured from all their neighbours of the west by impassable barriers of faith and manners', and separated by seas and deserts from their kindred of the east', they were an isolated people'. Their whole existence was a prolonged', though gallant', and chivalrick struggle for a foot-hold in ausurped land'. They were the outposts and frontiers of Islamism'. The peninsula was the great battle-ground where the Gothick conquerors of the north', and the Moslem conquerors of the east', met and strove for mastery'; and the fiery courage of the Arab'.. was at length subdued by the obstinate and persevering valour of the Goth'.

Never was the annihilation of a people more complete than

Sta'dênt-not, dunt. *Tshival-rẻ—not, shival-rẻ. dôv—not, uv, nor, of. eFor-not, fur, nor, fr.

frum.

©From-not

that of the Morisco Spaniards'. Where are they'? Ask the shores of Barbary and its desert places'. The exiled remnant of their once powerful empire', disappeared among the barbarians of Africa', and ceased to be a nation'. They have not even left a distinct name'.. behind them', though for nearly eight centuries they were a distinct people'. The home of their adoption and of their occupation for ages', refuses to acknow. ledge them but as invaders and usurpers'. A few broken monuments'.. are all that remain to bear witness to their power and dominion', as solitary rocks left far in the interiour', bear testimony to the extent of" some vast inundation'. Such is the Alhambra':—a Moslem pile in the midst of a Christian land';an oriental palace'. . amidst the Gothick edifices of the west';an elegant memento of a brave', intelligent', and graceful people', who conquered', ruled', and passed away'.

SECTION III.

Thoughts on Hand-Writing.-VERPLANCK.

Extract from Bliss' Talisman, of 1828.

WHEN one has nothing which is actually new or interesting to say upon a subject', it is a question which very naturally suggests itself to the reader', why he writes about it at all? I', therefore', suppose this question directed to myself'; and reply', with perfect honesty', that', in making such remarks as occur to me on the subject of chirography', I am fulfilling a promise', and also writing a prefaced to a story which I have to tell'.

I have had reasons for meditating much on the mystery of hand-writings', though my reflections have resulted in no new discoveries'; and I have neither solved any of the paradoxes', nor come to a definite conclusion on any of the doubtful points with which the subject is pregnant'. The first difficulty which was suggested to my mind about it', occurred in early childhood'. I could not discover how the rapping of me over the knuckles with a long', round', lignum-vitæ ruler', until those articulations were discoloured and lame', was to assist me in using my fingers with ease and grace', in copying the pithy scraps of morality which wered set before me'. My master', however', seemed to think it was good for me'. The poor man

Ov-not, uv, nor, of. For-not, fur, nor, , fr. Såg-jèst'. Prèf'fan. Wêr.