The Tourist in Spain and Morocco Author:Thomas Roscoe, David Roberts Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: THE TOURIST IN SPAIN. CHAPTER I. TOLEDO TO MADRID. Last Look at Toledo—Old and New Times—National Foible— Numantia—Tarick and his Gold Table—Arab Pro... more »sperity— Catholic Archbishops—Anecdotes—Young Hostesses—Soldier's Return—Talavera—Duke of Wellington—Noble Sentiment—Incidents by the Way—Fashion and Antiquity—Antiquarian Anecdotes — Reach Madrid—Popular Excitement— Strange Contrast—Unexpected Rencounter—Love and Friendship—Antiquarian Hospitality—Visit to the Hospitals—Mental Beauty of the Madrid Ladies. Our brief sojourn in the ancient capital of Castilian royalty and sanctity was no way dull or tedious; it required not, as some travellers have found it, the patience of all its saints (no small number) to avoid incurring the extreme penalty of ennui. Its aspect, like its society, was grave and sombre enough; but marks of more active, if not prouder and sterner days, lay every where around us, and imagination, with history, supplied what was wanting in modern bustle and prosperity. Besides, the tocsin of stirring events was pealing at no vast distance in our ears, rousing the 2 HEREDITARY FAME. most inert from the political trance of ages, and holding all on the alert, as much at least as Castilians of unblemished blood can well be supposed without indecorum to appear. " Wars and rumours of wars," enough to startle this once quiet seat of ecclesiastic power and splendour from out its propriety, kept all ranks,—lay and cleric, national guard and garrison, governor and governed, wide awake; which is saying a good deal for their sense of honour, caution, or whatever we may please to call it, during the summer fervours of a Peninsular sun. And we should remember that Toledo no longer now held 250,000 citizens, as in the good old times, to beat off any sudden incursi...« less