The
Population Of Constantinople Is Extraordinary Enough, But To Form
It Twenty Nations Have Contributed; Greeks, Armenians, Persians,
Poles, Jews,
The latter, by the by, of Spanish origin, and speaking
amongst themselves the old Spanish language; but the huge
population
Of Madrid, with the exception of a sprinkling of
foreigners, chiefly French tailors, glove-makers and peruquiers, is
strictly Spanish, though a considerable portion are not natives of
the place. Here are no colonies of Germans, as at Saint
Petersburg; no English factories, as at Lisbon; no multitudes of
insolent Yankees lounging through the streets as at the Havannah,
with an air which seems to say, the land is our own whenever we
choose to take it; but a population which, however strange and
wild, and composed of various elements, is Spanish, and will remain
so as long as the city itself shall exist. Hail, ye aguadores of
Asturia! who, in your dress of coarse duffel and leathern skull-
caps, are seen seated in hundreds by the fountain sides, upon your
empty water-casks, or staggering with them filled to the topmost
stories of lofty houses. Hail, ye caleseros of Valencia! who,
lolling lazily against your vehicles, rasp tobacco for your paper
cigars whilst waiting for a fare. Hail to you, beggars of La
Mancha! men and women, who, wrapped in coarse blankets, demand
charity indifferently at the gate of the palace or the prison.
Hail to you, valets from the mountains, mayordomos and secretaries
from Biscay and Guipuscoa, toreros from Andalusia, riposteros from
Galicia, shopkeepers from Catalonia!
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