He Was, Moreover, A Fluent, Elegant, And Forcible
Speaker, And Was To The Moderado Party Within The Cortes What
Quesada Was Without, Namely, Their Horses And Chariots.
Why he was
made minister of marine is difficult to say, as Spain did not
possess any; perhaps, however,
From his knowledge of the English
language, which he spoke and wrote nearly as well as his own
tongue, having indeed during his sojourn in England chiefly
supported himself by writing for reviews and journals, an
honourable occupation, but to which few foreign exiles in England
would be qualified to devote themselves.
He was a very small and irritable man, and a bitter enemy to every
person who stood in the way of his advancement. He hated
Mendizabal with undisguised rancour, and never spoke of him but in
terms of unmeasured contempt. "I am afraid that I shall have some
difficulty in inducing Mendizabal to give me permission to print
the Testament," said I to him one day. "Mendizabal is a jackass,"
replied Galiano. "Caligula made his horse consul, which I suppose
induced Lord - to send over this huge burro of the Stock Exchange to
be our minister."
It would be very ungrateful on my part were I not to confess my
great obligations to Galiano, who assisted me to the utmost of his
power in the business which had brought me to Spain. Shortly after
the ministry was formed, I went to him and said, "that now or never
was the time to mike an effort in my behalf." "I will do so," said
he, in a waspish tone; for he always spoke waspishly whether to
friend or foe; "but you must have patience for a few days, we are
very much occupied at present. We have been outvoted in the
cortes, and this afternoon we intend to dissolve them. It is
believed that the rascals will refuse to depart, but Quesada will
stand at the door ready to turn them out, should they prove
refractory. Come along, and you will perhaps see a funcion."
After an hour's debate, the cortes were dissolved without it being
necessary to call in the aid of the redoubtable Quesada, and
Galiano forthwith gave me a letter to his colleague the Duke of
Rivas, in whose department he told me was vested the power either
of giving or refusing the permission to print the book in question.
The duke was a very handsome young man, of about thirty, an
Andalusian by birth, like his two colleagues. He had published
several works, tragedies, I believe, and enjoyed a certain kind of
literary reputation. He received me with the greatest affability;
and having heard what I had to say, he replied with a most
captivating bow, and a genuine Andalusian grimace: "Go to my
secretary; go to my secretary - el hara por usted el gusio." So I
went to the secretary, whose name was Oliban, an Aragonese, who was
not handsome, and whose manners were neither elegant nor affable.
"You want permission to print the Testament?" "I do," said I.
"And you have come to His Excellency about it," continued Oliban.
"Very true," I replied. "I suppose you intend to print it without
notes." "Yes." "Then His Excellency cannot give you permission,"
said the Aragonese secretary: "it was determined by the Council of
Trent that no part of the Scripture should be printed in any
Christian country without the notes of the church." "How many
years was that ago?" I demanded. "I do not know how many years ago
it was," said Oliban; "but such was the decree of the Council of
Trent." "Is Spain at present governed according to the decrees of
the Council of Trent?" I inquired. "In some points she is,"
answered the Aragonese, "and this is one. But tell me who are you?
Are you known to the British minister?" "O yes, and he takes a
great interest in the matter." "Does he?" said Oliban; "that
indeed alters the case: if you can show me that His Excellency
takes in interest in this business, I certainly shall not oppose
myself to it."
The British minister performed all I could wish, and much more than
I could expect; he had an interview with the Duke of Rivas, with
whom he had much discourse upon my affair: the duke was all smiles
and courtesy. He moreover wrote a private letter to the duke,
which he advised me to present when I next paid him a visit, and,
to crown all, he wrote a letter directed to myself, in which he did
me the honour to say that he had a regard for me, and that nothing
would afford him greater pleasure than to hear that I had obtained
the permission which I was seeking. So I went to the duke, and
delivered the letter. He was ten times more kind and affable than
before: he read the letter, smiled most sweetly, and then, as if
seized with sudden enthusiasm, he extended his arms in a manner
almost theatrical, exclaiming, "Al secretario, el hara por usted el
gusto." Away I hurried to the secretary, who received me with all
the coolness of an icicle: I related to him the words of his
principal, and then put into his hand the letter of the British
minister to myself. The secretary read it very deliberately, and
then said that it was evident His Excellency did take an interest
in the matter. He then asked me my name, and taking a sheet of
paper, sat down as if for the purpose of writing the permission. I
was in ecstasy - all of a sudden, however, he stopped, lifted up his
head, seemed to consider a moment, and then putting his pen behind
his ear, he said, "Amongst the decrees of the Council of Trent is
one to the effect" . . . .
"Oh dear!" said I.
"A singular person is this Oliban," said I to Galiano; "you cannot
imagine what trouble he gives me: he is continually talking about
the Council of Trent."
"I wish he was in the Trent up to the middle," said Galiano, who,
as I have observed already, spoke excellent English; "I wish he was
there for talking such nonsense.
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