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The first efforts of literary men, whether in poetry or prose, have been naturally directed to expressions of exultation, at seeing those fetters broken which had previously enchained both the moral and physical power of the nation. Judging from innumerable pamphlets and articles in newspapers, in which some have exposed many of those scandalous abuses which disgraced the late system, while others have extolled the blessings of freedom, or sung its praises, there is every reason to believe that the literati of Spain will shortly enter the lists of fame, and contend for celebrity with their most favoured competitors of other countries. Meantime, that they are profiting by the study of foreign authors is evident, from the numerous translations which have appeared, including most of the master-pieces of French literature, particularly that portion of it which relates to religious dogmas, philosophy and politics. Notwithstanding the jealousy arising from political causes, which have so long subsisted between the two countries, Spain is under great obligations to French literature and science. 1 If the new selections be judiciously made, those obligations will be considerably increased. As the literary purveyors of Spain cannot be blind to the evil effects of inundating the public with books which are not favourable either to religion or morals, it is most desirable that none of those unworthy motives, which too often encumber the shelves of modern libraries, will arise in Spain. If there is still much to gain from the literary stores of France, there is also a great deal to be rejected, as not likely to serve either freedom or humanity south of the Pyrenees; and such is the avidity with which people seek novelty, that it will require all the vigilance of a paternal government to prevent the introduction of what may well be regarded as poisonous food for the moral and intellectual body; the same observation applies, in a greater or less degree, to the literature of England, Germany and Italy.

Should a knowledge of the European languages become identified with the future system of public education, as I trust it will, a vast field will be opened to the research of Spanish students; in the interim, her translators are busily occupied in making up for the too general ignorance on this essential branch of modern instruction. While the facility of communication between this court and France, not less than the universality of its language, have made French literature so familiar to Spain, that of England is comparatively little known, except to a few men of letters. It is, in fact, doubtful, whether the anathemas of the Holy Office were not more pointedly directed against the most harmless works of English writers than those of the encyclopedists, so much did it dread the influence of Lutheranism. It is scarcely necessary to add, that Bacon and Locke were, in the opinions of the Grand Inquisitors at least, two of the greatest monsters that ever appeared on earth. The prince of darkness was a convenient personage, and often put in requisition by those gentlemen; but what could they do with the founder of modern philosophy, and the inventor of the representative system, except burn their books and themselves in effigy? That both these ceremonies have been performed during the pious orgies, public and private, of the sacred tribunal, it is needless to say: thanks to the sanctified labours of Torquemada and his successors, the world of English literature, science and art, was unknown to Spain until the war of independence, during which there was no opportunity of benefiting by it. Having closed again, on the return of our faithful ally, in 1814, it is only in the present year that the gates of human knowledge may be said to have been taken off their hinges for the people of Spain. I hope it is not vanity to say that, in calling the attention of her literati to the vast stores of British learning and science, accumulated during ages of enterprize and comparative freedom, I am rendering them an important service; nor do I wish to derogate from the merit of any other nation, when I add that, the sooner they avail themselves of those resources, so abundantly to be found in the works of our philosophers and poets, the more likely will they be to appreciate the value of those institutions which have been so eminently favourable to the developement of the human mind in other places.

Although little more than the names of such men as More, Ascham, Buchanan, Spencer, Camden, Coke, Selden, Harvey, Napier, Cowley, Barrow, Tillotson, Dryden, Addison, and a hundred others, comprised in the galaxy of British genius and learning, are known here; and that our Humes, Gibbons, Robertsons, Johnsons and Goldsmiths, have been excluded as pests from society, it was impossible entirely to shut out the light: though there was scarcely an English work that did not serve to swell the prohibitory catalogue, our literature has formed an object of the utmost solicitude to many distinguished characters during the last thirty years. It is not to be wondered at, that the English dramatic writers should be little known in Spain: Milton has, however, found a translator of his immortal epic, in no less a personage than Escoiquiz, the well known tutor of Ferdinand: Pope was also the favourite author and poetical model of Trigueros. 2 Campomanes, who corresponded with Dr. Roberson and supplied many of the most valuable materials for his admirable history, is said to have been thoroughly versed in our literature. Jovellanos, the friend and correspondent of the noble biographer of Lope de Vega, appears to have been not only acquainted with, but particularly devoted to, the study of English authors.

Of all our writers, Mr. Bentham ought to be most satisfied with his reception and reputation in Spain: not less than five translations or commentaries on the treatises on legislation, published by Mr. Dumont, have been prepared here, while the most enlightened men of the Afrancesados and Liberales look up to him as their master in legislation. The learned Toribio Nuñez has rendered his country an immense and incalculable service, by calling its attention to the works of the English Solon: and when these party prejudices, or what is nearly as bad, national pride, (which is so apt to reject the wisdom that comes from without, for no other reason than because it is of foreign growth,) shall subside, there is little doubt but our celebrated countryman will be one of the most highly favoured legislative oracles of the Peninsula, as he is now the most generally admired.

When a selection from those writers, who shed such a brilliant light over our literary horizon in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, is made, it will afford a rich treat to the lovers of science and literature in Spain, although they will look in vain amongst the philosophers, historians, poets and dramatic authors of the present day for the solid wisdom and stern principles which distinguished the fathers of English law, learning and science, ere the progress of factitious refinement and the corruptions of government had spread their poison through all the veins of the social body, there is still a rich fund of knowledge and amusement to be derived from the study of our modern literature; yet, like that of France, the selections from it ought to be made with caution and good taste. The people of Spain have acquired a sufficient share of vices and weaknesses from the religious and political institutions of their own country, and I am justified in saying that neither would be diminished by an indiscriminate admission of contemporary English literature.

The Spaniards are far behind their neighbours in those works of fiction which have attained such an unaccountable ascendancy in the rest of Europe; they have been so satiated with the lives of pretended saints, and the histories of fictitious miracles, that our modern romances and novels, notwithstanding all their extravagance and absurdity, will scarcely be found seasoned enough for the palates of Spanish readers, and satisfy that appetite for the marvellous which prevails here. Some persons, however, esteem it as a blessing that a country, the literature of which is about to commence a new era, is not encumbered with the numberless works which, in giving false notions of human life, and frequently painting vice in the most fascinating colours, tend only to lead youth and age astray, when such books do not inculcate absolute vice. A discriminating choice from the Smolletts, Fieldings and Richardsons of the last century, could not fail to be useful here, not to mention a few novelists of a more recent date. Should the ravings of certain French and German enthusiasts, who have become so popular in England, also cross the Pyrenees, the result will be, no doubt, precisely the same—that of perverting the taste and judgment, without improving the morals. A few novels like the “Fool of Quality,” “Vicar of Wakefield,” and “Man of Feeling,” would do infinitely more towards effecting a reform of manners, and exciting the generous sympathies, as also affording a source of rational amusement to the Spanish public, than the endless series of unintelligible tales and romances of the last forty years, whether of English, French or German growth, often got up to gratify an unnatural craving for variety; to enable a disappointed heroine to vent her spleen on a faithless, or, perhaps, worthless lover; to injure public morals by the recital of her crimes of follies; or, as in other instances, to describe the adventures of some successful cheat or impostor, not unfrequently in a combination to impose on public credulity. If the fathers and mothers of Spain suffer such works as those I have shortly noticed to supersede those of the Addisons, Johnsons, Blairs, Goldsmiths, Thomsons, Akensides, Cowpers, Edgeworths, Inchbalds and Hamiltons, they will do an incalculable injury to morals and religion, which no future efforts, either of their own, or of the legislature, can counteract.

Montesquieu and Filangieri, 3 like Bentham, are still known only to the literate and political inquirers of Spain: when a more general knowledge of their labours may be disseminated, the business of legislation will go on much more smoothly than it can under present circumstances.

Owing to the expense and difficulty of printing, several French booksellers have undertaken to feed the appetite for literary novelty here since the restoration of liberty. Although the lucre of gain has induced them to send many objectionable works across the Pyrenees, many excellent productions may be stated: amongst the latter, are selections from Fenelon, Massillon, Bossuet, Voltaire, Rousseau, D’Alembert, and others of their day; including Moliere and the tragic poets of France: a translation of Benjamin Constant's course of political study has been published by Don Antonio Lopez, a lawyer and member of Cortes, who has added a commentary and notes to the French publicist’s celebrated work; indeed, it cannot be too attentively read by the friends of liberty in Spain, as well as in the rest of Europe. The Ruins of Empires, and Dupin's learned Essay on the Origin of Religious Worship, had found their way into this country, even during the existence of the Holy Office. If reason had not come to the aid of Spain from so many other quarters, these two writers would have been sufficient to dispel the mists of ignorance and superstition which have so long enveloped the Peninsula. Condorcet's admirable and profound sketch of the progress of human knowledge, in which the writer has raised himself to a level with the most envied philosophers of modern times, is amongst the new works announced, and I trust it will, ere long, be adopted in all the schools and colleges in Spain. Les trois Regnes d'Angleterre, by M. Souligne, written to prove that the factions which divided England in the seventeenth century are not yet extinguished in his own country, will also afford some valuable lessons and useful hints to the politicians of this country, as the spirit and manners of nations will inform them how truth and reason have been set at defiance by former historians. If they wish to see how despotism rose, prospered and fell, in France, let them read the valuable abridgements of Thouret, and that of my young friend Felix Bodin. Their own history is too deeply engraven on their memories, and too closely connected with recent events, to require a recapitulation of other works, in which the struggles of justice against power are set forth. Let the booksellers and publishers of Spain make a rule, not to encourage any work that may be injurious to morals, or disrespectful to the Divinity, and they will not only confer lasting blessings on their country, but show an example that cannot be totally lost on others.

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