This Music Is
Accompanied With Words, But Such Words!
Nothing can be imagined
more stupid, commonplace, and uninteresting.
So far from being
martial, they relate to everyday incidents and appear to have no
connexion whatever with the music. They are evidently of modern
date.
In person the Basques are of the middle size, and are active and
athletic. They are in general of fair complexions and handsome
features, and in appearance bear no slight resemblance to certain
Tartar tribes of the Caucasus. Their bravery is unquestionable,
and they are considered as the best soldiery belonging to the
Spanish crown: a fact highly corroborative of the supposition that
they are of Tartar origin, the Tartars being of all races the most
warlike, and amongst whom the most remarkable conquerors have been
produced. They are faithful and honest, and capable of much
disinterested attachment; kind and hospitable to strangers; all of
which points are far from being at variance with the Tartan
character. But they are somewhat dull, and their capacities are by
no means of a high order, and in these respects they again resemble
the Tartars.
No people on earth are prouder than the Basques, but theirs is a
kind of republican pride. They have no nobility amongst them, and
no one will acknowledge a superior. The poorest carman is as proud
as the governor of Tolosa. "He is more powerful than I," he will
say, "but I am of as good blood; perhaps hereafter I may become a
governor myself." They abhor servitude, at least out of their own
country; and though circumstances frequently oblige them to seek
masters, it is very rare to find them filling the places of common
domestics; they are stewards, secretaries, accountants, etc. True
it is, that it was my own fortune to obtain a Basque domestic; but
then he always treated me more as an equal than a master, would sit
down in my presence, give me his advice unasked, and enter into
conversation with me at all times and occasions. Did I check him!
Certainly not! For in that case he would have left me, and a more
faithful creature I never knew. His fate was a mournful one, as
will appear in the sequel.
I have said that the Basques abhor servitude, and are rarely to be
found serving as domestics amongst the Spaniards. I allude,
however, merely to the males. The females, on the contrary, have
no objection whatever to enter houses as servants. Women, indeed,
amongst the Basques are not looked upon with all the esteem which
they deserve, and are considered as fitted for little else than to
perform menial offices, even as in the East, where they are viewed
in the light of servants and slaves. The Basque females differ
widely in character from the men; they are quick and vivacious, and
have in general much more talent. They are famous for their skill
as cooks, and in most respectable houses of Madrid a Biscayan
female may be found in the kitchen, queen supreme of the culinary
department.
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