. The land of the Dons. ered some curious anecdoteswhich illustrate it. They relate, it is true, to oldertimes, but the national sentiment remains one occasion the Countess, who was passingthrough Burgos, was sent a dish of meat by theArchbishop. A moment later, Don Federico deCardona, who had learned what was proceeding,came in with a great vessel of silver, the cover ofwhich was locked, as is the Spanish custom. Onasking the cook for the key, he replied, being loth,no doubt, to divide his masters dinner amongso many, that he had lost it. Whereupon DonFederico, waxing angry, was
. The land of the Dons. ered some curious anecdoteswhich illustrate it. They relate, it is true, to oldertimes, but the national sentiment remains one occasion the Countess, who was passingthrough Burgos, was sent a dish of meat by theArchbishop. A moment later, Don Federico deCardona, who had learned what was proceeding,came in with a great vessel of silver, the cover ofwhich was locked, as is the Spanish custom. Onasking the cook for the key, he replied, being loth,no doubt, to divide his masters dinner amongso many, that he had lost it. Whereupon DonFederico, waxing angry, was for complaining tothe Archbishop, and threatened the cook, so thatan unpleasant scene ensued, which I could over-hear from my room. But what amazed me mostwas the rejoinder of the cook, who said: * Illstand no browbeating, not I, being aji old Christian^and as noble as the king, or nobler. And alludingto the Vizcafnos and Navarros the same writersays—* They all regard themselves as gentlemen,even to the (.To face p. 14.) I; ,,i o. ,>huio(jrapli by Laurent, Madrid.) CASTILIAN PEASANTS (GUADALAJARA). RETROSPECTIVE AND ETHNOLOGICAL. 15 It is a singular fact that every Vizcaino has theright to prefix the ennobUng de to his surname. Iam honourable, declares the official to GovernorSancho Panza, becmise I am of Biscay^ ThisBasque ideal of democracy is preferable to theFrench; for the Frenchman endeavours, as it were,to dwarf the social status of his rulers; theVizcaino, to raise his intellectual and political in-feriors to a social level strictly identical with hisown: and it is better to aim at making a communityequally noble, than at making them equally base. In 1637 a French lackey in the service of thePapal Nuncio was whipped through the streetsof Madrid for rescuing a prisoner from the another lackey, who had contributed to theoffence, was pardoned, for having the good fortuneto be a Vizcaino, he was able to prove himself bydocument an hidalg
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