—15→
One of the most significant statements made by Galdós in his letters to Mesonero Romanos in 1879 concerns the Spanish Romantics. At that time he was writing Los apostólicos (1879), the ninth episodio of the Second Series, set in the period 1829 to 1832.4 Mesonero, had declined to help him with specific details he had asked for about the individuals connected with the Café del Príncipe, and wanted him to restrict himself to political history in the episodio.5 Galdós did not acquiesce. In his reply, he states unequivocally: «No podía pasar de ningún modo en silencio la aparición de aquella ilustre pléyade, que constituía uno de los más notables fenómenos de la vida española en el siglo presente.»6 This episodio, therefore, would appear to be of special relevance in any assessment of Galdós' attitude to the Spanish Romantics.
In view of Mesonero's uncooperative behaviour, and Galdós' complaint that, lacking «datos y noticias anecdóticas», he had been forced to rely on «artículos biográficos que generalmente no dicen nada anecdótico» and on «algunas noticias cortas... que me dio el Sr. D. Juan Bautista Alonso»,7 it is surprising to find that his description of these literary figures is both detailed and anecdotal. Not only does he place them in the artistic, social and political setting of the period, but, in some cases, he ventures outside the episodio's time-span to trace their development. This raises two major questions: where did he obtain his information? Also, if his intention was to depict these writers factually, to what extent, if any, does he reveal his own views about them? The aim of the following study of Galdós' presentation of the Spanish Romantics in Los apostólicos is to provide some answers to these questions.
Ricardo Navas-Ruiz has classified the Spanish Romantic writers into three chronological groups: those born between 1785 and 1799, between 1800 and 1815, and finally, between 1816 and 1825.8 In this episodio, Galdós concentrates mainly on those belonging to the second group: Ventura de la Vega (1807-1865), Patricio de la Escosura (1807-1878), Mariano José de Larra (1809-1837), José de Espronceda (1808-1842), Juan Eugenio Hartzenbusch (1809-1880), and Ramón de Mesonero Romanos (1803-1882). The one exception, Manuel Bretón de los Herreros (1796-1873), belongs to Navas-Ruiz's first group.
Galdós usually indicates the precise time limits of his episodios and gives the dates of historical events he describes. In this case, literary and artistic events are also governed by the time factor, and correspond to four dates: December 1829; October 1830; February 1831 and Summer 1832. The material relevant to each of these periods is discussed below inchronological order.
* * *
—16→From the outset, Galdós juxtaposes politics and literature in the context of liberty. The story opens with the arrival in Madrid of a new queen, María Cristina of Naples, whose presumed Liberal sympathies made Spanish Liberals hope for a relaxation in their persecution by the absolutist government of Fernando VII. Among those watching the festivities is a historical character, Salustiano Olózaga (1805-1873), later a progressive politician, but in 1829 a young lawyer well-known in Madrid. Galdós singles him out as 'el campeón juvenil de la idea naciente' (IV, 47; 115), and it is in relationship with this 'idea naciente' of liberty that he introduces the topic of the youthful Romantics:
| (IV, 48; 115) | ||
Vega, Espronceda and Escosura were three of the youths involved in the absurd and innocent conspiracy of the Numantinos. Galdós' information about this society and its members was probably derived from three main sources: Escosura, the Conde de Cheste, formerly Juan de Pezuela y Ceballos (1810-1906), and Antonio Ferrer del Río (1814-1872). Many facts that he gives have obviously been taken from Escosura's «Recuerdos literarios».9 Writing in La Nación about Vega in 1865, Galdós refers to a biography of the poet written by the Conde de Cheste, Vega's old school-friend.10 Though this biography has not been traced, phrases and allusions used by Galdós closely resemble passages in the Conde de Cheste's «Elogio fúnebre» of Vega, given in the Spanish Academy on 23 February 1866 and published in 1870.11 Textual similarities are also noted in the case of Ferrer del Río's collection of short biographies published in the Galería de la literatura española (Madrid, 1846), a copy of which was found in Galdós's library.12 The subject of the Numantinos is introduced as follows:
| (V, 55-56; 117) | ||
Francisco Tadeo Calomarde (1773-1842), Spain's Minister of Grace and Justice from 1823 for ten years, the so-called «ominous decade», was an implacable enemy of the Liberals and responsible for harsh political and intellectual oppression.13 The mention of secret societies that menaced Calomarde's power indicates that Galdós now has in mind events prior to 1829, that is, those that occurred in the period immediately following the constitutional triennium of 1820 to 1823; the triennium itself bad been characterized by the proliferation of politically orientated secret societies.14 These were banned by royal order in August 1824.15 The young Numantinos are obviously envisaged —17→ here as representatives of the literary revival in Spain that is associated with the coming of Romanticism.
Escosura, in his «Recuerdos literarios», describes the founding of the Numantinos, and comments on the numerous secret societies that existed during the triennium. As he and his friends were too young to join any of these, they founded a new one, extreme in Liberal ideas, and clothed in all the mystery and obscurity. connected with the Freemasons. He claims that there were no more than a dozen founder members, including himself, Vega and Espronceda.16 The aim of their society was to «acabar con la monarquía absoluta».17 Galdós states: «El objeto de los Numantinos era, como quien no dice nada, derrocar la tiranía», and continues: «Todo se haría bonitamente por medio de la siguiente receta: matar al tirano y fundar una república a estilo griego» (V, 56; 117). This phrase coincides with the Conde de Cheste's statement: «el propósito sencillo y hacedero se reducía simplemente a matar al tirano, que era en aquella sazón el rey Fernando VII, y a constituirse en república a la griega».18
Galdós follows on with biographical sketches of the «audaces patriotas» (V, 56; 117), giving their ages: Vega and Escosura are eighteen, and Espronceda fifteen. Again it is clear that he is looking back from 1829 to events of the year 1825: both Vega and Escosura were born in 1807 and would have been eighteen in 1825. It is of interest that he specifically mentions this year in an earlier article on Vega in La Nación: «Su nombre figura entre los de nuestros más distinguidos literatos desde el año 1825, época de más gloria que la presente para las letras españolas.»19 The Conde de Cheste also mentions that Vega was eighteen when he belonged to the Numantinos». There is an obvious error about Espronceda's age: if he had been fifteen in 1825, as Galdós' account suggests, the year of his birth would have been 1810. This is the imprecise information Galdós had at his disposal. The correct date of Espronceda's birth, March 1808, was not known until the first years of the twentieth century.20
Galdós' sources are evident in his biographical sketch of Vega:
| (V, 56; 117) | ||
In his description of Vega, Escosura writes of «la precavida agudeza de su ingenio» and his ability to «promover instantáneamente una pendencia, ya con otros muchachos, ya con cualesquiera personas que... al paso nos encontrábamos», affirming that «en las travesuras, más de una vez peligrosas... era él de iniciador ingenioso».21 The Conde de Cheste refers to the «diabólicos juegos y las atrevidas invenciones» of Vega while a pupil at the Colegio, de San Mateo in Madrid. The «voladura de pólvora» is explained by what the Conde describes as the «trabajos de voladura», prepared by Vega with the connivance of the Conde's ten year old brother in the patio of the Colegio, and fortunately discovered before damage was done.22
The sketch continues:
—18→| (V, 56; 117-118) | ||
Ferrer del Río, mentions Vega's «rostro pálido» and «ojos negros y rasgados, saltándose de sus órbitas con fulgurante brillo», as well as his indolence: «goza este poeta reputación de perezoso y de no asistir puntualmente a ninguna cita... Es fama que por no saltar de su lecho a una silla de posta minutos antes de amanecer el día, dejó de ir a la embajada de París en clase de agregado».23 Escosura writes of Vega's «semblante enfermizo», of his «ojos negros de tan intensa mirada y elocuente expresión», and of his laziness: Vega «hubiera sido un gran diplomático si su pereza no lo estorbara», contrasting his ability to provoke conflicts and avoid their consequences with the «invencible pereza» which reduced his capacity for original work.24 The Conde de Cheste refers to Vega's «fisonomía elástica y movible, y la expresión y viveza de sus grandes ojos», describing him, when young, as «indolentemente perezoso por naturaleza americana y superioridad de entendimiento».25 He also relates that Vega, born in Buenos Aires, was only five when he lost his father, and that his mother, «celosa de su educación» and «esperanzada con la herencia de bienes en España, que un amigo de la familia había prometido al pequeño Ventura, una sola vez, le mandó a la península». The promised inheritance did not materialize.26 The extract ends with what seems to be a personal tribute to Vega, confirmed by the tone of Galdós' articles about him, published more than ten years earlier in La Nación.27
Finally, Galdós traces Vega's connection with the Numantinos:
| (V, 56-57; 118) | ||
Vega, Espronceda and some of the foremost literary and political figures of the reign of Isabel II were educated at the short-lived but notable Colegio de San Mateo during the constitutional triennium. Vega became a boarder when the school opened in 1821: the Conde de Cheste lists the «célebre empolladura».28 Escosura states that he was not educated there because his parents could not afford the fees, but that he was in close contact with the «brillante juventud» formed there, affirming that: «de allí salieron precisamente muchos poetas románticos, y entre ellos, y descollando sobre todos, Espronceda».29 The «dos retóricos eminentes» are undoubtedly Alberto Lista (1775-1848) and José Gómez Hermosilla (1771-1837); Galdós describes both men in an earlier article on Vega in La Nación.30 Lista is the more important of the two, since nearly all the statesmen and writers of the nineteenth century are said to have been «formado por él, y amoldados a sus máximas, a sus opiniones y a su gusto».31 An «afrancesado», he had spent four years in France after the War of Independence. In 1817 he returned to Spain and three years later, at the beginning of the constitutional triennium, came to Madrid where he was unable to obtain the chair hecoveted in the Reales —19→ Estudios de San Isidro. This was probably instrumental in his decision to set up a private school under his own direction: the Colegio de San Mateo.32 The school did not long survive the imposition of absolutism in 1823, andafter its forced closure, he gave private tuition to Vega and other students in his own home in the Calle Valverde.33
Galdós' information about the Academia del Mirto may have been derived from the Conde de Cheste, who claimed that not only Vega, but all those who congregated around Lista after the closure of the Colegio helped to found it, including some who had not attended the school, such as Bretón de los Herreros, Larra and Mesonero Romanos;34 another possible informant would have been Juan Bautista Alonso, a former member, whom Galdós consulted about this period.35 It was a type of poetic «tertulia», which came into being before the closure of the Colegio, when some pupils of the school who were interested in poetry, including Espronceda and Vega, with older youths, set up an extra-curriculum poetic circle. The main activity of the Academia was the writing and study of poetry, with Lista as chief adviser and guide. He collected and preserved acts, speeches and poetry connected with its sessions, and after his death these eventually came into the possession of the Marqués de Jerez de los Caballeros, who used them for his «discurso de ingreso» in the Real Academia Sevillana in 1897.36 Galdós' mention of this poetic academy indicates his appreciation of Lista's role in the intellectual formation of the Romantic literary figures he is describing. In stating that the politically orientated society of the Numantinos emerged out of the poetically inspired Academia del Mirto, Galdós probably echoes Ferrer del Río: «desarrollado el espíritu de asociación entre los académicos del Mirto... imaginaron una reunión política donde trabajasen de acuerdo, como trabajaban en una academia de literatura. A este fin crearon la sociedad de los Numantinos».37
The second member of the Numantinos to be described is Espronceda:
| (V, 57; 118) | ||
The biographies of Espronceda which would have been available to Galdós when writing this episodio are the two earliest: the first, unsigned, but thought to be the work of the poet's friend, José García de Villalta, appeared in El Labriego in May 1840;38 the second, by Ferrer del Río, was published first in El Laberinto in 1843 and later in his Galería de la literatura española in 1846.39 The account of Espronceda's birth accords with that given by Ferrer del Río.40 Had the poet been born in 1810, as Galdós thought, the vivid picture of the cannons of the War of Independence lulling the newlyborn babe to sleep might be acceptable on the grounds of verisimilitude, but there is no foundation for it: he was born on 25 March 1808, some months before the outbreak of hostilities against the French. Galdós has also utilized the biography in El Labriego, for there it is stated that Espronceda spent the first years of his life «en el seno del ejército», and that «desde que cumplió cinco o seis... pudo montar a caballo».41 It would appear that there is no —20→ evidence to support this assertion, as nothing is known about Espronceda's life until he came to live in Madrid in 1820, when Escosura first met him.42
According to Galdós, Espronceda as a youth was:
|
mediano de cuerpo y agraciado de rostro, en lo moral generoso, arrojado hasta la temeridad, ardiente en sus deseos, pobre en caudales, rico en palabra, cuando triste tétrico, cuando alegre casi loco. |
| (V, 57; 118) | ||
This tallies with details given by Escosura; the young Espronceda was «gentil, simpático, ágil, de entendimiento claro, de temperamento sanguíneo y a la violencia propenso; de ánimo audaz hasta frisar en lo temerario, y de carácter petulante, alegre...»; sometimes Lista was irritated by the «incesantes travesuras del turbulento mozo» and by the «violencia de su temperamento».43
Galdós' references to Espronceda's education and his participation in the Numantinos probably owe much to Escosura, who gives the most detailed account of the poet's schooling. Galdós writes:
| (V, 57-58; 118) | ||
Escosura describes him as a restless, high-spirited, talented pupil, somewhat of a liberal demagogue, who was considered by the conservative Hermosilla to be a future revolutionary in literature and politics, while Lista, from early on, appreciated his poetic genius. He was not only a founder member of the Numantinos but became president in Escosura's place when the latter left Spain in 1824.44
The third member of the Numantinos is Patricio de la Escosura himself:
| (V, 58; 118) | ||
In his «Recuerdos literarios», Escosura recalls his schooling in the Colegio de Doña María de Aragón which he entered in 1820, and where he became known for his radical political and «exaltado» sympathies; he helped to found the Numantinos, whose young member were all united in their hatred of despotism.45 No doubt Galdós would have known that in his lifetime Escosura had combined both military and literary pursuits; he served in the army from 1826 to 1836, and wrote drama, poetry and novels. In later life he achieved fame as an orator, so much so that when a fellow-member of the Spanish Cortes described him as being as good a speaker as Demosthenes, another is said to have retorted: «Vale más... porque Demóstenes no hablaba más que de lo que sabía.»46
—21→Galdós' description of the activities of the Numantinos follows that given by the Conde de Cheste and by Escosura:
| (V, 58-59; 118) | ||
The royal ban of 1824 on secret societies meant that the Numantinos, had they been older when eventually discovered by the police, could have paid with their lives for being members of a secret society, however inoffensive it might have been. Not all, as Galdós says, were under twenty: Escosura mentions one member «que por sus años, que pasarían de veinte, fue luego por la justicia muy severamente tratado».47 Galdós uses Masonic terminology to poke fun at the group for imitating the attributes of the secret societies currently in vogue: secrecy, symbolical devices and complicated ceremonies. Both his sources recall the masonic decor of the Hortaleza basement where the Numantinos gathered, the black draped walls and furniture, the illuminated paper shades simulating bones and skulls, the black robes and masks of the participants; Escosura describes it as a parody a secret society.48 Galdós goes on to mention other minor activities of the Numantinos, such as their expeditions on hired «borricos» (V, 59; 118), but, in this case, the Conde de Cheste links these with the Parnasillo, as, incidentally, does the Marqués de Molins in a later account.49
Escosura is the main source for Galdós' description of the dissolution of the Numantinos:
| (V, 59-60; 118-119) | ||
Escosura describes the effect on the young Numantinos of seeing their Liberal hero Rafael Riego (1785-1823) being led to his execution on 7 November 1823; subsequently they signed a pledge to avenge his death. This document was produced in the case brought against them after they had been betrayed by an informer from among their own ranks.50 The Numantinos were not brought before the head of the Military Commission, the bloodthirsty and merciless Francisco Chaperón, explains Escosura, because Cea-Bermúdez, a Minister of State and relative of Vega, transferred the case to the more lenient Sala de Alcaldes, which sentenced all the Numantinos to detention in convents, or to imprisonment. Though Escosura had escaped to France in September 1824 shortly before the society was denounced, he was awarded six years' imprisonment. He stales that Espronceda's reclusion in the Convent of San —22→ Francisco at Guadalajara only lasted a few weeks because it was deemed necessary to «evitar las contingencias de la propaganda que hacía entre los frailes jóvenes», and that Vega was released after some months in the Convent of La Trinidad in Madrid because of his good behaviour and the help of powerful relatives.51 According to the Conde de Cheste, ecclesiastical confinement must have been of benefit to Vega, for he quickly won the affection of the friars and was looked after by them during a difficult stage in his life when he was in financial and political trouble; after this experience he devoted himself seriously to literature.52 In Espronceda's case, Galdós may allude to the fact that the poet began to compose his first major work, the epic poem «El Pelayo», while in Guadalajara; as Ferrer del Río puts it in grandiloquent tone: «Allí en la soledad del claustro se enaltecía su mente juvenil y lozana por las regiones de la epopeya».53
Galdós next considers the group of writers, publishers and artists who began to meet regularly «primero en el Café de Venecia y después en el del Príncipe, que desde entonces sacó el nombre de Parnasillo» (VI, 63-64; 120), echoing the Conde de Cheste's words.54 In 1827, two of the Numantinos are said to be absent from Madrid:
| (VI, 60-61; 119) | ||
Ferrer del Rio states that Escosura entered the Academia de Artillería in Madrid in 1826;55 his whereabouts in 1827 are uncertain. It is known that Espronceda left Spain in 1826, journeying via Gibraltar to Lisbon.56 Ferrer del Río notes that Espronceda's difficulties with the police led to his departure from Spain and he mentions the Tagus incident.57
Besides Vega, two members of this new group are singled out for mention: Bretón de los Herreros and Larra. Literature and art, not politics, were to be the main interests of the Parnasillo. Galdós' encomiastic words emphasize the view expressed in his letter to Mesonero Romanos that these youths were the initiators of a cultural renaissance in Spain: «La juventud abría los ojos columbrando la grandeza lejana de sus destinos. ¡Generación valiente, en buen hora naciste!» (VI, 61; 119). The source for his information about Bretón, the nameless but easily identifiable «joven riojano y por añadidura tuerto, que hacía las comedias más saladas que podrían imaginarse» (VI, 61; 119) is not obvious, but his personal appreciation of Bretón is evident in an article published in 1866 in La Nación.58 A reference to Bretón's «expediciones asnales» may be explained by the Conde de Cheste's account of the «cabalgatas a Hortaleza, con detrimento de las asentaderas de Bretón y de Alonso, no muy fuertes en el arte de andar a la jineta».59 Larra is described as:
| (VI, 61-62; 119) | ||
Most of the facts Galdós gives about Larra were available at the time he was writing in a study of Larra's life published in 1874 by C. Cortés;60 only —23→ Mesonero, however, claims that Larra studied medicine.61 Galdós' stress on the word «casi» in this passage points to his familiarity with Larra's article: «Cuasi. Pesadilla política». In giving Larra's age as twenty, it is clear that Galdós is now dealing with the year 1829. The comments about Larra's personality and anti-social behaviour, as expressed in the following extract, maywell reflect the views of Larra's contemporaries, such as Mesonero and Juan Bautista Alonso, or be derived from Ferrer del Río's unsympathetic portrait.62 Galdós writes:
| (VI, 62; 119) | ||
Galdós' facial description of Larra: «A su pelo muy negro acompañaban bigote y barba precoces y su color era malo, bilioso, y sus ojos grandes y tristes» (VI, 62; 119), might have been derived from the portrait painted by Gutiérrez de la Vega (18?-1865) which hangs today in the Museo romántico in Madrid, but the addition of other curious details indicates a living source:
|
Tenía mala boca y peores dientes, lo cual le afeaba bastante. Fumaba sin descanso, como si padeciera una sed de humo, que jamás podía aplacarse. |
| (VI, 62; 119) | ||
Larra's attitude to Spain is also considered:
|
Educado en Francia, afectaba a veces desprecio de su nación y la censuraba con acritud, quejándose de ella como el prisionero que se queja de la estrechez incómoda de su jaula. |
| (VI, 62; 119) | ||
Here, though Galdós seems to imply that Larra's French education influenced his view of Spain, the choice of the word «afectaba» denotes his acceptance of Larra's attachment to his country, indicating his understanding of a writer who, like himself, was preoccupied by the problem of Spain, and who, to some extent, may be viewed as his precursor.63 He acknowledges Larra to have been a highly original literary critic, possibly bearing in mind Larra's outstanding contribution to literary criticism: «Una comedia moderna: Treinta años o la vida de un jugador» (31 March 1828):
| (VI, 63; 119) | ||
However, he is scathing about Larra's poetry and early prose: «hacía muy malos versos y no muy buena prosa» (VI, 61; 119), deriding in particular two poems of circumstance, the ode on the «Terremotos de Murcia» (September 1829), and a sonnet in celebration of the queen's pregnancy dated September 1831, of which the first two lines are quoted (VI, 63; 119). It is of interest here that Cortés, writing in the same context, only refers to the former poem.64
—24→Mesonero gives a detailed account of the gatherings at the Café del Príncipe in his Memorias (1879); a later one can be found in Fernández de Córdova's reminiscences (1886-1889).65 Galdós confines himself to describing in general terms the detrimental effect on the young members of the Parnasillo of the censorship and political oppression which became particularly acute in the years 1827 and 1828:
| (VI, 64; 120) | ||
He explains that these young men, conscious of their literary vocation, but cut off from external literary currents and denied free expression, could only find an outlet for their repressed vitality in childish, futile pranks (VI, 65-67; 120). He is obviously referring here to the Partida del trueno, which is mentioned by both Mesonero and Fernández; de Córdova. This group was composed of some of the younger members of the Parnasillo, including Espronceda, Vega and Larra. Larra's articles on «Los calaveras» (June, 1835) probably contain reminiscences of their escapades.
In 1830, the July revolution in Paris brought about the abdication of the Bourbon Charles X and the enthronement of Louis Philippe, Duke of Orleans, pledged to uphold a constitutional monarchy. This change of monarchy produced a corresponding change in the French government's attitude to the Spanish Liberal exiles living in France and England, for, in order to obtain diplomatic recognition for himself, Louis Philippe offered them support, which was later to be withdrawn when he had been recognized by Fernando VII's government. Counting on French help, the exiles planned to invade Spain from the north and south, with a view to restoring constitutional rule there. All these invasions were total failures, resulting in further persecution of Liberal sympathisers within Spain. Though General Espoz y Mina was selected to command the planned invasion from the north, some Liberal generals opted for independent action, among them Colonel Joaquín de Pablo, otherwise known as «Chapalangarra», who led a force into Spain in the Valcarlos area to meet defeat and death.
Galdós brings these historical events into prominence as topics of conversation in Madrid «tertulias». Vega, no longer identified as «Veguita», is one of the new poets attending these gatherings. He gives news received in a letter from 'Pepe Espronceda' about his participation in «Chapalangarra's» invasion force, and about the adventures that followed his arrival in Lisbon: «tantas y tan maravillosas que bastaran a componer la más entretenida novela de amores y batallas» (VII, 77; 123). These words echo Ferrer del Río's simile «propio de una novela» in the same context.66 Both early biographies of Espronceda state that he accompanied «Chapalangarra»; Galdós may have —25→ read of the poet's feelings for his dead leader in his poem: «A la muerte de don Joaquín de Pablo». The details he gives of Espronceda's adventures correspond with those found in the El Labriego biography:
| (VII, 77; 123) | ||
The soldier's daughter is Teresa Mancha y Arrayal, the subject of Espronceda's «Canto a Teresa». It should be noted here, in relation to these early biographies, that inaccuracies in their treatment of the poet's relationship with Teresa have been pointed out.67 In conformity with facts given in these biographies, Galdós continues with a brief outline of Espronceda's subsequent journey to Paris, where he is said to have mixed with other exiles, students and journalists, and to have taken part in the fighting at the barricades during the July revolution (VII, 77-78; 123-124).
Galdós then discusses Espronceda's enlistment in a volunteer force to fight for the liberation of Poland. At the end of 1830, a Polish insurrection against the autocratic rule of Russia broke out, the struggle lasting until September 1831 when Warsaw fell to the Czar's troops. In France, violent demonstrations of sympathy for the Poles led to the formation of a committee to coordinate aid for Poland, and it was planned to send a volunteer force to fight alongside the Polish revolutionaries. The situation, however, created a crisis for the new and insecure government of Louis Philippe, with the result that the force was disbanded and Poland abandoned to the Russians.68 Both early biographies mention that Espronceda enlisted in this force. Galdós' account contains details not present in either and lays stress on the sentimentality accompanying the upsurge of national feeling associated with Romanticism:
| (VII, 78; 124) | ||
Galdós may allude here to the «chansons» of Pierre-Jean Béranger (1780-1857), one of the main French composers of popular songs at the time, who claimed that part of the triumph of the July Revolution belonged to him because of their influence, and published some, including «Poniatowski'» «Hâtons-nous!» and «Quatorze Juillet 1829», in 1831 for the profit of the Polish Committee;69 an 1853 edition of Béranger's complete works was found in Galdós' library.70 With unmistakeable irony Galdós contrasts Espronceda's attitude to the Russians in 1831 with the content of his «Canto del Cosaco» (1838), and comments on his role in the invasion of Spain:
—26→| (VII, 7879; 124) | ||
This presentation of Espronceda owes nothing to the early biographers, and Galdós' conception of his attitude is analogous to a modern historian's view of the whole undertaking: «El Romanticismo, con su exaltación de los valores sentimentales, teñirá fuertemente la acción de los conspiradores, que se lanzaron en muchas ocasiones a la empresa sin llevar a cabo los preparativos mínimos... Son estos factores románticos los que explican actuaciones impremeditadas que, con cierta frecuencia, terminaron en desastres...»71 Here one senses Galdós' mistrust of the role that feeling and the unfettered imagination, rather than reason, may play in dictating action and shaping an individual's view of the world. For him, imagination was always to be «la loca de la casa».
Information about Vega is given by the fictional Father Alelí of the Mercedarian order, who lives in the Trinidad calzada convent in Madrid (XI, 115; 134). This character is obviously modelled on the benevolent Father González of the same convent, who, according to the Conde de Cheste, was particularly kind to Vega during his stay there after the Numantinos' trial. Father Alelí's account paraphrases the description of Vega's stay in the convent given by the Conde: Vega's charm and gentle nature earned him the lasting affection of the community. He attended all the convent ceremonies and entertained everyone with poetry recitals and «los recursos de su inagotable imaginación»; all the delicacies at the friars' disposal, such as turtle and salmon, were reserved for their «mimado Benjamín».72 Father Alelí also mentions Vega's performance in a comedy «en casa de Norzagaray», and his arrest because of his long hair and moustache, sure evidence of Liberal tendencies (XI, 116-117; 135). Galdós has derived these details from Escosura.73
This priest is supposed to have given refuge in his convent to Espronceda, the «busca-ruidos» (XIII, 136; 140), a term also used by the Conde de Cheste to describe Espronceda.74 Galdós writes of the latter as a man
|
que jamás haría nada de provecho fuera de las hazañas en el glorioso campo del arte; gran poeta que pronto había de señalarse cantando dolores y melancolías desgarradoras. |
| (XV, 148; 144) | ||
His picture of Espronceda is that of a «calavera», and may owe much to the so-called legend about the poet, fostered by Ferrer del Río, and one that recent critics have censured severely.75 After leaving the convent in which Vega «cumplió seis años antes su condena», the poet «solicitó una plaza en la Guardia de la Real Persona que le fue concedida más adelante» (XV, 148; 144). The early biographies of Espronceda do not mention this stay in a convent, and the apparent suggestion that he was in Madrid in 1831 seems to be unfounded, since he is known to have been in Paris in 1832 and his name was on a list of refugees reaching the Spanish frontier in early March —27→ 1833.76 His service with the «Guardias de corps» dates from May 1833,after the time-limit of this episodio.77
Galdós now mentions the relationship of Bretón and Vega with Juan de Grimaldi, impresario and director of the Teatro del Príncipe.78 Bretón, «desesperado por las horribles trabas del teatro, marchó a Sevilla con Grimaldi» (XV, 148; 144); the source of this information is not clear, but it is evidently correct.79 Vega's friends have prevented him from joining Grimaldi's company as an actor (XV, 148-149; 144); the story about this is given by Escosura.80 After Grimaldi's company depart from Madrid, the theatre has to exist on translations, some of them done by:
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un muchacho carpintero, de modestia suma y apellido impronunciable. Era hijo de un alemán y hacía sillas y dramas. |
| (XV, 149; 144) | ||
Galdós does not have to mention the name of Hartzenbusch. Numerous details follow about his work for the revival of Golden Age drama, his translations, and his inability to achieve success in his own name:
| (XV, 149-150; 144) | ||
All the facts that are given about Hartzenbusch can be found in Ferrer del Río's biography, including the incident mentioned, which was an exchange between 'un escritor de costumbres y un poeta, que han fallecido en la flor de sus años': obviously Larra and Espronceda.81 Galdós' esteem for the author of Los amantes de Teruel is expressed here in no uncertain terms, and reflects that of his two early articles about Hartzenbusch in La Nación.82
Next, Galdós turns his attention to Larra:
| (XV, 150; 144) | ||
Larra's satirical articles were not published in 1831; the last number of El Duende Satírico del Día is dated 31 December 1828, and the first number of El Pobrecito Hablador, 17 August 1832. His marriage to Josefa Anacleta Wetoret y Martínez on 13 August 1829 is known to have been complicated by his relationship with Dolores Armijo. Galdós' remarks about this matter could be based on the biography by C. Cortés, as also his mention of the generosity of Don Manuel Fernández Varela (1772-1834) to Larra (XV, 150-151; 144).83 However, Cortés is not the source for his allusion to Don Manuel María Cambronero (1765-1834), the father-in-law of Dolores Armijo (XV, 152-153; 145), and this information may have come from Juan Bautista Alonso, who had been one of Cambronero's assistants. It is of significance that Galdós states here that Alonso introduced Vega, Espronceda and the 'misántropo' to Cambronero's «tertulias»; all Larra's pseudonyms are used to describe him (XV, 153; 145).
—28→
As events in the narrative move on to the early summer of 1832, Galdós abandons his fictional characters for the «literatos que nos son más caros que las propias niñas de nuestros ojos» and the Parnasillo: «sin duda, de allí había de salir algo grande» (XXIX, 307; 189). He describes the literary scene in Madrid, stressing the influence of Victor Hugo's Hernani (1830), which had polarized the literary world into two camps. Romanticism in Spain, he maintains, was then «en la esfera del ideal», and not what it was to become later, a matter of fashion; the enumeration of some of the formal differences between Romantic and Neo-classical art follows enthusiastic references to the new French drama (XXIX, 307-309; 189-190). Romanticism is envisaged as a revolution whose time bad not yet come, and whose «insignes jefes no eran todavía más que conspiradores» (XXIX, 309; 189-190). It was only after the death of Fernando VII that freedom of expression, coinciding with the return of the Liberal exiles, became possible; for this reason the first Spanish Romantic dramas performed in Spain date from 1834. Galdós envisages their advent as a force that will rock the crumbling fabric of the Spanish stage (XXIX, 310; 190).
In a final mention of Espronceda, Galdós writes:
| (XXIX, 310; 190) | ||
Evidently Galdós considers Espronceda's great works to be those written after his return to Spain; these include the «Canciones», «El estudiante de Salamanca» and «El diablo mundo», a copy of which was found in Galdós' library.84 The picture of a dissolute Espronceda and the reference to the indiscreet verses which led to exile in Cuéllar may have been derived from Ferrer del Río's biography, but once again, the events fall outside the timespan of the episodio.
A brief summary of the occupations of some Spanish writers, including Vega and Bretón (XXIX, 310-311; 190), leads to the subject of the «Curioso Parlante» (XXIX, 311-313; 190-191). In this case, Galdós did not need to look elsewhere for information. His admiration for Mesonero dated back to his childhood, when the reading of Escenas matritenses (1842) awoke in him «la afición a las pícaras letras y especialmente a los escritos de costumbres».85 He first met Mesonero in Madrid, at the older man's invitation, in March 1874, and after that had been a regular visitor at his house.86 The correspondence between the two writers indicates how valuable Mesonero's recollections of the reign Fernando VII were to Galdós when he was writing the second series of Episodios.
In this episodio, Galdós intended to pay homage to his friend who, «habiendo fundado en España el cuadro de costumbres echó las bases de la novela contemporánea».87 He points out in this sketch, which begins with a portrait —29→ almost identical to that found in two of his early articles about Mesonero, in La Nación,88 that the cuadro de costumbres links the realism of Cervantes with the contemporary novel: Mesonero «trajo el cuadro de costumbres, la sátira amena, la rica pintura de la vida, elementos de que toma su substancia y hechura la novela» (XXIX, 311-312; 190). Perhaps Galdós is merely being taaful when he states that Larra, «cuya originalidad consiste en la crítica literaria y la sátira política», was «en la pintura de costumbres discípulo y continuador de El Curioso Parlante» (XXIX, 312; 190), no doubt aware that this was a point on which Mesonero felt strongly.89 The final tribute to Mesonero is indicative of Galdós' own interests:
| (XXIX, 312-313; 191) | ||
He refers to characters that appear more than once in Mesonero's articles. Originally, he had planned to write a «cuadro» in which they would be featured side by side with their creator, but «a causa de las dimensiones del libro», this was not done.90 This reason may account for the last, hasty but factually correct, reference to Larra: «En agosto del mismo año de 1832 principió a salir El pobrecito hablador de Larra. De éste quisiéramos hablar un poco; pero el insoportable calor nos obliga a salir de Madrid» (XXIX, 313; 191). From this point, there is no further mention of the Spanish Romantic literary figures in Los apostólicos.
* * *
In the course of the preceding study, the sources from which much of Galdós' information about the «ilustre pléyade» was obtained have been indicated; often his indiscreet borrowing of words and phrases has helped in their identification.
It has been shown that, though he appears to lean heavily on these sources, his personal sympathies and opinions sometimes make their presence felt. Indeed, he does not try very hard to conceal his own views, as for example, in the case of Mesonero; the portrayal of Espronceda is also of interest because it reveals Galdós' mistrust of certain Romantic attitudes. It is difficult to account for the curious omission of any comment about the Romantic historical novel. He makes only a passing reference to Espronceda's Sancho Saldaña (1834), which is not even named, neglecting Larra's El doncel de don Enrique el doliente, published the same year, and also Escosura's El conde de Candespina (1832), which, unlike the two others, falls within the timespan of the episodio.
Galdós stated that what he had written about these literary figures was insignificant and full of errors, but, as has been shown, he was by no means ill-informed about them, and his mistakes are only minor. Equally, it is not the case, as he asserted, that his «semblanzas» are unrecognizable.91 His biographical —30→ sketches of Vega, Espronceda, Escosura, Larra, Bretón, Hartzenbusch and Mesonero, with their cataloguing of apparently trivial details, are not merely superficial, for they disguise a considerable amount of information about each individual.
He shows, in this presentation of the Spanish Romantics, that before the death of Fernando VII and the return of the Liberal exiles, feelings and ideas that are generally associated with nineteenth-century Romanticism were fermenting in Spain: antagonism to the old regime, political idealism in the young, liberalism in literature and politics. These young men, gallant participants in the struggle for liberty of thought and expression, stand out brightly against the gloomy background of the «ominous decade». It would seem that it was not for literary reasons alone that Galdós referred to them as «la juventud... más ilustre que había tenido España desde que envejeció la gran pléyade del siglo XVII» (VI, 65; 120).
Kingston, Ontario
—31→ —32→I wish to thank Professor J. E. Varey of Westfield College, University of London, for his invaluable help and encouragement.