Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. I.djvu/141

ARAGON. But their language has long since ceased to be the language of literature. On the union of the two crowns of Castile and Aragon, the dialect of the former became that of the court and of the Muses. The beautiful Proven9al, once more rich and me- SECTION n. found by the English reader in the the author has not redeemed his Retrospective Review. (No. 7. pledge of continuing his notices to art. 2.) It is to be regretted that the Castilian era of Spanish poetry. The influence of free institutions in Aragon is perceptible in the fa- miliarity displayed by its writers with public affairs, and in the free- dom with which they have dis- cussed the organization, and gen- eral economy of its government. The creation of the office of national chronicler, under Charles V., gave wider scope to the developement of historic talent. Among the most conspicuous of these historiogra- phers was Jerome Blancas, several of whose productions, as the " Co- ronaciones de los Reyes," " Modo de Proceder en Cortes," and "Commentarii Rerum Aragonen- sium," especially the last, have been repeatedly quoted in the pre- ceding section. This work pre- sents a view of the different orders of the state, and particularly of the office of the Justicia, with their pe- culiar functions and privileges. The author, omitting the usual details of history, has devoted himself to the illustration of the constitutional antiquities of his country, in the execution of which he has shown a sagacity and erudition equally profound. His sentiments breathe a generous love of freedom, which one would scarcely suppose to have existed, and still less to have been promulgated, under Philip II. His style is distinguished by the purity and even elegance of its latinity. The first edition, being that which I have used, appeared in 1588, in folio Consritn- at Saragossa, executed with much Je"" oVY'" typographical beauty. The work gon. was afterwards incorporated into Schottus's "Hispania lllustrata." — Blancas, after having held his office for ten years, died in his native city of Saragossa, in 1590. Jerome Martel, from whose lit- niancaa, tie treatise, " Forma de Celebrar M-^ii*-'. and Cortes," I have also liberally cited, ^'*^'"»>- was appointed public historiogra- pher in 1597. His continuation of Zurita's Annals, which he left un- published at his decease, was never admitted to the honors of the press, because, says his biogra- pher, Uztarroz, verdades lastiman ; a reason as creditable to the author, as disgraceful to the government. A third writer, and the one chiefly relied on for the account of Catalonia, is Don Antonio Capma- ny. His " Memorias Historicas de Barcelona," (5 torn. 4to. Madrid, 1779 - 1792,) may be thought some- what too discursive and circum- stantial for his subject ; but it is hardly right to quarrel with infor- mation so rare, and painfully col- lected ; the sin of exuberance at any rate is much less frequent, and more easily corrected, than that of sterility. His work is a vast re- pertory of facts relating to the commerce, manufactures, general policy, and public prosperity, not only of Barcelona, but of Catalonia.