The main work of Mariana's lifetime was his _Historia de España_, written, as he says, to let Europe know what Spain had accomplished. It was not unnatural that, with a foreign audience in view, Mariana should address it in Latin; hence his first twenty books were published in that language (1592). But he bethought him of his own country, and, in a happy hour, became his own translator. His Castilian version (1601) almost amounts to a new work; for, in translating, he cut, amplified, and corrected as he saw fit. And in subsequent editions he continued to modify and improve. The result is a masterpiece of historic prose. Mariana was not minute in his methods, and his contempt for literal accuracy comes out in his answer to Lupercio de Argensola, who had pointed out an error in detail:—"I never pretended to verify each fact in a history of Spain; if I had, I should never have finished it." This is typical of the man and his method. He makes no pretence to special research, and he accepts a legend if he honestly can: even as he follows a common literary convention when he writes speeches in Livy's manner for his chief personages. But while a score of writers cared more for accuracy than did Mariana, his work survives not as a chronicle, but as a brilliant exercise in literature. His learning is more than enough to save him from radical blunders; his impartiality and his patriotism go hand in hand; his character-drawing is firm and convincing; and his style, with its faint savour of archaism, is of unsurpassed dignity and clearness in his narrative. He cared more for the spirit than for the letter, and time has justified him. "The most remarkable union of picturesque chronicling with sober history that the world has ever seen"—in such words Ticknor gives his verdict; and the praise is not excessive. FOOTNOTES: [16] In Felipe II.'s time the normal value of an _escudo de oro_ was 8s. 4-1/4d. The actual exchange value varied between seven and eight shillings. [17] One _real de vellón_ = 34 _maravedís_ = 2 pence, 2 farthings, and 2/3 of a farthing. One _real de plata_ = 2 _reales de vellón_. Unless otherwise stated, a _real_ may be taken to mean a _real de plata_. [18] See _The Athenæum_, April 12, April 19, and May 3, 1873. [19] See Cristóbal Pérez de Pastor's _Documentos cervantinos hasta ahora inéditos_ (Madrid, 1897), pp. 135-137. [20] British Museum Add. MSS., 20, 812. [21] This is taken by all English writers, and appears in the British Museum Catalogue, as a real name. I only reveal an open secret if I point out that it is a perfect anagram for Francisco Asenjo Barbieri, the excellent scholar to whom we owe the _Cancionero musical de los siglos xv. y xvi._ and the new edition of Encina's theatre. [22] The seducer is conjectured to be Olivares' son-in-law, the Duque de Medina de las Torres.