If asked what predominant sensation Spanish Architecture had produced in my mind, I think I should be inclined to say, that of the manifestation of an entire indifference to expense. No one appears to have counted the cost of the work upon which he engaged. Whether it was a mediæval architect entering upon the vast construction of Cathedrals, such as Seville, Toledo or Leon, a Renaissance architect dashing upon the immense laying out of buildings such as the Cathedrals of Salamanca or Granada, or an Herrera plunging into such stone quarries as the Escorial or the Cathedral at Valladolid, not a shadow of doubt ever seems to have crossed the mind of the beginners, that some one would complete what they began. Such peculiarities of national character are apt to beget proverbs, and we accordingly find the grave ponderosity, and at the same time power, of the Spaniard in the undertakings of his palmy days, thus characterised in comparison with those of the other peoples of Europe. "In their undertakings," says "Der curieuse Antiquarius durch Europam,"[1] the natives of different European countries are assumed by old legends to proceed thus:-- "Der Frantzose wie ein Adler, Der Deutsche wie ein Bär, Der Italianer wie ein Fuchs, Der Spanier wie ein Elephant, Der Engelländer wie ein Löw."[2] To some, and but few, Spanish architects was it given to see ended what they commenced, and even such favourites of fortune generally suffered from a curtailment of their too ambitious designs. I could not but feel, in looking at the works of Herrera, and indeed at those of several other men, such as Diego de Siloe, Gil de Ontañon, Henrique de Egas, Alonso Covarrubbias, and Juan de Badajoz, that there exists for architecture a just mean between their frequent extravagance, and the sordid and shabby spirit in which we from time to time approach the question of expenditure upon "public works." The economy which consists in sobriety and simplicity of parts, especially in structures destined to subserve ordinary uses, is as much to be admired, as the economy which aims at the combination of magnificence with "cheese-paring" is to be deprecated and despised. CONTENTS PLATE I. BURGOS. The Arco de Santa Maria PLATE II. BURGOS. Casa de Miranda PLATE III. VALLADOLID. College of San Gregorio PLATE IV. VALLADOLID. Patio de San Gregorio PLATE V. VALLADOLID. Patio de San Gregorio PLATE VI. VALLADOLID. Small Patio, Colegio de San Gregorio PLATE VII. VALLADOLID. La Casa del Infantado PLATE VIII. VALLADOLID. Church of San Isidro PLATE IX. LEON. Convent of San Marcos PLATE X. LEON. Cloister of the Convent of San Marcos PLATE XI. LEON. Exterior of the Casa de Los Gusmanes PLATE XII. LEON. Patio of the Casa de Los Gusmanes PLATE XIII. LEON. Detail from a House in the Calle de La Tesoriera PLATE XIV. SALAMANCA. Exterior of the Casa de Las Conchas PLATE XV. SALAMANCA. Patio of the Casa de Las Conchas