DECAY OF THE OLD SPANISH POETRY AND ELOQUENCE, AND INTRODUCTION OF THE FRENCH STYLE INTO SPANISH LITERATURE. The last branch of Spanish national poetry still flourished in the reign of Charles II. The French drama, which then appeared in the first dawn of its celebrity, had as yet no influence on the drama of Spain. Several assiduous writers continued to enrich Spanish literature with new pieces in the manner of Calderon; and these writers have here the first claim to consideration. CANDAMO, ZAMORA, AND CAÑIZARES, DRAMATISTS IN THE OLD NATIONAL STYLE. Towards the close of the seventeenth century, the dramas of Francisco Bancas Cándamo, were particularly esteemed. Cándamo, who was an Asturian of noble extraction, received, during a certain period, a pension from Charles II. for writing for the court theatre at Madrid. He, however, died in indigence in the year 1709. His historical play, entitled, _El Esclavo en Grillos de Oro_, (the Slave in Golden Fetters), is still spoken of in terms of approbation in Spain.[572] It is a romantic anecdote taken from the history of the Emperor Trajan. The singular combination of the ancient and the romantic costume which this play presents, is a fault with which the author must not be reproached; for since Lope de Vega’s time the spirit of the Spanish drama required that the events of ancient history should be arrayed only in the garb of romance. But Cándamo has put into the mouth of the Emperor Trajan, a superabundance of phrases which are exceedingly dull, though conveyed in light and harmonious verse. The purely romantic scenes in which ladies and young knights appear, are the best in this drama, which, according to the Spanish classification is a heroic comedy. Antonio de Zamora, a gentleman belonging to the court of Madrid, was particularly distinguished as a writer of comic dramas. The comedy, entitled, _El Hechizado por Fuerza_, (the Bewitched by Force),[573] is one of the most humorous and regular in the Spanish language. It may also be numbered among the dramas of character; at least the two principal parts, though a little overcharged, are nevertheless boldly conceived and consistently maintained. One is a fantastic old man, who continually expresses himself in a tone of sarcastic comic humour:--he makes a parade of his odd fancies, as if they were so many proofs of real wisdom; and he is induced to consent to a marriage under the idea that he is bewitched. The other comic character is an enamoured physician, who is prevailed on to take a part in the pretended bewitching, and who on his part is also outwitted by the sprightly girls whom he has assisted in playing off their trick on the old man.