[94] A beautiful tribute is paid by Cervantes, in his tale of the “Española Inglesa,” (Novelas, Madrid, 1783, 8vo, Tom. I. pp. 358, 359), to the zeal and disinterestedness of the poor priests and monks, who went, sometimes at the risk of their lives, to Algiers to redeem the Christians, and one of whom remained there, giving his person in pledge for four thousand ducats which he had borrowed to send home captives. Of Father Juan Gil, who effected the redemption of Cervantes himself from slavery, Cervantes speaks expressly, in his “Trato de Argel,” as Un frayle Trinitario, Christianísimo, Amigo de hacer bien y conocido, Porque ha estado otra vez en esta tierra Rescatando Christianos; y dió exemplo De una gran Christiandad y gran prudencia;-- Su nombre es Fray Juan Gil. Jornada V. A friar of the blessed Trinity, A truly Christian man, known as the friend of all good charities, who once before Came to Algiers to ransom Christian slaves, And gave example in himself, and proof Of a most wise and Christian faithfulness. His name is Friar Juan Gil. [95] Cervantes was evidently a person of great kindliness and generosity of disposition; but he never overcame a strong feeling of hatred against the Moors, inherited from his ancestors and exasperated by his own captivity. This feeling appears in both his plays, written at distant periods, on the subject of his life in Algiers; in the fifty-fourth chapter of the second part of Don Quixote; and elsewhere. But except this, and an occasional touch of satire against duennas,--in which Quevedo and Luis Vélez de Guevara are as sever as he is,--and a little bitterness about private chaplains that exercised a cunning influence in the houses of the great, I know nothing, in all his works, to impeach his universal good-nature. See Don Quixote, ed. Clemencin, Vol. V. p. 260, note, and p. 138, note.