Older, and from certain points of view more interesting than any of these exhibits, are the Visigothic crowns of Guarrazar, the companions of those in the Cluny museum. These were found one moonlit night in the year 1858 by two peasants, in the bed of a fountain, and only secured with difficulty by the government. Much of the treasure had already come into the possession of the goldsmiths of Toledo, and had been broken up or melted down. It is said to have comprised a beautiful golden dove, which, having been acquired by a jeweller, occasioned him so many qualms of conscience that he at last eased his mind by throwing it into the Tagus. The crowns were the offerings at shrines of King Swinthila and his successors. They consist of hoops studded with gems and dangling from a separate ornament of gold and rock-crystal. From the hoop hang pendants and letters in enamel, making up the inscription, _Swinthilanus Rex Offeret_. Adjacent are crosses and ornaments of the same period. An antique horse’s bit, ascribed by tradition to Witiza, is believed by the Count de Valencia to date from the Visigothic era. The collection comprises a superb assortment of swords, beautiful specimens of the famous Toledo blades. Among those of historic interest, I forgot to mention that of Hernando Cortés. The sword of Philip II., numbered G. 47 has a magnificent hilt richly chased, with a spherical pommel. It is no doubt the work of Desiderius Colman, though believed, at one time, to have been designed by Benvenuto Cellini. Among the trophies are the sword of the Duke of Weimar, taken at Nordlingen in 1634, the arms taken from Francis I. at Pavia, Moorish arms from Tunis, the breastplate of the Elector of Saxony, taken at Mühlberg, swords and standards from Lepanto, and flags taken by the famous Admiral Alvaro de Bazán. The arms belonging to his late Catholic Majesty, Alfonso XII., have also been added to the collection by the Queen Dowager, who well knew the profound interest her august husband took in this superb military museum. THE ESCORIAL--LA GRANJA--EL PARDO No one visits Madrid without making an excursion to the Escorial, which is to the Spanish capital what the Pyramids are to Cairo. Indeed, there is more than one point of resemblance between these buildings. Both impress mainly by their size, both produce no sensations of pleasure in the beholder, both embody the solemn and crushing conception of the majesty of death entertained by great and despotic kings.