We hear of these things and read of them in history, but one needs to have seen that awful memorial to realise what share the Inquisition has had in transforming a naturally heroic and kindly people into the inert masses which nothing, or almost nothing, would move so long as they had _pan y toros_ (bread and bulls). Thanks to the horrors of the Inquisition and the _Autos-da-fé_, the whole people have acquired a character which assuredly they do not deserve. The blind bigotry and cynical cruelty of Philip II. and his lunatic successors have been identified with the races over which, unfortunately for Spain, they ruled for so many years. When one remembers that this is the view taken of the Inquisition, and of the domination of the Church in effacing all kinds of culture, by the liberal and educated Spaniard of to-day, and that there is, even now, an extreme party which would fain see the "Holy Office" re-established, with all its old powers, it is easy to understand at what a critical point the clerical question has arrived in Spain; nor need one wonder at the feeling which in all parts of the kingdom has been aroused by the recrudescence of the religious orders, more especially of the determined struggle of the Jesuits to retain and even to reassert their power. The Madonna, who is always spoken of as "La Vírgen," never as "Santa María," is the great object of love and of reverence in Spain, while the words _Dios_ and _Jesus_ are used as common exclamations in a way that impresses English people rather unfavourably. It is a shock to hear all classes using the _Por Dios!_ which with us is a mark of the purest blackguardism, and the use as common names of that of Our Lord and of _Salvador_, or Saviour, always strikes a disagreeable note. There is in Madrid a "Calle Jesus," and the sacred name, used as a common expletive, is heard on all sides. One of the most charming of Yradier's Andalusian songs, addressed by a _contrabandista_ to his _novia_, runs thus: Pero tengo unas patillas. Que patillas puñála! Es lo mejor que se ha jecho En de Jesu Cristo acá![2] [2] "But I have such a stunning pair of whiskers! The best that have ever been seen since those of Jesus Christ!" And no one is offended; in fact, no irreverence is probably meant.