Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra was baptized October 9, 1547, at Alcalà de Henares, a town of New Castile, not far from Madrid. The exact date of his birth does not appear; and even the locality of it has been disputed by several towns, as the Grecian cities contended for the honour due to the birth-place of Homer. Sprung from noble, but not wealthy parents, he was sent at an early age to the metropolis, to qualify himself for one or other of the only lucrative professions in Spain, the church, the law, or medicine; but his attention was diverted from this object by a strong propensity to writing verses. Juan Lopez de Hoyos, a teacher of some note, under whom he studied ancient and modern literature, thought Cervantes the most promising of his pupils; and inserted an elegy, and other verses of his favourite’s composition, in an account of the funeral of Queen Isabel, wife of Philip II., published in 1569. These, like the greater number of Cervantes’ early poems, which are very numerous, do not rise above mediocrity; though the author, who was a long time in discovering that his real talent lay in prose writing, seems to have thought otherwise. He was an indefatigable reader, and used to stop before the book-stalls in the street, perusing anything that attracted his attention. In this manner he gained that intimate knowledge of the old literature of his country, which is displayed in his works; especially in the “Canto de Caliope,” the “Escrutinio de la libreria de Don Quixote,” and the “Viage al Parnaso.” Thus he spent his time, reading and writing verses, seemingly heedless of his future subsistence, until the pressure of want, and the ill success of his poetry, drove him to quit Spain, and seek his fortune elsewhere. He went to Rome, and entered the service of Cardinal Giulio Acquaviva; but soon after enlisted as a private in the armament which Pope Pius V. fitted out in 1570 for the relief of Cyprus, then attacked by the Turks. In 1571 he fought in the famous battle of Lepanto, when the combined squadrons of the Christian powers, commanded by Don Juan of Austria, defeated and destroyed the Ottoman fleet. On that memorable day Cervantes received a gun-shot wound, which for life deprived him of the use of his left hand. Far however from repining, the generous Spaniard always expressed his joyfulness at having purchased the honour of sharing in that victory at that price. The wounded were landed at Messina, and Cervantes among them. Having recovered his health, he enlisted in the troops of Naples, then subject to the crown of Spain. In 1575, as he was voyaging to Spain, the vessel was taken by corsairs; and being carried to Algiers, Cervantes became a slave to Dali Mami, an Albanian renegade, notorious for cruelty. The high-spirited Spaniard bent all his energies to effect an escape; and contrived to get out of the city of Algiers, and conceal himself in a cave by the sea-coast,