Garcia the Centenarian And His Times

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h 17, 1805, four days before the death of Greuze. The place of his birt

726), Callcott, Cherubini, Dibdin, Halévy, "Papa" Haydn, Meyerbeer, Paganini, Rossini, Spohr, Weber, these were all living, and many of them had yet to become famous. As for

s work which contained the song that achieved such popularity throughout Spain, "Yo che son contrabandista." When the tenor used to sing this air he would accom

who had already made himself a popular favourite and commenced his intrigues against the Throne. Above all, one must not forget Don Manuel de Godoy,

the beginning of the nineteenth century wer

ed, by which it was agreed that the combined armies of France and Spain should conquer Portugal. The little kingdom was then to be divided into three parts: the northern provinces were to be given to the King of Etruria in exchan

a French army under General Junot m

an English squadron. Hardly had the Regent left the Tagus when Junot entered Lisbon on November 20, meeting with a favourable reception at the h

ain both as a singer and composer; but this did not satisfy him. Paris had long been the goal on which he had set his mind. And what more favourable opportunity was likely to arise than the present, when the successes of the alliance would na

ry 11 he appeared in Pa?r's "Griselda." How bold a stroke this was may be realised from the fact that

Charles IV. in Madrid-indeed, so great was the tenor's success that he was appointed to the post of dir

" was given in Paris for the first time, on the occasion of the elder Garcia's benefit. Its reception may be judged from the fact that the performance of the operetta had to be interrupted for several minu

then was, and accordingly he was left behind in Madrid with his grandparents, in whose charge he remained until his tenth year. This resulted in h

, Spain was convulsed first by the throes of the Napoleonic inva

hich he must have not only heard reports, but in many ca

dea of the Spanish capital as it was in t

d in the year 1835, "embodying sketches of the met

ings. It was not uncommon to see a wretched tumble-down-looking house supporting itself against the palace of a grandee, di

which contained but a ground-floor, and were inhabited by the dregs of the population. They were the purlieus of vice and crime, and were not only a disgrace to the capital, but would have been so to any

adolid, the royal residence at that time, came to Madrid for change of air, and recovered; in consequence of which he continued to reside there till his death. Philip II. dec

s in extremes, both in houses, equipages, clothing, eating, and drinking. Lux

Spain and his bandage taken off when set down in Madrid, he might readily

kled about his loins, and a string of sausages in his hand; the Catalonian's wild Albanian look and cut, a red woollen cap falling on his shoulder in the way of the Neapolitan mariners; the Andalusian's elegant dress, swarthy face, and immeasurable whiskers; Galicia's heavy, dirty son, dragging after

oly houses extended themselves widely up and down the street, causing a dead blank, and destroying the symmetry of the calle. The monotonous appearance was, however, frequently relieved by the close-shaven heads of some o

the town, yielded nothing to the male convents. There were no less than three of them

e so chary of being seen, even when walking in their garden, that, not contented with running up a wall twenty feet high at least and spoiling a whole street, they insisted on doing the same service to all the hous

are to be pulled down," the same writer continues. "Few of these buildings merit respect from the shovels. Their architecture is vulgar and extravagant where the long dead walls do not constitute their only claim to admiration. Still I must confess I like to see a host of cupolas and minarets sparkling and towering in the glorious sunset. N

ative to set down these few details of Madrid at the tim

eaty of Basle in 1795. Nevertheless, Napoleon deliberatel

own into prison. He appealed for help to Napoleon, and Charles IV., on his side, did the same. Upon this, Napoleon began to move his troops across the Pyrenees, and a French army, under the command of Murat, approached Madrid. The popula

ede the crown to "his friend and ally," Napoleon, who conf

iotism of the Spanish people was stirred to its depths, and they declined to accept a new mona

h remained undimmed throughout the successive years of his life. Indeed, it was more than ninety years later that I recall his speaking of these scenes one afternoon when th

ts and the invaders. Daily, when the roll-call was read, a number of French soldiers failed to answer to their names: during the preceding night

s who were forced to run the gauntlet between the rows of soldiers on their way to wholesale execution. "Shoot eve

vors were driven out of the town by the mob. In consequence of this, Murat was forced to

. The Spanish army was defeated, and on the 20th of July young Garcia wit

arter, and a guerilla warfare was begun which proved more fatal to the French army than regular defeats would have been. Napoleon for the first time had to fight a nation i

inevitable result that the Spanish capital was forced to capitulate, and on December 13 the young Manuel h

place remained in the hands of the French until 1812, when he saw Madrid evacuated by Bona

resisted all his assaults; and the Anglo-Portuguese army had to retire once mor

communication between France and Madrid. The movement completely overthrew the French domination in Spain, and Joseph Bonaparte f

burst of national enthusiasm. The Spanish guerillas destroyed every isolated Frenc

inand VII. was restored

d was passing during the childhood of Manuel Garc

n the summer of 1814, he was summoned to join them at Naples, where they had settled two ye

GARCIA'