2 DECEMBER 1837, Page 15

INGLIS'S RAMBLES IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF DON QUIXOTE.

TIRED of doing nothing, and of (hiding nothing to do at Toledo, the late Mr. Ixnus, excited by their vicinity determined 1.‘, make a pilgrimage through La Mancha and into the Sierra Morena,—the districts immortalized by the adventures of the hero of CERVANTES. For this purpose he engaged a muleteer, who conducted him to Miguel Estevan, the suppose., village of Don Quixote. Here he encountered a barber, a zealous admirer of CERVANTES: who, having enabled our Pilgrim to sleep in what was probably the house of the Knight, undertook to squire him to the scenes of the novel's incidents, so far as tradition and specu- lation can discover them. Rambling forth with this purpose, they journey two or three days, like Spanish travellers of the olden time ; riding on mules; carrying their provisions in their wallet; sleeping in inns when they meet them, and when not in the open air ; and beguiling the way with disquisitions on Den Quixote, autobiographical adventures, and stories from any chance com-

panion they encounter by the way.

The merit of this work lies in the chaste and charming style of INGLIS; his picturesque descriptions of the country ; and the in- cidental sketches of manners to which the different adventures give rise. Its defect consists in its unsubstantial and' artificial nature. As none of the spots mentioned by CERVANTES have even a clear traditional identification, the pilgrims are obliged to have recourse to the estimate of probabilities at every step; a pro- cess which does not seem thoroughly convincing to their own minds, and is the very reverse to the reader. The rationale of the Footsteps and Abe criticisms on the novel might have been put into a few pages: the rest of the matter, however amusing and descriptive of Spanish life, is slight—out of place—and felt to be, as regards its manner, an imitation of the old novelists.

REYNOLDS remarks, that it is only inferior geniuses who feel themselves fettered by nature, or who ever wish to substitute their own notions of what ought to be, fur that which is. It is the same in the kindred arts. Tire descriptions of Hosma were deemed so exact, that his poems are said to have been appealed to in questions of boundaries : and Mr. INGLIS bears testimony to the truth of CERVANTa delineations. Take a single instance.

As we entered Puerto Lapielle, I noticed that all the womea of the lower orders wore the skirts of their petticoats throva over their heads. Tlds is the universal custom in La Mancha, the min !ilia being used only by the upper

and it explains a passage in Don Quixote which would otherwise be obscures moo

saaebo, when upon one occasion he returns home, endeavours to persuade his wife Theresa to accept with a good grace the honours in store for her, when he shall have obtained the government of the island : he tells her how great a lady she will then be, and that she must make up her mind to rite transformas firm. But Theresa replies, .• Neither will I put it in the power of those who see me dressed like a countess or governor's holy, to say, Mind Mrs. Pork. feeder, how proud sire looks! it was but yesterday she toiled hard at the distaff; and went to mass with the toil of her gown above her head, in,had,f a reit." It is worthy of remark, that nowhete iu Dou Quixote is there a word spoken in praise of the beauty of the women of La Mancha; "hale," ur "buxom wench," are the highest expressions that the veracity of Cervautes permitted him to use; for to have spoken of them in other terms, wield have been a de- parture from truth. " The flower of Castilian mails," sounds well iu poetry; but a Castilian maid, or a maid of La M incha, which is the s one thing, is a coarse, brown, ill-favoured personage, who iu any other country would retain her maiden distinction during life.

Here is a specimen of Mr. INGLIs's criticism.

To endeavaur to assign a motive for the production of any work, is idle: for my own part, I believe that the often-repeated motive, that of throwing ridi.

mats upon boo s of tang t-errantry, was a very secondary consideration with Cervantes; and that he, like most other men of genius, wrote because genius verflowed, and sought a channel which might conduct it to immortality. It is a more interesting question to a'k, what is the aim and moral of the work ? It hi all things to all men." The gentleman, the Christian, the master, the servant, may each learn something from its pages; for the Knight of La Mancha was a more perfect gentleman, a better practical Christian, a more excellent master, ay, and a wiser man too, than probably any one of those who study his life and con eeeee tion. Cervantes evidently intended to personify the intellectual and the animal parts of our nature, in the contrast between the Knight and the Squire. Ilightnindedness, loftiness of purpose, unbounded generosity, total thainterestedness, undaunted courage, humility, Christian resignation,—these are the fine attributes of intellectual perfection ; while in the character of the Squire, we find all that is sensual, worldly, common, and vulgar, united with only that rough good sense, blunt honesty, good. nature, and kind affections, which are compatible with an uninformed mind and a low station.

The picture of a Spanish inn will convey a notion of the author's incidental descriptions.

It was almost dark when we alighted at the door of the Posada: my compa- nion took charge of the mules, and I groped my way into the kitchen, the only habitable place in a posada. How different is the reception one meets on arriv. ing at a French or an English inn! At a Spanish posada, no bustling waiter, with his napkin, bows you into the house; no smart demoiselle drops a curtsey, and leads the traveller forward with the glance of her black eyes. In the Spanish posada, the traveller is welcomed by nobody—is received by nobody— is never asked his pleasure, or what are his wants: he is left to feel his way along a stone wall, and is at last directed to the kitchen by a glare of light from the fire, which is kindled on the floor. It is a curious fact too, that the rank of the traveller makes no difference in his reception. There is not one kind of welcome for the gentleman traveller, another for the coach traveller, and another for the visitor of low degree. All ranks find their level in a Spanish posada; no separate tables are set ; no distinctive honours are paid ; there is no scale of civility; the caballero, the merchant, the muleteer, are alike left to shift for themselves.

There are some etchings by GEORGE CRUIKSHANK ; grotesque and droll, but exaggerated, and not genuine in character or hu- mour—in a word, they do not come up to the writing.