THE OTHER SIDE OF THE SALAMANCA DINNER.
THE SERPENT TURNED TO A ROD.
A FORTNIGHT back we gave an account of a curious dinner is Ma- drid, given by certain Gacetilleros to the great capitalist states- man, Salamanca ; and we have received more than one comment upon our report, which has indeed run the round of the English press, has found notice from our great illustrated contemporary, and has excited no small interest and curiosity. One correction which has been 'supplied to us has been recorrected : the cost of the dinner was about ls. 8d. or ls. 9d., and not more. But we since learn, and from a very curious quarter, that the dinner had a conclusion, and indeed a moral, altogether different from the original purpose. The dinners of the great capitalist were thought to have been somewhat " grand." The Amphytrions on the recent occasion were, in common with most journalists, Andalusians, the sharpest and wittiest race in Spain. It was imagined that the moneyed magnate would feel himself uneasy in such company under present circumstances. The dinner was more than "mo- dest," it was, says one of our several correspondents, " mean." The wealthy Salamanca, who daily commands his Jerez and his Havanahs, was now invited to drink Spanish brandy— a pure spirit of wine, and to smoke halfpenny. cigars. Such a man, however, is always at home—equally in the midst of prosperity or adversity, safety or danger, ease or embarrass- ment ; and Salamanca knew where he was, with whom he was contending. He accepted the amenities of his hosts ; they found that he could drink and smoke, more than any of them, even of Spanish brandy and halfpenny cigars, without being in the least disturbed. It soon turned out that the adverse or ironical disposition of the guests was becoming converted into admiration—into enthusiasm. The Andalusians were beaten at their own weapons, and they loved their victor. Andalusian wit i being outrun in this practical manner, Andalusian poetry was evoked, speeches were extemporized, and even verses, and a mag- nificent album has recently been forwarded to Salamanca, destined to contain those burning speeches, those ardent verses, with the portraits of those who were present. Those who asked him to dine with them that they might scoff, followed him with their prayers ; and in all Spain, probably, he has no warmer or de- voted friends than his intended satirists.
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