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Page 4
Espronceda's schooling ended in 1826, when he began what Escosura terms
"his more or less voluntary exile." Escosura thinks he may have been
implicated in a revolutionary uprising in Estremadura, and this
conjecture is all but confirmed by a recently found report of the
Spanish consul in Lisbon, who suspected him of plotting mischief with
General Mina. If Espronceda was not a revolutionary at this time, he was
capable of enlisting in any enterprise however rash, as his past and
subsequent record proves all too clearly, and the authorities were not
without justification in watching his movements. In a letter dated
Lisbon, August 24, 1827, he writes to his mother: "Calm yourselves and
restore papa to health by taking good care of him, and you yourself stop
thinking so sadly, for now I am not going to leave Portugal." In these
words the boy seems to be informing his parents that he has given up
the idea of making a foray from Portugal into Spain as Mina was then
plotting to do. He had left home without taking leave of his parents,
made his way to Gibraltar, and taken passage thence to Lisbon on a
Sardinian sloop. The discomforts of this journey are graphically
described in one of his prose works, "De Gibraltar a Lisboa: viaje
hist�rico." The writer describes with cynical humor the overladen little
boat with its twenty-nine passengers, their quarrels and seasickness,
the abominable food, a burial at sea, a tempest. When the ship reached
Lisbon the ill-assorted company were placed in quarantine. The health
inspectors demanded a three-peseta fee of each passenger. Espronceda
paid out a duro and received two pesetas in change. Whereupon he threw
them into the Tagus, "because I did not want to enter so great a capital
with so little money." A very similar story has been told of Camoens,
so that Espronceda was not only a _poseur_ but a very unoriginal one at
that. Some biographers suspect that while parting with his silver he was
prudent enough to retain a purse lined with good gold _onzas_. This is
pure speculation, but it is certain that he knew he could soon expect a
remittance from home.
Portugal was at the time rent with civil war. The infanta Isabel Mar�a
was acting as regent, and her weak government hesitated to offend the
king of Spain. The liberal emigrants were kept under surveillance; some
were imprisoned, others forced to leave the kingdom. Espronceda was
forced to Live with the other Spanish emigrants in Santarem. There is no
evidence that he was imprisoned in the Castle of St. George, as has so
frequently been stated. He appears to have been free to go and come
within the limits assigned him by the police; but he was constantly
watched and at last forced to leave the country. It was in Portugal that
the nineteen-year-old boy made the acquaintance of the Mancha family.
Don Epifanio Mancha was a colonel in the Spanish army who, unlike the
elder Espronceda, had been unable to reconcile himself to existing
conditions. He had two daughters, one of whom, Teresa, was to play a
large part in Espronceda's life. He undoubtedly made her acquaintance at
this time. We are told that she embroidered for him an artillery cadet's
hat; but the acquaintance probably did not proceed far. The statement
that vows were exchanged, that the Mancha family preceded Espronceda to
London, that on disembarking he found his Teresa already the bride
of another, all this is pure legend. As a matter of fact, Espronceda
preceded the Manchas to London and his elopement with Teresa did not
take place until 1831, not in England but in France. All this Se�or
Cascales y Mu�oz has shown in his recent biography.
Espronceda's expulsion from Portugal was determined upon as early as
August 14, 1827; but the execution of it was delayed. He must have
reached England sometime within the last four months of 1827. The first
of his letters written from London that has been preserved is dated
December 27 of that year. What his emotions were on passing "the immense
sea ... which chains me amid the gloomy Britons" may be observed by
reading his poem entitled "La Entrada del Invierno en Londres." In this
poem he gives full vent to his homesickness in his "present abode of
sadness," breathes forth his love for Spain, and bewails the tyrannies
under which that nation is groaning. It is written in his early classic
manner and exists in autograph form, dedicated by the "Citizen" Jos� de
Espronceda to the "Citizen" Balbino Cort�s, his companion in exile. The
date, London, January 1, 1827, is plainly erroneous, though this fact
has never before been pointed out. We can only suppose that, like many
another, Espronceda found it difficult to write the date correctly on
the first day of a new year. We should probably read January 1, 1828.
When he assures us in the poem: "Four times have I here seen the fields
robbed of their treasure," he is not to be taken literally. Who will
begrudge an exiled poet the delight of exaggerating his sufferings?
Five letters written from London to his parents have been preserved,
thanks to the diligence of the Madrid police who seized them in his
father's house in their eagerness to follow the movements of this
dangerous revolutionary. They are the typical letters of a schoolboy.
The writer makes excuses for his dilatoriness as a correspondent,
expresses solicitude for the health of his parents, and suggests the
need of a speedy remittance. In fact _la falta de met�lico_ is the
burden of his song. Living is excessively dear in London. So much so
that a suit of clothes costs seventeen pounds sterling; but there will
be a reduction of three pounds if the draft is promptly sent. He asks
that the manuscript of his "Pelayo" be sent to him, as he now has
abundant leisure to finish the poem. He asks that the remittances be
sent to a new agent whom he designates. The first agent was a brute who
refused to aid him to get credit. He wonders that his father should
suggest a call upon the Spanish ambassador. Not one word as to his
political plans, a discretion for which Don Juan must have thanked him
when these interesting documents fell into the hands of the police.
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