ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

RAMBLES IN THE PENINSULA.

NO III.

BARCELONA, MAY 27, 1850.

My dear friend—­I have been exceedingly pleased with what I have seen and experienced during the time I have already spent in this handsome and agreeable city.  At present I have no traveling companion, and have moreover only encountered one of my countrymen (with the exception of the consuls) since my departure from Madrid, in January last.  Besides, I seldom hear the United States mentioned, never see any papers, associate almost altogether with Spaniards, and converse chiefly in their language.

The American Consul here (who is by the way a Spaniard) has been very attentive and kind to me.  We have taken several walks together, in which he has pointed out to me the most notable edifices of Barcelona.  Among these is the magnificent theater called El Siceo, which is one of the grandest in the world.  It is certainly the most splendid of the kind I have ever seen.  It was built by subscription, at an expense of about half a million of dollars, and is capable of containing nearly six thousand persons.  To my regret it is now closed.  There is another very fine theater here called El Principal, which is open every evening.  Last night I went to see the amusing opera of Don Pasquale, by Donizetti, which was quite laudably performed.  In fact I go most every night, as I have nothing else to do, and have an excellent seat at my disposal, with which the consul has been so kind as to favor me.  The appearance and manners of the audience are more interesting to me than those of the stage-actors.  Besides, I like to accustom my ear to the Spanish, which I now speak with considerable fluency and correctness.  I have devoted much study to this and the French language since I have been in Spain, and am now making some progress in the Italian, through the Spanish.  I am convinced that no man can properly understand a people without knowing something of their language, which is in a great degree the index of their character.  Moreover it is an indispensable condition to comfortable travel.

Among the distinguished characters in town is the famous Governor Tacon, who so admirably conducted the affairs of state in the island of Cuba some years since.  He is staying with a particular friend of the consul, who is an immensely wealthy man and lives in the most princely style.  I visited the house a few days since, before the arrival of the governor, and was delighted with the splendid taste displayed in the fresco of the ceiling, the stucco of the walls, and indeed with every article of furniture with which the rooms were supplied.  On the parterre, or lower roof, was a little gem of a garden, with raised beds, blooming with beautiful plants and flowers, while in the middle was a fountain and on each side a miniature arbor of grapes.  Really, nothing could be more charming and luxurious.  It was like peeping into the bygone days of fairydom.